{"id":203914,"date":"2026-05-27T22:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/203914\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T22:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:12:07","slug":"gov-shapiro-proposes-plan-for-pennsylvania-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/203914\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Shapiro proposes plan for Pennsylvania data centers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? <a href=\"#Section1\">Let us know!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday announced a plan to attract the development of data centers in the state with incentives for operators that commit to reducing their impacts on the electric grid and the environment.\n<\/p>\n<p>Under Shapiro\u2019s proposal, developers could receive perks like tax incentives and streamlined permitting only if they take steps to reduce their impact on the environment and electric grid, and invest in communities.\n<\/p>\n<p>The governor said he believes the voluntary program would ensure that data centers are developed responsibly while benefiting the communities they\u2019re built in.\n  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve heard directly from Pennsylvanians who are concerned about the impact data center development could have on their communities, the environment, and their utility bills,\u201d Shapiro said in a statement. \u201cThat\u2019s why I am putting clear guardrails in place to hold developers accountable to protect consumers, strengthen communities, and put Pennsylvanians first.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>However, environmental groups are arguing the move prioritizes corporations above the environment. While industry groups say the proposed framework is \u201ccomplicated,\u201d and could curtail development.\n<\/p>\n<p>State lawmakers would be required to pass legislation, including amending current tax laws, to implement the governor\u2019s proposed standards.\n<\/p>\n<p>Balancing the data center demand<\/p>\n<p>Data centers house the computer servers required to run internet services worldwide. While they have been around since the mid-20th century, the acceleration of power-hungry artificial intelligence has boosted demand for larger sites.\n<\/p>\n<p>Though proponents of data centers tout the prospect of increased tax revenue, some local residents are concerned about the impact on electricity bills, air quality and water usage, which in some areas of the country have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cy8gy7lv448o\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">threatened drinking water supplies<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>More than 50 new data centers are currently being proposed, planned or are under construction in Pennsylvania. Last year, Shapiro announced a $20 billion investment from Amazon to build AI innovation campuses across the state, including a data center in Bucks County.\n<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro has also supported legislation that would provide a model data center ordinance aimed at streamlining the data center development process.\n        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2116,451,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-203914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-data-centers","tag-governor-josh-shapiro","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203914","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=203914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}