Harrisburg, PA — Today, Governor Shapiro signed an executive order aimed at restricting data center development. While the announcement is a departure from his broad embrace of data center development, the executive order stops short of pausing development and instead provides pathways for developers. PA laws, as they exist, require local zoning approval for data centers and other projects. The governor’s order does not change or effect that.

Additionally, the executive order does not address the hotly contested tax incentives for data center development that earlier estimates calculated would cost Pennsylvanians over $2 billion in revenue by mid-2031. 

The announcement also comes just over a month after Quinnipiac University released updated polling, which found that 74 percent of Pennsylvania voters oppose AI data center construction in their community, and 34 percent of voters disapprove of the governor’s handling of AI data centers. 

In response, Megan McDonough, Pennsylvania State Director with Food & Water Watch, issued the following: 

“Shapiro is feeling our heat because Pennsylvanians have made it impossible for him to ignore us. After rolling out the red carpet for this industry, he is now scrambling. But these measures do very little to protect the people who will be left living with the consequences. 

“Shapiro knows that he’s been acting out of accordance with what Pennsylvanians actually need — clean air and water, affordable utility bills, and preservation of our rural landscapes — and today was his attempt to save face. But he needed to go further. Shapiro has spent years helping create this problem and a few weak guardrails now don’t erase that record, and they certainly do not protect Pennsylvanians. 

“If Shapiro actually believes these projects pose enough risk to require special rules, then he should stop pretending the answer is to manage the damage while continuing to permit this destructive industry. The only solution to addressing AI data center’s many woes is by placing a mandatory moratorium on all new data center development. 

Part of Shapiro’s announcement also requires data center developers to “bring their own energy”, a popular approach some elected officials across the country have been promoting as a way to protect residents from shouldering the high energy costs of data center development. Meanwhile, a new analysis released today from Food & Water Watch finds that data centers tend to build less efficient, dirtier natural gas plants to serve their off-grid operations, and that off-grid energy generation can still impact grid prices.