Pennsylvania moves to rein in AI data centers after community backlash

# Pennsylvania moves to rein in AI data centers after community backlash

By Amanda Greenwood, Associate News Editor. Published 2026-08-19.

Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has signed an executive order, Protecting Pennsylvania Consumers From Data Center Projects, which imposes new requirements on AI data center developers, marking one of the most significant state-level efforts to regulate the rapidly expanding industry as concerns over energy use, transparency, and local impacts grow.

The order implements Shapiro's Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) requirements and requires companies seeking to build AI data centers in Pennsylvania to meet a series of conditions before projects can move forward.

Those requirements include: Paying all electricity costs associated with their facilities; Sourcing a significant portion of power from clean energy; Obtaining approval from local communities; Disclosing key information about projects that developers have often kept confidential.

Shapiro also removed data centers from Pennsylvania's Fast Track permitting program. This is a notable shift, given that his administration previously welcomed major investments such as Amazon's planned $20 billion data center expansion in Luzerne and Bucks counties, according to reporting from The Hill.

Amazon's planned data center projects are not automatically exempt as ongoing developments: the executive order applies to permit or authorization applications submitted after August 18, 2026, while projects with existing permits or approvals can continue under their current status, although existing data centers are still subject to certain reporting and transparency requirements.

"Starting today, AI data center developers who want to do business in our Commonwealth must respect our communities and abide by these stringent requirements," Shapiro said when announcing the order.

Senate Republicans have argued that the shift toward broader state-level restrictions risks politicizing an issue that they believe is better addressed through local decision-making.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman has characterized the debate as increasingly political, while Republicans have generally favored allowing individual communities to weigh data center proposals based on their own infrastructure, energy and economic circumstances rather than imposing a blanket statewide moratorium. Their position reflects a preference for local control and continued investment while still allowing communities to address legitimate concerns about the impact of large-scale facilities.

"Senate Republicans are open to further discussions, including considering measures to allow for moratorium decisions to be made at the local level," Pittman told Spotlight PA in July.

Newsweek has reached out to Governor Shapiro's office for comment and is awaiting a response.

## Why Pennsylvania Cracked Down

The governor said that the growing opposition from residents and local leaders helped shape his decision.

According to Shapiro, communities complained that data center developers frequently withheld basic information, including which technology companies would occupy facilities and where the enormous electricity demand would be sourced, saying, "we've seen an unacceptable number of speculative proposals for data centers swamp our Commonwealth—many of them led by developers who have no regard for local communities."

The new order specifically seeks to end the use of nondisclosure agreements that limit public disclosure of data center project details.

Local concerns mirror those being raised nationwide as AI-driven computing fuels an unprecedented boom in large-scale data center construction.

Lawmakers and community groups in multiple states have raised alarms about power consumption, water use, noise from cooling systems and backup generators, land-use conflicts, environmental impacts, and the possibility that residential ratepayers could end up subsidizing infrastructure upgrades needed to support hyperscale facilities.

Experts say the issue has intensified because modern AI facilities can require hundreds of megawatts of power, far exceeding the needs of traditional data centers.

Legislatures across the country are increasingly examining whether developers should bear those costs instead of passing them on to consumers.

## How Many Data Centers Are There in Pennsylvania?

According to the U.S. Data Center Map, Pennsylvania has 136 tracked data center facilities, including: 94 operational facilities, 4 facilities under construction, 38 planned facilities.

The data shows that Allegheny and Philadelphia counties have the largest number of tracked data center facilities in the state, with 28 and 20 facilities respectively.

## A National Movement Emerges

Pennsylvania's action comes amid a broader national push to slow, regulate, or temporarily halt data center development while governments assess its impacts.

Lawmakers in numerous states have introduced bills that would either ban, restrict, or place temporary moratoriums on new data center development, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

## States With Active or Recent Efforts to Ban, Restrict, or Impose Moratoriums on Data Centers

According to NCSL's July 2026 tracker, the following states have considered statewide moratoriums or significant restrictions on data center construction:

- Delaware: Introduced a Senate bill to place a moratorium on permits for data centers exceeding 100 megawatts until January 2027.
- Georgia: Introduced a House Bill that prohibits local governments from approving or issuing permits for new data center projects until December 2028.
- Michigan: Introduced two House Bills that would temporarily prohibit local governments and state regulators from approving new data center projects until April 2027.
- New York: Passed legislation that would impose a one-year moratorium on new data centers with a capacity exceeding 20 megawatts.
- Pennsylvania: Introduced two bills that would place a three-year moratorium on new data centers and require impact studies before future development can move forward.
- South Carolina: Introduced a bill that would prevent local governments from approving new data center projects until state lawmakers have passed a set of rules governing the industry.
- Vermont: Introduced a bill that would place a moratorium on new data center development until 2030 while the state conducts studies into the industry's potential impacts.
- Virginia: A proposed bill that would delay final approval of new data centers until grid connection backlogs are cleared or until July 2028 remains under consideration.

Several local jurisdictions have also taken action. According to the U.S. Data Center Map, officials in Indianapolis are considering a moratorium on new data centers, while local governments in California, Virginia, Arizona and other locations have paused, rejected, or restricted projects because of concerns about community and infrastructure impacts.

## What Happens Next

While the Pennsylvania House has already passed legislation that would codify the GRID requirements into state law, the measure hasn't yet been approved by the Senate.

Shapiro said this lack of progress left him with "no other option" but to implement the standards through executive action

The move places Pennsylvania among the growing number of states seeking to balance the economic benefits of AI infrastructure with concerns about energy reliability, environmental impacts, and local control.