Harrisburg, PA — On Friday, Senator Katie Muth filed Senate Bill 1359, Pennsylvania’s first comprehensive moratorium bill to establish a three-year pause on siting and permitting of hyperscale data centers. The bipartisan bill is endorsed by Food & Water Watch, which was the first organization to call for a nationwide data center moratorium last October.

The bill filing comes as communities across the state oppose dozens of data center projects at the municipal level, including ones backed by Governor Josh Shapiro like Project Hazelnut in Hazle Township.

Senator Katie Muth said: “Pennsylvania is not a blank check for Big Tech. These companies do not get to drain our water, consume our electricity, raise costs on families, threaten local control, and tell communities to accept it. This moratorium puts people before corporate greed, and it is long overdue.”

Food & Water Watch Eastern Pennsylvania Senior Organizer Ginny Marcille-Kerslake said: “Communities across Pennsylvania are already doing the work Harrisburg refuses to do. They are standing up to Big Tech data centers to protect their water, their land, and their right to decide what happens in their own towns. That is exactly what Senator Muth’s bill does. By hitting pause, it gives people a fighting chance and stops the state from letting corporations decide the future of our communities and our Commonwealth behind closed doors.”

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