Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has signed an executive order, Protecting Pennsylvania Consumers From Data Center Projects, which imposes new requirements on AI data center developers, marking one of the most significant state-level efforts to regulate the rapidly expanding industry as concerns over energy use, transparency, and local impacts grow. The order implements Shapiro's Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) requirements and requires companies seeking to build AI data centers in Pennsylvania to meet a series of conditions before projects can move forward. Shapiro also removed data centers from Pennsylvania's Fast Track permitting program.
This is a notable shift, given that his administration previously welcomed major investments such as Amazon's planned $20 billion data center expansion in Luzerne and Bucks counties, according to reporting from The Hill. Amazon’s planned data center projects are not automatically exempt as ongoing developments: the executive order applies to permit or authorization applications submitted after August 18, 2026, while projects with existing permits or approvals can continue under their current status, although existing data centers are still subject to certain reporting and transparency requirements. "Starting today, AI data center developers who want to do business in our Commonwealth must respect our communities and abide by these stringent requirements," Shapiro said when announcing the order.
Senate Republicans have argued that the shift toward broader state-level restrictions risks politicizing an issue that they believe is better addressed through local decision-making. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman has characterized the debate as increasingly political, while Republicans have generally favored allowing individual communities to weigh data center proposals based on their own infrastructure, energy and economic circumstances rather than imposing a blanket statewide moratorium. Their position reflects a preference for local control and continued investment while still allowing communities to address legitimate concerns about the impact of large-scale facilities.
"Senate Republicans are open to further discussions, including considering measures to allow for moratorium decisions to be made at the local level," Pittman told Spotlight PA in July. Newsweek has reached out to Governor Shapiro's office for comment and is awaiting a response. The governor said that the growing opposition from residents and local leaders helped shape his decision.
According to Shapiro, communities complained that data center developers frequently withheld basic information, including which technology companies would occupy facilities and where the enormous electricity demand would be sourced, saying, "we’ve seen an unacceptable number of speculative proposals for data centers swamp our Commonwealth—many of them led by developers who have no regard for local communities." The new order specifically seeks to end the use of nondisclosure agreements that limit public disclosure of data center project details. Local concerns mirror those being raised nationwide as AI-driven computing fuels an unprecedented boom in large-scale data center construction. Lawmakers and community groups in multiple states have raised alarms about power consumption, water use, noise from cooling systems and backup generators, land-use conflicts, environmental impacts, and the possibility that residential ratepayers could end up subsidizing infrastructure upgrades needed to support hyperscale facilities.
Experts say the issue has intensified because modern AI facilities can require hundreds of megawatts of power, far exceeding the needs of traditional data centers. Legislatures across the country are increasingly examining whether developers should bear those costs instead of passing them on to consumers. Data Center Map, Pennsylvania has 136 tracked data center facilities, including: The data shows that Allegheny and Philadelphia counties have the largest number of tracked data center facilities in the state, with 28 and 20 facilities respectively.
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