Data centers in Pennsylvania

"The AI data center boom is truly the greatest threat to a stable climate that we face today"

"I know that what I am asking you to do is not popular. But quite frankly we have met the standards under the ordinance and we ask you to approve it."

"I know it is not over but we are going to take the win that it was and we are going to continue on. We know that this is unfortunately a marathon but we live here and we are not going anywhere."

"Ask for the stars. Don't settle for the moon."

"Dan Meuser has shown he is in this for himself, and I am in this to fight for us"

State Treasurer Stacy Garrity called for a temporary pause on data center development to allow municipalities time to update their zoning regulations.

Concerning the Pax One data center, Perry said there should be no tax breaks for companies, and supports local control.

Hayes says data center impacts can reach beyond the companies building the facilities, potentially affecting neighbors and taxpayers through electricity costs and the availability of public water.

Dr. Benjamin Hayes, program director of Watershed Sciences and Engineering, says many large data centers use water to cool their equipment.

King says Pennsylvania's energy resources and location near major East Coast cities make it appealing to companies developing AI data centers, and the rapid expansion of AI is contributing to growing energy demand.

Brian R. King, an associate professor of computer science at Bucknell University, says data centers house powerful computers used to train and operate AI models, relying on graphics processing units that require substantial amounts of electricity.

Hayes argues that communities need to consider how multiple data center projects could affect the same watershed or power supply, rather than evaluating each proposal in isolation.

Governor Shapiro's executive order, called the GRID Executive Order, requires data center developers to make legally binding commitments to self funding energy development, public outreach and transparency, workforce concessions, and environmental requirements.

Township solicitor Patrick Fanelli stated that municipalities cannot ban data centers outright because it would be an illegal taking of private property, and that if legal development requirements are met, approval is mandatory.

Stacy Garrity said she held five listening sessions across Pennsylvania with local officials and community leaders who said they are not against data centers but want time to update zoning

Stacy Garrity, who earlier this year called for a pause on hyperscale data center development, said real leaders get stakeholders around the table to find out what is needed to protect ratepayers and communities, taking as long as it takes

Shapiro's approach to Pennsylvania's growing data center industry has shifted. He once celebrated the multimillion dollar investments, but introduced an executive order this summer that tightened restrictions on the AI infrastructure boom.

Stacy Garrity argued that Shapiro came out against data center development solely in response to public backlash, when he had previously promoted Pennsylvania as a strong candidate for more data centers.

Governor Josh Shapiro defended his executive order approach requiring local community approval before data center permitting, saying if a local community does not want a data center it will not be built and the proposal will not be heard by the Commonwealth for permitting

Governor Josh Shapiro said data center developers must generate their own power at developer expense, protect air and water, earn local community support through local ordinances or resolutions, include local labor, and include local benefits agreements before the Commonwealth considers permits

Paige Cognetti, Scranton Mayor and Pennsylvania 8th Congressional District candidate, stated data centers should pay their own way without tax breaks, not raise electric bills, not poison water, and hire union labor; NDAs should not hide data center information

Senator Pennycuick stated that data center developers commonly require local governments to sign NDAs regarding proposed projects.

Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R Berks/Montgomery) chairs the Senate Communications and Technology Committee and sponsored Senate Bill 1408

Senator Dick Durbin stated the Ratepayer Protection Act does nothing to establish a requirement that data centers pay for grid upgrades they need

Andy Bater notes Pennsylvania has made progress in regulating data centers including Governor Shapiro's GRID standards and PUC's large load tariff

Tracy Pennycuick, Republican Senator from Montgomery County, sponsored the bill.

Governor Shapiro stated his administration counted only five of more than 100 data center proposals statewide with permits to build, describing a Gold Rush atmosphere with developers bullying neighbors.

Governor Josh Shapiro has evolved his stance on data centers after once seeking to make it easier for projects to call Pennsylvania home

Pennsylvania governors including Shapiro are sounding a warning bell and imposing strict guardrails on data center development

Chris Wright, Energy Secretary, said investments will get more out of infrastructure already in place, move more electricity across the grid, and help deliver affordable, reliable and secure power.

Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman said a statewide moratorium is not a possibility and local governments should have ability to dictate the future of their own communities

Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton said Pennsylvania would not be in a space for a data center moratorium

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro shifted from supporting data centers to favoring stricter regulation and community protection

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro headlined a July 2025 summit celebrating 90 billion dollars in data center and AI infrastructure investment

Andrea Verobish and Scott Barger represent most of Blair County and part of Huntingdon County

Patrick Cicero, attorney at the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project and former state consumer advocate, said the PUC should have been assigning customer assistance costs to all rate classes.

Josh Shapiro called for strict guardrails on the development and use of advanced technology and signed an executive order imposing tight requirements and restrictions on data centers in Pennsylvania.

Stacy Garrity, state treasurer and Republican candidate for governor, said she supports leaving the decision on data centers to local communities.

Josh Shapiro characterized some data center projects as predatory and determined to stop bad proposals

Mary Nelson, Erie resident, calls for local oversight and complete transparency on data center development

PUC Study warns of electricity shortages unless supply keeps pace with AI data center growth

Data center regulations would not be introduced until next fall, according to Alex Bomstein of the Clean Air Council.

Shippingport Mayor John Erickson said the project will create thousands of jobs

Stephen DeFrank, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman, warned that if more data centers interconnect than expected with no new generation, loss of load events could increase from one every ten years to 13 per year by 2030

Jon Gordon, senior policy director for Advanced Energy United, said PJM is lagging behind other grid operators and that time is running out to get new generation proposed, financed, permitted and constructed

Commission president revealed that someone has approached Elizabeth Township about building a data center

Joe Pittman, Senate Majority Leader, blamed former Governor Tom Wolf's decision to join a regional carbon trading program for the reliability crunch and stated all sources of power should be embraced

Steve DeFrank, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman, stated that Pennsylvania is at an energy crossroads and that data center development brings significant opportunities but growth cannot come at the expense of reliable and affordable service

DeFrank emphasized need for data center projects to include their own power supplies and for the state to increase overall power generation with a mix of natural gas, nuclear, and green energy

John Erickson, Shippingport Mayor, said Project Phoenix honors the legacy of commercial nuclear energy and opens a new chapter by rebuilding the historic site

Abe Silverman, researcher at the Ralph O'Connor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said the grid would be running at the red line

Matt Bradford, House Majority Leader, stated that failure to address the reliability crisis will cost lives and cause economic damage

Molly Parzen, executive director of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, said the state must work with PJM Interconnection and federal government to ensure Pennsylvania families do not pay for increased power demand from data centers

Task force mission is to establish enforceable standards for data centers protecting infrastructure, water supply, and neighborhoods

Steve DeFrank, Public Utility Commission Chairman, said PJM Interconnection must take urgent action to make sure electricity supply keeps up with demand from data centers

PPL director of communications said PPL has been warning about data center demand impact on nation's largest power grid for years

Abe Silverman, energy consultant and research scholar at Johns Hopkins University, warned of potential monthly blackouts if data centers continue to connect without new power generation

PUC Chairman DeFrank warned that electricity demand and supply are moving out of balance due to data center development

Amodei cited a July 2026 cyberattack by OpenAI models on Hugging Face as reason to slow AI development

Donna Greenberg expressed concerns about pollution, noise, and surveillance from data centers

Pennsylvania is at an energy crossroads

President Trump dismisses idea of new AI guardrails, saying there is a sick conspiracy against AI and data centers

Republican Sen. Gene Yaw said 18 months ago we probably are going to have blackouts and brownouts

Protesters rallied in Hazleton, Pennsylvania on August 12 calling on Rep. Rob Bresnahan to oppose data center expansion and reject Big Tech contributions.

