Harrisburg, PA — Last night, Senator Katie Muth circulated a co-sponsorship memo for forthcoming legislation to prohibit data centers from obtaining a Certificate of Public Convenience and being classified as public utilities under Pennsylvania law.

The bill would amend Title 66 to make clear that data centers are not public utilities, preventing data center developers from accessing powers intended for public services, including eminent domain. 

In response, Food & Water Watch Senior Pennsylvania Organizer Ginny Marcille-Kerslake issued the following statement:

“Senator Muth’s bill is a necessary response to Pennsylvania’s growing data center crisis. Data centers are not public utilities. They are private, for-profit industrial developments built to serve some of the wealthiest corporations in the world. 

“Too many lawmakers in Harrisburg continue to ignore the people on the ground while clearing the path for Big Tech behind closed doors. That has to end. If legislators are serious about protecting their constituents, they will co-sponsor this bill and make it clear that data centers do not get public utility powers, do not get eminent domain, and Pennsylvania is not for sale.”

Muth has also announced plans to introduce a statewide three-year data center moratorium, as developers have submitted proposals for at least 23 hyper-scale data centers in Pennsylvania to robust community opposition.

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