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<\/a>PITTSBURGH \u2014<\/p>\nData center development has become a major topic in western Pennsylvania this fall, with residents and officials debating regulations and community concerns as elections approach. <\/p>\n
Kristin Kanthak, an associate professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh, said, “One of the big issues of this election, it seems, is artificial intelligence. For example, we’ve seen the governor candidates come down on different sides of that issue, and parties are really trying to figure out where they sit on that.” <\/p>\n
More than a dozen data center sites have been proposed or explored in western Pennsylvania, and the state is aware of at least 100 proposals across Pennsylvania, most of which are still in the early stages. <\/p>\n
Shapiro, Garrity Stances<\/p>\n
Gov. Josh Shapiro has issued an executive order requiring developers to meet stricter commitments before the state reviews their permit applications. <\/p>\n
“You’ve got to generate your own power, and the developers and the tech companies have to pay for it. You’ve got to protect our air and water, and most importantly, you have to earn the support of the local community first,” Shapiro said. <\/p>\n
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, Shapiro\u2019s challenger, has called for a temporary pause on data center development to allow municipalities time to update their zoning regulations. <\/p>\n
“I heard the same thing. They’re not against data centers, but they want time to get their zoning updated,” Garrity said. <\/p>\n
What Local Officials are Saying<\/p>\n
Local officials, who make zoning decisions, are staying in office as regular elections for Pennsylvania\u2019s local offices are held in odd-numbered years. Some state representative and congressional races also feature candidates representing municipalities involved in data center development. <\/p>\n
In Elizabeth Township, where a data center has been proposed, Republican State Rep. Andrew Kuzma is running against Democrat Dylan Altemara. <\/p>\n
Kuzma addressed the issue at a recent town hall, saying, “I am a state representative, meaning that I represent the people that live here. And if 95% of them are taking a position, I am 100% with them because that is my job as a state representative.” <\/p>\n
Altemara shared a statement at the town hall calling for more transparency in development plans from the township. <\/p>\n
With just weeks left before the election, many residents are still deciding which candidates will best address their concerns about data center development. Some are advocating for stricter regulations, while others are calling for a complete halt to the projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania governor and representative races are both taking strong stances PITTSBURGH \u2014 Data center development has become a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[894,125904,61027,15120,524,2116,93547,20483,125905,125910,72269,125906,76103,125911,2008,6439,28,30,29,73,42321,125908,125912,14251,12883,3415,85,125907,1419,125909],"class_list":["post-306962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-allegheny-county","tag-andrew-kuzma","tag-big-issue","tag-candidate","tag-community","tag-data-centers","tag-datum-center-development","tag-developer","tag-dylan-altemera","tag-election-approach","tag-elizabeth-township","tag-josh-shapiro-stacey-garrity","tag-local-community","tag-municipality-time","tag-office","tag-official","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pittsburgh","tag-proposal","tag-proposal-pause","tag-recent-town-hall","tag-regulation","tag-resident","tag-shapiro","tag-state","tag-state-represantatives","tag-western-pennsylvania","tag-zoning-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306962","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=306962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}