Study warns rapid data center growth could increase consumer electricity costs

Philadelphia has no local zoning laws or regulations governing data center development

PJM Interconnection identified increased data centers as a cause of rising electricity bills in the region

Sam Altman said pacing AI development will be well worth the cost and that government help is needed for international coordination

Dario Amodei published an essay on Saturday calling for slower development of AI

City officials identified two sites in Philadelphia with potential for AI data centers but no current proposals exist

Trump said the administration has already stopped Anthropic from doing bad or potentially bad things

Anthropic endured an uncomfortable relationship with the Trump administration with the Pentagon trying to label the company's models a security risk and a temporary ban of one of its more advanced models

Tech leaders including Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk are calling for greater government oversight of AI

Trump said there is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers and that China is the only one happy about it

Trump said his presence in the Oval Office should assuage fears about AI and that AI risks are a hoax

Hannah Sassaman stated data centers can raise ambient temperature of neighborhood by 5 to 15 degrees

Pennsylvania PUC Chairman Steve DeFrank said data center development is putting reliability of electricity supplies in Pennsylvania and nearby regions at risk by causing demand projections to exceed anticipated supply

PUC released independent analysis warning rapid data center development impacts electricity reliability

Amazon committed to build 20 billion dollars worth of data centers in Pennsylvania including a facility in Bucks County.

Concerned Residents of Western Pennsylvania held a rally opposing a proposed Amazon Web Services data center campus for Center Township

The No Data Centers in Philly campaign will hold a press conference and rally at Philadelphia City Hall at noon on Monday.

Shawmar Pitts of Philly Thrive stated absence of regulations amounts to dangerous situation and data centers raise PECO electricity bills pollute air and water and power surveillance systems

Executive order requires growing percentage of data center energy from clean firm resources, starting at 10 percent and climbing to 32 percent by 2035

Governor Josh Shapiro signed executive order on data centers on August 18, 2026, prohibiting non disclosure agreements and removing permit fast tracking

Republicans oppose data centers with a bare majority opposed and just 29 percent strongly opposed.

By July 2026, support for data centers in or near community was down to 22 percent, opposition was up to 57 percent.

In December 2025, 34 percent of Pennsylvanians supported data centers in or near their community, 42 percent opposed, and 24 percent had no strong opinion.

Democrats oppose data centers more than other groups, with 71 percent opposed and more than half strongly opposed.

Bob Harvie called for a data center moratorium in his campaign

In Pennsylvania 7th Congressional District, opposition to data centers runs 74 percent to 14 percent support.

Harvie previously supported tax break for Amazon data center in Falls Township during Bucks County Commissioners vote in December 2020

In Shippingport, Beaver County, borough Secretary Kayla Wilkinson in October signed an Oracle America Inc. NDA although the document was not signed by Oracle.

In Salem Township in Luzerne County, a supervisor signed an NDA involving Amazon in 2024 and one involving QTS in 2025.

Tony Dastra argued residents should have right to present case to zoning hearing board under Municipalities Planning Code

Board opposition is not automatically a final denial unless it controls the remaining approvals the project still needs

David Cuillier director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project stated that NDAs cut the public out of the conversation and are against democracy.

In Lower Mount Bethel Township in Northampton County eight different elected officials or staff each signed a mutual confidentiality agreement with Talen Energy Supply.

In Falls Township, Bucks County, the supervisors' chairman signed an NDA in 2024 with an attorney representing Amazon.

Marcellus Shale Coalition expressed disappointment over Governor Shapiro's recent pivot on data centers

Raudabaugh family preserved farms through conservation easements and sold development rights for about $1.9 million

Mervin Raudabaugh declined more than $15 million from data center developers for two farms covering about 261 acres in Silver Spring Township, Pennsylvania

Governor Shapiro rejected moratorium, saying 'we figured it out' regarding data center regulation

Gov. Josh Shapiro and opponent Stacy Garrity are navigating public opinion around data centers in Pennsylvania gubernatorial race

Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry calls for support of data center development

Senator Richard Blumenthal launched a nationwide investigation in March into the use of NDAs and other restrictions that may limit public disclosure of data centers' energy usage, water needs and potential community impacts

Better Path Coalition and No False Climate Solutions PA coalitions oppose hyperscale data center development in Pennsylvania

Deputy Chief of Staff Sam Robinson said the administration wants to respect local decision making in zoning and siting, noting that some parts of Pennsylvania have one house per square mile where data center siting may make sense

Joseph Farrell, Valley View School Board director, called for regional coordination among Northeastern Pennsylvania communities to resist data center development.

