HARRISBURG \u2014 Republican Stacy Garrity is trying to differentiate herself from incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro on something that\u2019s top of mind for many Pennsylvanians \u2014 data center development.<\/p>\n
A review of their positions shows at least two distinct differences, but also many blank spots where the candidates have not taken public stances.<\/p>\n
Neither candidate has offered detailed plans for regulating data centers. Still, they have taken somewhat different positions on issues such as a moratorium on development and offering economic incentives.<\/p>\n
Shapiro favors voluntary environmental, workforce development and energy standards in exchange for incentives and has been silent on a moratorium. Garrity hasn\u2019t released a detailed plan, but says she favors mandatory rules not tied to climate and a pause on data center development.<\/p>\n
At the same time, both candidates have also accused each other of flip-flopping on their support for data centers.<\/p>\n
Garrity has said Shapiro was data centers\u2019 \u201cbiggest cheerleader\u201d until recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe claims to be putting guard rails on an industry he was championing just a few months ago,\u201d Garrity said at a data center listening session in Montgomery County last month. \u201cIt\u2019s really a massive flip-flop, plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shapiro has not commented directly on Garrity\u2019s positions on data centers, but a spokesperson for his campaign said Garrity has a \u201clong record of supporting completely unregulated data center development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennsylvanians<\/a> across<\/a> the<\/a> state<\/a> are fighting against proposed data centers, citing their<\/a> impacts on energy prices, water availability and property values. A poll<\/a> of Pennsylvania adults conducted this spring found 64% view data centers as a crisis or a problem.<\/p>\n Chris Borick, the director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, which conducted the polling, said that the number of people concerned about data centers is \u201csignificant,\u201d especially in a swing state such as Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven (Garrity\u2019s) standing in this race, the polling, the financial disparity between the candidates, I think she has latched on to data centers as a potential place to get a boost for her campaign and tap into what we\u2019re seeing,\u201d Borick said.<\/p>\n The governor can pursue private investment and shepherd projects through the state permitting system, as Shapiro did with nine<\/a> data center projects in his Fast Track program. They can also sign or veto legislation sent to them by the Legislature, which is scrambling to address growing concerns over data center development.<\/p>\n In late June, both the state House<\/a> and Senate<\/a> passed bills that would repeal a sales tax exemption for data centers\u2019 purchases of computer equipment. The state Senate bill also would prevent data centers from receiving tax benefits for building in \u201copportunity zones<\/a>\u201d\u2014 designated parcels of land where the state encourages private investment through tax breaks.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know about where the candidates stand on the issues:<\/p>\n Josh Shapiro and Stacy Garrity\u2019s data center history<\/p>\n Both Shapiro and Garrity were initially enthusiastic about data centers and the private investment they attract, but have seemingly tempered those positions as communities raise concerns about their economic and environmental impacts.<\/p>\n Throughout his first term, Shapiro pursued partnerships with major tech and AI companies. He partnered with OpenAI to create a pilot program for government workers to use ChatGPT<\/a> and attended an AI summit with Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, where $90 billion of private investment<\/a> in data centers and auxiliary industries, such as energy generation and workforce development projects, was announced.<\/p>\n In June 2025, Shapiro touted<\/a> a $20 billion Amazon Web Services investment to build data centers in Pennsylvania and provided these projects with \u201cfast-tracked\u201d permitting<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now there is a battle for supremacy when it comes to AI, a battle that will be won by either the United States or China,\u201d Shapiro said<\/a> at the announcement. \u201cI\u2019m comforted by the fact that thanks to Amazon, the future of AI is going to run right here through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast forward to February, when Shapiro announced his plan to incentivize data centers to meet environmental and economic development standards.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be selective about the projects that get built here,\u201d Shapiro said at his budget address, where he first unveiled his plan.<\/p>\n Last month, he released more details about those standards \u2014 which include using clean energy to power at least 32% of their operations and writing a community benefits agreement \u2014 in return for access to existing tax breaks.<\/p>\n As state treasurer, Garrity is not involved in attracting big tech investors into the state. But her early comments on AI were largely positive. She lauded<\/a> Amazon\u2019s $20 billion investment when it was announced. The following August, she said that Pennsylvania could be \u201cdoing more\u201d to encourage data center development.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have 88 data centers. Ohio is kicking our butt. They have over 192. And so, you know, we could just be doing so much more in that space,\u201d Garrity said on<\/a> a radio show.<\/p>\n But her tone began to shift in early 2026. In January, Garrity told reporters <\/a>that there are a lot of areas in the state where communities would welcome data centers, but \u201cyou have to engage with them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to talk to them. You can\u2019t just jam it down their throats,\u201d Garrity said.<\/p>\n Then in June, Garrity began hosting data center listening sessions across Pennsylvania, where she has criticized Shapiro for \u201cdoing nothing to address the concerns that were raised by communities about data center development\u201d and letting such developers benefit from \u201csweetheart tax deals.\u201d<\/p>\n Garrity has told reporters she supports more restrictions on the industry, criticizing Shapiro\u2019s GRID proposal for being voluntary, but her campaign did not answer Spotlight PA\u2019s questions about specifics. She also proposed locating data centers in brownfields or industrial sites, away from residential communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not opposed to data centers, but we have to do them the right way,\u201d Garrity said at a listening session in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n Regulating data centers<\/p>\n Data centers are not subject to any specialized regulations in Pennsylvania. Still, they must follow the same state and local regulations as other developments, including obtaining proper zoning status and construction permits.