\u201cI don\u2019t see Pennsylvania putting out some sort of progressive policy,\u201d Muth said.<\/p>\n
David Hess is also skeptical. The former head of the state\u2019s Department of Environmental Protection said Pennsylvania has a long history of playing host to extractive industries, including in some of the same areas now targeted for data center development, but residents\u2019 concerns about the consequences have rarely prompted action at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. He thinks things may be headed that way again, pointing in particular to the Republican-controlled state Senate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the Republican stance [on data centers] has been just like shale gas: \u2018Let\u2019s just muddle through and not try to do anything that\u2019s going to upset the industry,\u2019 which they often do support,\u201d said Hess, who now authors a newsletter<\/a> tracking Pennsylvania environmental issues. \u201cIt\u2019s the same thing with a lot of the other state legislators. In some ways, I think they are happy to let local officials shoulder all of the blame.\u201d<\/p>\n But there are signs something is happening, and others think there\u2019s room for a deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nine months after industry and political leaders held a kickoff for the development play at a summit<\/a> at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the backlash is inescapable. Grassroots resistance groups rapidly organized<\/a>, some of them quashing projects. In February, a Quinnipiac survey<\/a> found 68 percent of Pennsylvania voters would oppose the construction of an AI data center in their community. That included 53 percent of Republicans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe magic of AI may be the future, but when it comes to building the physical infrastructure, Pennsylvanian voters say: \u2018Not in my backyard,\u2019\u201d Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy concluded.<\/p>\n Politicians have taken note.\u00a0<\/p>\n As recently as last fall, there was essentially no talk<\/a> of data center regulations in the Pennsylvania legislature, nor from the office of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, a high-profile guest at the Carnegie Mellon summit. Now, Democratic House leadership just hailed the passage<\/a> of the \u201cfirst-ever data center regulations\u201d in Pennsylvania, a bill from Democratic Rep. Robert Matzie aimed at protecting consumers from utility-bill increases driven by the electricity-hungry projects.<\/p>\n Several other bills seeking to address data center water consumption and zoning are percolating, with more in the works. Shapiro, meanwhile, used part of his annual budget address in February to promise to protect the public<\/a> from any downsides of data center development.\u00a0<\/p>\n And there is some bipartisan movement, with two House Republicans voting for the Matzie bill, and Republican State Rep. Jamie Walsh planning to introduce additional legislation<\/a>, \u201cgrounded in the simple idea that long-term development must serve the public interest and provide real benefits to local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Even some in the Senate are starting to make noise. Last year, Brown was a panelist at a largely industry-friendly Senate committee hearing<\/a> on data centers hosted in her Northeast Pennsylvania district. Since then, she has ping-ponged from township meeting to township meeting, as nearly a dozen data center proposals popped up in her district. Now, she plans to introduce a \u201cResidents First<\/a>\u201d package of bills to address public concerns, in addition to signing onto the Muth moratorium proposal.<\/p>\n Brown says she believes there is \u201ctruly\u201d an opportunity for some kind of bipartisan policymaking in Harrisburg, especially as consternation over data-center impacts grows.<\/p>\n \u201cI have had strong conversations [with Senate leadership] about my concerns, and the why,\u201d Brown said. \u201cMy voice, hopefully, is something that can unlock it \u2026 and open eyes to certain people who might have blinders up.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s on Offer<\/p>\n One potential path toward legislative action on AI data centers in Pennsylvania starts in the House Energy committee, chaired by Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, a Democrat from Philadelphia. That\u2019s the committee from which Matzie\u2019s recently passed bill originated before receiving a floor vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n In early March, committee members voted on party lines to advance two other data center bills. The first, House Bill 2150<\/a>, authored by Democratic Rep. Kyle Mullins, would require data centers to produce annual reports on water and energy usage.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the data center industry wants to expand in Pennsylvania and avail itself of our critical resources \u2014 water, electricity, and land \u2014 the very least among many things that should be required is full transparency,\u201d Mullins said in a press release<\/a> from the committee.<\/p>\n The other bill, from Democratic Rep. Kyle Donahue, would create a \u201cmodel ordinance<\/a>\u201d that townships could adopt for data-center proposals.<\/p>\n \u201cHouse Bill 2151 gives municipalities an optional tool they can use to ensure data centers are responsibly sited and operated while protecting residents\u2019 quality of life,\u201d Donahue said in the press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither bill has yet received a floor vote in the Democratically controlled House. Should they join Matzie\u2019s bill in the Senate, they could have a steep hill to climb in the Environmental Resources & Energy committee. Republican chair Gene Yaw has long served as a sort of boogeyman to those wanting stronger environmental regulations in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cSenator Yaw has a very strong record of holding hearings, but not doing anything,\u201d Hess said.<\/p>\n Yaw\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Muth, the senator supporting a data center development moratorium, sits on that committee and currently opposes the model ordinance bill. She\u2019s concerned it could open the door to treating AI data centers as a public good, eroding local control.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors originally opposed the bill due to similar concerns, but it has since shifted its position to \u201cneutral\u201d after some technical modifications, said Holly Fishel, the group\u2019s director of policy and research. Even if the ordinance bill becomes law, she says she\u2019s not sure how much help it would provide to the beleaguered townships already fielding close to 60 proposals across the state in various stages, according to a commonly cited data center tracker<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cDoing something that is going to be six months or a year behind,\u201d Fishel said, \u201cis going to be six months to a year behind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Industry input could also add headwinds. Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the trade group Data Center Coalition, said that even something as seemingly simple as asking data centers to deliver annual reports on energy and water usage could prove a heavy lift.<\/p>\n Companies need to protect proprietary information, and there are also national security considerations, Diorio said: \u201cIf there\u2019s a specific profile [that can be used to identify a critical facility], that becomes problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n Diorio added that his group, which represents industry behemoths such as Amazon and Microsoft, believes public concerns are mostly based on \u201cmisperceptions\u201d about data centers. Education, not legislation, is what\u2019s needed most, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The group has already come out against the Matzie bill, saying it is concerned that the legislation is overly prescriptive, singles out the industry for unfair utility rates and will disincentivize data centers from locating in the state. The coalition also opposes the bill\u2019s requirement that data centers curtail energy use when the grid is stressed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe internet can\u2019t shut off. We can\u2019t just shut it down and say, \u2018Sorry, you can\u2019t have access to this service.\u2019 That\u2019s not how it works,\u201d Diorio told The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story is funded by readers like you.<\/p>\n Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.<\/p>\n Donate Now<\/a> <\/p>\n For all these reasons, Muth remains skeptical that consequential policy will pass through both the House and Senate. Instead, she predicts that the most critical actions will take place at the local level, with townships asserting zoning authority to deny proposals. Legal battles will likely follow.<\/p>\n Fishel, with the township supervisors association, said the group isn\u2019t asking for any policy prescriptions from state lawmakers, only that townships continue to control their own zoning.\u00a0<\/p>\n For that reason, the most consequential proposal so far for her group has been Senate Bill 939<\/a>, legislation introduced last year by Republican Sen. Greg Rothman. When it was first proposed, the bill outlined a \u201cCommonwealth Opportunity Zone\u201d that would create a fast-track permitting process for data centers, as well as a \u201cregulatory sandbox\u201d encouraging deregulation.<\/p>\n Fishel says her group opposed the bill until its authors agreed to take land-use provisions out, shifting the township supervisors\u2019 stance to neutral. Even so, the bill continues to sit in the Senate Communications & Technology Committee. Rothman\u2019s office did respond to an inquiry into the bill\u2019s status.<\/p>\n Where the Governor Stands<\/p>\n The fate of any data center policy proposal that makes it through the legislature will be in the hands of the governor. His plans are somewhat enigmatic.<\/p>\n Shapiro has positioned himself as a supporter of bringing AI data centers to Pennsylvania, predicting last year that they will \u201cgenerate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue for state and local governments.\u201d Shapiro said in his budget address<\/a> this February that the U.S. needs to win the technology race with competitors like China.\u00a0<\/p>\n But in the same address, he also acknowledged public angst.<\/p>\n \u201cI know Pennsylvanians have real concerns about these data centers and the impact they could have on our communities, our utility bills and our environment,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cAnd so do I.\u201d<\/p>\n Enter the Governor\u2019s Responsible Infrastructure Development standards, or GRID, a corresponding set of policy principles Shapiro says will address concerns about resource consumption, community engagement and transparency. Shapiro first referenced them in his address, and his office released some conceptual information<\/a> the same day, including that developers either supply their own electricity or fully pay for what they\u2019ll need. But scant information about how GRID is to be implemented has followed.<\/p>\n Asked for details, Shapiro\u2019s office first pointed to a series of press clippings arguing that the governor has been consistent \u201call along\u201d on wanting to both attract data centers and address local concerns, such as asking developers to bring their own power.<\/p>\n \u201cNot a shift,\u201d Shapiro told a gaggle of reporters in February about his position. \u201cWhat we did with GRID, which is our acronym for the standards, is to make clear to everybody what the rules of the road are going to be in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressed for information about what those rules are, his office said in a statement that developers\u2019 adherence to GRID principles is a prerequisite for accessing a \u201cfast track\u201d permitting process launched in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery project accepted into the PA Permit Fast Track program must meet the same rigorous environmental and safety standards as all other projects,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe Shapiro Administration strongly encourages all data center developers who want to build in Pennsylvania to meet the Governor\u2019s GRID standards \u2013 and will only accept new Fast Track applications for data center projects that meet those standards.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro\u2019s office did not answer questions about the specific requirements or provide an example of a developer successfully following them.<\/p>\n Asked if the Data Center Coalition had a firm understanding of the governor\u2019s GRID expectations, Diorio said the group \u201cappreciates\u201d the goals and Shapiro\u2019s efforts to balance growth with protections. But he also indicated that GRID remains an ongoing policy conversation. His group, he said, is concerned about a potential one-size-fits-all solution.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we want to do is ensure that policies are drafted in a way so that all the data centers have an equal opportunity to develop in the state,\u201d Diorio said, offering the example of a smaller data center that doesn\u2019t have the resources to secure its own energy generation.<\/p>\n Hess, the former environmental protection secretary, said he was skeptical of the impact of linking GRID to fast permits. That process has nothing to do with project siting, he noted, and state environmental permits can only be based on criteria mandated by law.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2244492521.jpg\"\/)
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2244492521.jpg\")
The construction site of an Amazon data center in Salem Township, Pa., is seen on Oct. 10, 2025. Credit: Jason Ardan\/Citizens\u2019 Voice via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Gov.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2224589567-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
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Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University on July 15, 2025, in Pittsburgh. Credit: Jeff Swensen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n