KEEL (NASDAQ: KEEL; TSX: KEEL), formerly Bitfarms, said Thursday that Pennsylvania’s new data center development rules will not affect permitting schedules for its Panther Creek and Sharon projects.
Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on August 18. The order requires covered data centers seeking state permits to accept enforceable obligations under the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development standards and secure local approval before the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection begins its review.
Projects with peak demand above 25 MW must execute a project-specific Consent Order and Agreement covering energy affordability, community engagement, workforce development and environmental protection. DEP cannot begin reviewing covered applications submitted after the order took effect until the agreement is executed, and data centers are no longer eligible for Pennsylvania’s fast-track permitting program.
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KEEL says its projects already meet GRID standards
CEO Ben Gagnon said KEEL supports the policy because its Pennsylvania development model already incorporates the state’s requirements.
“Pennsylvania is setting the highest bar in the country for this industry, and we intend to clear it at Panther Creek, at Sharon, and at every project we build in the Commonwealth,” Gagnon said.
KEEL said it pays the interconnection, transmission, distribution and network-upgrade costs attributable to its load. The developer also said it engages municipalities before filing permits and discloses project footprints, load estimates and water assumptions before major design decisions.
The company plans to use closed-loop cooling, which it said would limit annual water consumption at its data centers to the equivalent of a few dozen households. KEEL also expects the projects to create hundreds of construction and operations jobs, although those employment estimates remain forward-looking.
The order responds to a development queue that includes more than 100 proposed Pennsylvania data center facilities. PJM’s 2025 load forecast projected 74 GW of additional summer peak demand through 2045, driven primarily by data centers, while the grid operator’s independent market monitor attributed $29.4 billion of capacity charges across four prior auctions to the sector.
Shapiro said the state would condition its support on developers accepting the requirements and winning local approval. “If you can’t agree to our strict requirements and get the community where you want to build to say ‘yes,’ you’re not going to have the Commonwealth’s support either,” he said in the state’s announcement.