<\/p>\n But in recent months, the Democratic-led state House has passed a slate of bills aimed at regulating and overseeing data centers \u2014 from mandating disclosure of energy<\/a> and water usage<\/a>, to conditioning tax benefits on factors like verifying they haven\u2019t used nondisclosure agreements<\/a> with government agencies.<\/p>\n One of the most stringent bills<\/a> would direct the Public Utility Commission to establish baseline requirements for contracts between data centers and utility companies that would apply to most of the newly proposed facilities<\/a> in Pennsylvania. It also mandates that data centers use at least 32% clean energy by 2035 to power their campuses and directs them to contribute to state programs that help low-income Pennsylvanians pay their heating or cooling bills.<\/p>\n In a news release, a Shapiro spokesperson said the administration \u201cworked closely\u201d with the prime sponsor of the bill to \u201cestablish baseline standards for how data centers should operate,\u201d but stopped short of endorsing the bill.<\/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 Rosie Lapowsky, spokesperson for the administration, said in a statement to Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n But Shapiro\u2019s own signature data center proposal takes a different approach, tying an existing economic incentive \u2014 a sales and use tax exemption for data centers\u2019 purchases of computer equipment and tax breaks associated with designated parcels of land \u2014 to meeting environmental, economic and energy standards.<\/p>\n He would need the state Legislature to buy in to do so. The state House has already passed a bill that includes these standards; however, the state Senate has yet to do so. (The state House also passed a conflicting bill that would repeal the tax exemption.)<\/p>\n Shapiro\u2019s standards, also known as GRID<\/a>, include creating at least 200 construction jobs, paying $1.5 million annually in total wages, and bringing or paying for the energy they use. Data centers that meet these standards would also have access to fast-tracked permitting.<\/p>\n Notably, these standards would be voluntary.<\/p>\n Garrity has not specified what kinds of regulations she would support, but criticized Shapiro\u2019s GRID standards for being voluntary. She said she would mandate regulations for developers.<\/p>\n \u201c(Shapiro\u2019s regulations) are voluntary. They\u2019re for tax breaks,\u201d Garrity told reporters at her data center listening session in Montgomery County in June. \u201cI\u2019m saying no, they absolutely have to.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement to Spotlight PA, Garrity said that while she wants a framework to address data center development, she does not support the \u201cclean energy mandate\u201d included in the GRID standards bill.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be utilizing the abundant natural gas resources under our feet that currently accounts for 60% of Commonwealth\u2019s electricity generation,\u201d Garrity said.<\/p>\n Garrity pointed to a development in Homer City, where a former coal plant is being converted to provide energy for data centers, as a positive example. She added there are many rural sites, including brownfields, that would benefit from data center developers\u2019 investments.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is improving in the community. It\u2019s going to add housing, it\u2019s going to add jobs,\u201d Garrity said. \u201cNot everybody\u2019s happy with it, but there\u2019s a lot less contention.\u201d<\/p>\n Economic incentives<\/p>\n Data centers have access to a few major economic incentive programs in Pennsylvania, and there\u2019s growing support in the Legislature to restrict access to some of them.<\/p>\n In 2021, the state Legislature amended an existing sales and use tax exemption for data centers, allowing them to claim an unlimited refund on the sales tax of computer equipment purchases.<\/p>\n Data centers aren\u2019t mandated to disclose their spending, so it\u2019s unclear how much the state has lost in tax revenue due to the exemption. But in Shapiro\u2019s latest budget projections<\/a>, he estimates that the exemption will have cost the state $2 billion by 2031.<\/p>\n Both the state House and state Senate passed separate legislation that would repeal the exemption in the past month, but neither bill has passed the other chamber.<\/p>\n Garrity said she would support appealing the exemption.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, my goodness, even Ohio has paused that,\u201d Garrity told reporters at the same listening session in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n Shapiro did not respond to Spotlight PA\u2019s inquiry as to whether he would support repealing the exemption. His GRID plan calls on lawmakers to amend the exemption so only data centers that meet his requirements can access the tax break.<\/p>\n Shapiro\u2019s plan also proposed that lawmakers change economic opportunity zone programs, which allow investors to receive tax breaks if they build projects in specific places, so that data centers could only access the program if they meet GRID standards.<\/p>\n The state Senate recently passed legislation that would prohibit data centers that were built from February on from accessing those tax breaks.<\/p>\n When asked by Spotlight PA about whether she supports changing the opportunity zone program, Garrity said she does \u201cnot believe data center development should receive special tax incentives.\u201d She previously told reporters there should be \u201cno more sweetheart tax deals\u201d for developers benefiting billionaires and their companies that are building these centers, such as Jeff Bezos and Amazon Web Services.<\/p>\n Moratorium on data center development<\/p>\n State lawmakers have introduced a bevy<\/a> of<\/a> bills that would enact moratoriums on data center development. Some give municipalities<\/a> the option to enact a moratorium for a few months while others create a blanket moratorium across the state for three years<\/a>.<\/p>\n While none of these bills have passed through both chambers, the state House passed the bill<\/a> allowing temporary local moratoriums at the end of June and it was subsequently voted through in the Senate Local Government Committee.<\/p>\n Garrity said she would support a \u201cpause\u201d in data center development for \u201chowever long it takes\u201d so townships could update zoning requirements and plan emergency services needs related to data centers.<\/p>\n She emphasized, however, that she would not support a moratorium lasting three years or longer, but did not specify how long a pause should last.<\/p>\n The difference, she says, is that \u201ca moratorium is a definitive period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro\u2019s campaign did not respond to questions about whether he would support a moratorium on data center development.<\/p>\n Spotlight PA<\/a> is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for free newsletters at spotlightpa.org\/newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before you go, if you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you<\/a> who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG \u2014 Republican Stacy Garrity is trying to differentiate herself from incumbent Democratic Gov. 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