Sen. Dave McCormick shared reports on Aug. 27 detailing an investigation led by Republicans into anti data center non profits over their ties to China

McCormick said China knows the AI race will shape the future and Chinese money may be funding groups working to stop data centers America needs

Fetterman said on Aug. 22 that AI supremacy and energy dominance underpin national security and that China continues to benefit from American overreaction

Sen. John Fetterman agreed with Trump on data centers and wrote 'We must win the war for AI supremacy over China. They foment the anti argument through misinformation'

Fetterman said on Aug. 10 that America must lead in the development of AI, otherwise the nation will live under China's rules

Kate Nolan Bryden, Prime Senior Vice President of Development and project lead, testified that the facility will use advanced closed loop cooling systems

Bill Gaughan, Lackawanna County Commissioner, opposes the data center and power plant projects

Garrity held five listening sessions around Pennsylvania on data center concerns

Stacy Garrity, Republican candidate and current state treasurer, called for a pause on new data center development

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said the Shapiro Administration has put strict new guardrails in place on data center development

Governor Shapiro initially signed two contracts with Amazon for data center projects and gave them tax deals

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro shifted his stance from generally supporting data centers to placing restrictions after Republican opposition criticism, recently signing an executive order imposing new rules

Senator John Fetterman stated that AI supremacy and energy dominance underpin national security and expressed concern about China's advantages from U.S. overreaction to data center concerns.

Joe Pittman, Senate GOP Majority Leader, argued the order marks a reversal from the Administration's earlier posture

Democrat Brian Wrightson wants the state to ban all data center developments and implement a moratorium.

Governor Josh Shapiro mentioned his visit to Archbald ahead of signing an executive order reining in large scale data center development

Republican state Sen. Rosemary Brown announced a plan to introduce a package of bills requiring developers to undergo third party evaluation of water use.

GOP state Treasurer Stacy Garrity called for a temporary moratorium on all data center development in Pennsylvania.

Rep. Byron Donalds introduced the Protecting Ratepayers Act to ensure private developers bear investment costs of data center developments

Executive order mandates data center projects receive all required local approvals before permits are issued

Matthew Mehalik, Breathe Project executive director, says data center restriction in Pennsylvania is badly needed

Shapiro said Pennsylvania now has the strictest requirements in the entire country for data centers

Gov. Shapiro said: I will not allow Pennsylvanians to be bullied by greedy developers and bulldozed by the lawyers working for these big tech companies

Governor Josh Shapiro said while there are no AI data centers up and running in Pennsylvania right now, only five have the permits they would need to begin operating

Governor Josh Shapiro said there are more than 100 data center proposals under discussion in Pennsylvania

Josh Shapiro stated he announced two data center projects last year that would generate thousands of new jobs and bring in 20 billion dollars in new investment to Pennsylvania

Shapiro previously committed $20 billion from Amazon to build at least two data centers in Bucks and Luzerne Counties

Governor Shapiro branded more than 100 Pennsylvania data center proposals as mostly speculative

Developers must bring their own power and pay related electricity expenses

Gov. Josh Shapiro characterized data center developers as predatory

Position note: Follows June 2025 announcements promoting a 20 billion dollar Amazon data center investment in Pennsylvania, before the August 2026 executive order establishing strict developer power and community rules.

Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania, stated the state has received more than 100 data center proposals from technology companies

Developers must use increasingly clean power sources

Developers must hire locally and offer robust community benefits agreement

Gov. Josh Shapiro reversed course on data centers in August, characterizing most proposals as speculative.

Governor Shapiro announced Amazon's $20 billion Pennsylvania investment including two data center campuses in Luzerne and Bucks Counties

Shapiro has begun softening his position on data centers, going from consulting with Amazon and the industry to draft incentives to vowing executive actions to curb projects in communities that oppose them

O'Neill stated 'Will I win legally? Absolutely. And I'll spend whatever it takes to do that because what I'm building is right, and it's right for the community.'

O'Neill said his proposed facilities would use closed loop water systems, generate their own electricity, create no light pollution and comply with local noise limits