Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on Tuesday signed an executive order imposing new environmental, transparency and community approval requirements on companies seeking to build artificial intelligence data centers in the state.
The order takes immediate effect and removes data centers from Pennsylvania’s Fast Track permitting programme. It also prohibits state offices and agencies under Shapiro’s authority from signing non-disclosure agreements with data center developers.
Shapiro said the measures were designed to prevent large data center projects from increasing electricity costs while protecting residents’ access to clean air and water.
“I’m using the full weight of my executive authority to block the objectionable, unwarranted projects and put the nation’s strictest set of protections in place,” Shapiro said in a post on X.
Pennsylvania has become an increasingly attractive destination for data centers because of its abundant natural gas resources from the Marcellus shale basin, existing electricity infrastructure and proximity to major population centers along the U.S. East Coast.
However, growing opposition to rapid data center expansion has emerged across the United States amid concerns about energy consumption, environmental impacts and pressure on local communities.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in June found that only about one third of Americans supported the pace of data center construction, while just 14% backed the construction of a data center in their own community.
Other states have also introduced restrictions. New York imposed a one year moratorium on large new data centers in July, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott paused approvals for new projects earlier this month over concerns that rising electricity demand could threaten power reliability.
Amazon has also highlighted Pennsylvania’s importance to the data center industry, announcing a planned $20 billion investment in the state to expand its cloud infrastructure.
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