{"id":165988,"date":"2026-04-15T01:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/165988\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T01:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:23:13","slug":"pair-of-bills-aiming-to-regulate-and-increase-data-center-transparency-passes-pa-house-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/165988\/","title":{"rendered":"Pair of bills aiming to regulate and increase data center transparency passes PA house"},"content":{"rendered":"

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 A pair of bills that aim to help Pennsylvania regulate potential data centers passed the House of Representatives on Monday, according to records.<\/p>\n

House Bill 2150<\/a>, which would establish annual water and energy reporting requirements for any data centers, passed with a vote of 133-68. <\/p>\n

RELATED | Could more data centers be coming to Dauphin County? Here’s what to expect<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition, a legal memo notes that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Public Utility<\/a> would be required to issue a joint report on the data centers’ water and energy impacts annually.<\/p>\n

These measures would be put in place to increase transparency surrounding data center operations and leave residents with fewer questions than answers, according to the memo.<\/p>\n

These transparency measures will play a crucial role in protecting our residents, informing sound policy decisions, and safeguarding natural resources for future generations. <\/p>\n

Without clear reporting, it is difficult for lawmakers to “fully understand and mitigate” impacts on energy supply chains, utility rates, and the environment, the document noted.<\/p>\n

Representatives didn’t stop there. House Bill 2151<\/a> also passed by a vote of 124-77. <\/p>\n

HB 2151 would push an area government commission to develop an alternative model ordinance for municipalities to use to help regulate data centers.<\/p>\n

The sponsor, Rep. Kyle Donahue (D-Lackawanna County), noted how this should empower municipalities that lack the time and\/or resources to develop their own data center ordinances.<\/p>\n

According to a legal memo, HB215 would:<\/p>\n

Protect the health and well-being of residents living near data centers.Ensure responsible siting and operation of these facilities.Support sustainable economic development that preserves community quality of life.<\/p>\n

These data center ordinances would include sound barrier provisions, building design standards, and other measures to reduce community disruptions in neighborhoods hosting data centers.<\/p>\n

In the memo, Donahue noted there are no consistent statewide standards requiring data centers to mitigate the aforementioned concerns.<\/p>\n

Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT<\/p>\n

Both bills will move to the Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 A pair of bills that aim to help Pennsylvania regulate potential data centers passed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-165988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}