Pennsylvania lawmakers tighten reins on data centers amid public backlash

Ask Gemini, Google's AI chatbot, whether Pennsylvania politicians are doing anything about the swelling public concern over data center development in the commonwealth, and it answers confidently.

"Yes, Pennsylvania lawmakers are actively moving to regulate AI data centers, with bipartisan efforts focusing on environmental impact, utility costs, and local community protections," Gemini offers.

Humans, however, aren't so sure.

Perhaps no one has taken a more adversarial stance on data center development in Pennsylvania than state Sen. Katie Muth, a suburban Philadelphia Democrat proposing a three-year moratorium on building "hyperscale" data centers in the state. But even after an endorsement from Republican state Sen. Rosemary Brown, Muth thinks the measure won't stand a chance in the state's divided and often gridlocked legislature. She doubts that even lesser measures will prevail.

"I don't see Pennsylvania putting out some sort of progressive policy," Muth said.

David Hess is also skeptical. The former head of the state's Department of Environmental Protection said Pennsylvania has a long history of playing host to extractive industries, including in some of the same areas now targeted for data center development, but residents' concerns about the consequences have rarely prompted action at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. He thinks things may be headed that way again, pointing in particular to the Republican-controlled state Senate.

"I think the Republican stance [on data centers] has been just like shale gas: 'Let's just muddle through and not try to do anything that's going to upset the industry,' which they often do support," said Hess, who now authors a newsletter tracking Pennsylvania environmental issues. "It's the same thing with a lot of the other state legislators. In some ways, I think they are happy to let local officials shoulder all of the blame.

But there are signs something is happening, and others think there's room for a deal.

Nine months after industry and political leaders held a kickoff for the development play at a summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the backlash is inescapable. Grassroots resistance groups rapidly organized, some of them quashing projects. In February, a Quinnipiac survey found 68 percent of Pennsylvania voters would oppose the construction of an AI data center in their community. That included 53 percent of Republicans.

"The magic of AI may be the future, but when it comes to building the physical infrastructure, Pennsylvanians say: 'Not in my backyard,'" Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy concluded.

Politicians have taken note.

As recently as last fall, there was essentially no talk of data center regulations in the Pennsylvania legislature, nor from the office of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, a high-profile guest at the Carnegie Mellon summit. Now, Democratic House leadership hailed the passage of the "first-ever data center regulations" in Pennsylvania, a bill from Democratic Rep. Robert Matzie aimed at protecting consumers from utility-bill increases driven by the electricity-hungry projects.

Several other bills seeking to address data center water consumption and zoning are percolating, with more in the works. Shapiro, meanwhile, used part of his annual budget address in February to promise to protect the public from any downsides of data center development.

And there is some bipartisan movement, with two House Republicans voting for the Matzie bill, and Republican State Rep. Jamie Walsh planning to introduce additional legislation, "grounded in the simple idea that long-term development must serve the public interest and provide real benefits to local communities."

Even some in the Senate are starting to make noise. Last year, Brown was a panelist at a largely industry-friendly Senate committee hearing on data centers hosted in her Northeast Pennsylvania district. Since then, she has ping-ponged from township meeting to township meeting, as nearly a dozen data center proposals popped up in her district. Now, she plans to introduce a "Residents First" package of bills to address public concerns, in addition to signing onto the Muth moratorium proposal.

Brown says she believes there is "truly" an opportunity for some kind of bipartisan policymaking in Harrisburg, especially as consternation over data-center impacts grows.

"I have had strong conversations [with Senate leadership] about my concerns, and the why," Brown said. "My voice, hopefully, is something that can unlock it ... and open eyes to certain people who might have blinders up."

What's on Offer

One potential path toward legislative action on AI data centers in Pennsylvania starts in the House Energy committee, chaired by Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, a Democrat from Philadelphia. That's the committee from which Matzie's recently passed bill originated before receiving a floor vote.

In early March, committee members voted on party lines to advance two other data center bills. The first, House Bill 2150, authored by Democratic Rep. Kyle Mullins, would require data centers to produce annual reports on water and energy usage.

"If the data center industry wants to expand in Pennsylvania and avail itself of our critical resources - water, electricity, and land - the very least among many things that should be required is full transparency," Mullins said in a press release from the committee.

The other bill, from Democratic Rep. Kyle Donahue, would create a "model ordinance" that townships could adopt for data-center proposals.

"House Bill 2151 gives municipalities an optional tool they can use to ensure data centers are responsibly sited and operated while protecting residents' quality of life," Donahue said in the press release.