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Emily Scolnick\/Pennsylvania Capital-Star
\nMany signs at the rally targeted Gov. Josh Shapiro specifically, calling on him to limit data center growth in the commonwealth. <\/p>\n
Over the course of an hourlong rally calling for a data center moratorium in Pennsylvania, no single individual\u2019s name came up more than Gov. Josh Shapiro \u2014 who was repeatedly criticized for welcoming a $20 billion Amazon investment last year.<\/p>\n
Colby Wesner, part of the Concerned Citizens of Montour County who opposed a local data center rezoning effort related to Amazon, filed numerous Right-to-Know requests seeking details about the proposal. Those records, he said, revealed \u201chow incredibly cozy our governor and his administration are with Amazon and the data center industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing I haven\u2019t been able to find yet is where and when he sat down with big tech to make friendship bracelets,\u201d said Wesner. <\/p>\n
The event is only the most recent grassroots backlash to data centers, which are springing up across the commonwealth \u2014 and country \u2014 at a breakneck pace, prompting several to call for a development pause. The resource-hungry facilities are necessary to process the influx of digital information, powering new technologies like artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear how much Amazon will get in return for its Pennsylvania investment, but, like other data center developments, it could receive a sales tax exemption diverting millions from the state\u2019s coffers. <\/p>\n
Speaker after speaker decried deals that they said occurred without public notice behind closed doors, only to be revealed by a well-placed public records request. But powerful politicians, including Shapiro alongside Republicans U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick and President Donald Trump, have all touted their support for various efforts related to AI and data centers.<\/p>\n
Megan McDonough, the state director at Food & Water Watch, compared the data center \u201cplaybook\u201d to fracking companies, who tried to come into communities like hers over a decade ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow they want us to hand data centers powered by fracked gas and call it the future. Nope. That\u2019s not the future we\u2019re fighting for,\u201d continued McDonough. \u201cWe show up. We get louder. We get stronger and we do not stop until every sellout in this building understands that Pennsylvania belongs to the people, not big tech.\u201d<\/p>\n
The power-hungry demands of data centers are being used to kickstart future fracking efforts, she continued, while pointing to studies linking increased cancer rates to fracking proximity in southwestern Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same thing that we do over and over again,\u201d McDonough told the Capital-Star. \u201cThe AI data centers that they want to build in Pennsylvania, they want gas-fired power plants to power them. That inevitably means that we\u2019re all on the chopping block for fracking again \u2026 and we\u2019ve had enough. We\u2019ve already suffered enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Capitol<\/p>\n
Perhaps one of the most vocal data center critics in the legislature is Sen Katie Muth (D-Montgomery), whose Senate Bill 1359 would prohibit developments statewide for the next three years. <\/p>\n
Muth was unsparing in her assessment of data centers and Shapiro\u2019s plan for \u201cresponsible\u201d development, saying she would \u201clove to see a data center that\u2019s built responsibly.\u201d But, she added, she has yet to see \u201canything that protects the public from the health harms of these massive, industrial projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lesson of Pennsylvania\u2019s industrial history is clear,\u201d said Muth, noting that Pennsylvania leads the nation in its number of polluted superfund sites. \u201cWhen government fails to ask hard questions at the beginning, communities pay the price for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot afford to repeat those mistakes. Not with our water, not with our air, not with our families and our communities, and not with our future,\u201d continued Muth. \u201cBecause Pennsylvania is not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n
She tied ever-increasing electric bills with the projects, saying average users \u201csubsidize the transmission and distribution costs for infrastructure buildout.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think we\u2019re going to sit by and live next to massive high-voltage power lines, massive hyperscale data centers and then also pay the bill for it, you\u2019re out of your mind,\u201d said Muth. <\/p>\n
In response to concerns about electrical and water usage, Shapiro pitched voluntary standards, known as GRID, which tie tax breaks to sustainability measures and incentivizes companies who supply their own power. Wesner dismissed these rules as a \u201cPR stunt to attempt to show concern,\u201d drafted in coordination with Amazon and other data center interest groups. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut behind the scenes, you\u2019re making sure your friendship bracelets stay firmly in place,\u201d continued Wesner. \u201cThat\u2019s not leadership, that\u2019s duplicity.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ramifications for the November <\/p>\n
election?<\/p>\n
Again and again, speakers warned of consequences for Shapiro if the governor didn\u2019t take action to limit data centers. He\u2019s running for reelection in the fall. <\/p>\n
Sam Burleigh, also of Montour County, pointed to a primary write-in effort for Muth, with some voters casting ballots for the state senator to protest Shapiro. He said opposition to data center projects would be \u201ca major topic\u201d up and down the ballot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s Republicans and Democrats standing side-by-side on this, and whoever wants to stand with the people and stop these things \u2014 or at least slow them down so that people can get ahead of them \u2014 they\u2019re going to be the ones that are in the limelight,\u201d said Burleigh. \u201cI voted for Shapiro, and he\u2019s done some good, but this is one issue (where) the party is not going to matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alluding to Shapiro\u2019s rumored presidential aspirations, Burleigh said that even if Shapiro was reelected as governor, support for data centers would sink that campaign. <\/p>\n
Shapiro\u2019s Republican gubernatorial opponent, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, attacked Shapiro over the Amazon deal in May, calling it a \u201csweetheart tax deal\u201d for former company CEO Jeff Bezos. <\/p>\n
\u201cPennsylvania should pause data center development to give local communities the opportunity to update zoning laws and the Office of the Attorney General should initiate an investigation into the sweetheart tax deal Jeff Bezos and others received from the Shapiro Administration,\u201d said Garrity. \u201cWe need a Governor who will partner with local communities to find solutions that best meet their needs, not sacrifice the people they represent for the sake of their personal political aspirations.\u201d<\/p>\n
But at the time of the Amazon announcement, when she was already considered a frontrunner to challenge Shapiro for his seat in 2026, she called the investment \u201cgreat news\u201d on the social media platform X. She previously pitched rural Pennsylvania as communities that could \u201cwelcome\u201d data centers. <\/p>\n
In a statement, Shapiro spokesperson Rosie Lapowsky said the administration was working with the General Assembly to codify GRID standards into law, but pinned inaction on Senate Republicans. <\/p>\n
\u201c(The Shapiro Administration) is working closely with the House Democrats on an appropriate package of data center legislation that will protect Pennsylvanians and establish strict guardrails to hold data center developers accountable,\u201d said Lapowsky. \u201cUnfortunately, Senate Republican leadership has said they will not take action to rein in these developments \u2014 we urge advocates and others to engage them on the need for legislation to protect our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lapowsky added that Shapiro proposed the voluntary GRID guidance because he believes the state \u201cshould establish strong, enforceable standards,\u201d saying he \u201chas heard directly from Pennsylvanians who are concerned about what data center development could mean for their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shapiro didn\u2019t respond directly to a question about whether he was reviewing the Amazon project, or if the administration would consider a statewide data center moratorium.<\/p>\n
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Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n
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