Gov. Shapiro Signs Executive Order On Data Centers

HARRISBURG, PA — Gov. Shapiro signed an executive order on data centers Tuesday amid a bipartisan outcry from across the state over lack of regulations and protections.

The order requires all data center proposals to comply with state guidelines as outlined in the "GRID" requirements put forth by the governor's office. Specifically, they lay out energy affordability, community engagement, workforce and economic development, transparency, and environmental protection commitments which all proposals must meet.

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"These are some of the biggest companies in the world," Shapiro said Tuesday. "They can afford to be good neighbors, follow the rules, and do this right."

Importantly, the order does strip the "fast track" ability that data centers previously uniquely enjoyed in Pennsylvania, part of an initiative sold by the Shapiro administration to make Pennsylvania a more friendly destination for developers. Now, the state Department of Environmental Protection cannot officially review a project until local authorities have first approved it.

Data centers now must also supply their own power, and cannot pass off the costs of that onto local taxpayers.

However, the order does not address the three year moratorium on data center development for which both Democrats and Republicans have been vying for months. And critics, most of whom want an outright moratorium and have no interest in hyperscale development for AI initiatives period, say it does little materially to protect residents from the harms of these proposals.

"Shapiro is feeling our heat because Pennsylvanians have made it impossible for him to ignore us," Megan McDonough, Pennsylvania State Director with Food and Water Watch, said in statement Tuesday. "After rolling out the red carpet for this industry, he is now scrambling. But these measures do very little to protect the people who will be left living with the consequences."

The order Tuesday also does not address the tax incentives Shapiro is providing to data center developers, which watchdogs say could cost Pennsylvanians $2 billion in revenue by 2031.

"If Governor Shapiro actually believes these projects pose enough risk to require special rules, then he should stop pretending the answer is to manage the damage while continuing to permit this destructive industry," McDonough added. "The only solution to addressing AI data center's many woes is by placing a mandatory moratorium on all new data center development."

About 74 percent of Pennsylvania residents oppose building AI data centers, according to the latest Quinnipiac University polling, while 84 percent show it no support.

Prominent Democrats and Republicans have listened. Both sides of the aisle have pushed for the moratorium, including State Sens. Katie Muth and Rosemary Brown. Even Republican candidate for governor, Stacy Garrity, has called for an outright "pause" in development.

Republican State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman said the order Tuesday "underscores how afraid he's become over his previous record of embracing data centers, only to find out how politically intense the proposals have become."

Pittman added that state senators were working on legislation to allow moratorium decisions to made on the local level.

"We strongly believe communities need to have the ability to weigh in on what is best for their residents and are open to further discussions, including considering measures to allow for moratorium decisions to be made at the local level.

The Tuesday order comes on the heels of several high profile defeats of data center proposals around the state, including one of the largest hyperscale "clusters" in the country in King of Prussia. That project was rejected just last week.

Brian O'Neill, the developer for that project, has been in close contact with Gov. Shapiro's administration about loosening rules against data center zoning and even urging the right to appeal be stripped from residents, according to emails obtained in a Right to Know request by the advocacy group.

Those emails reflected what data center opponents call a cozy relationship between the governor's office and companies like Amazon Web Services aiming to capitalize on what they hope is a friendly environment to development in the state.