Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on Tuesday signed an executive order that places new environmental, transparency and community approval requirements on companies intending to build AI data centers within the state. The order is effective immediately and changes how such projects are processed under state authority.
The state has been a magnet for data center development because of several locational advantages: plentiful natural gas derived from the Marcellus shale basin, established power infrastructure and proximity to large East Coast population centers. Those same advantages have driven a rapid increase in data center proposals, which the governor framed as warranting new statewide controls.
Under the executive order, data centers will be removed from the state’s Fast Track permit program. In addition, any office or agency subject to the governor’s jurisdiction is barred from entering into non-disclosure agreements with data center developers, the governor said on the social media platform X.
"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 the package of measures is intended to limit projects that could push up utility bills and to safeguard Pennsylvanians’ rights to clean air and water. The order also emphasizes transparency and local community consent as prerequisites for permitting new facilities.
The move comes amid mounting public unease about the pace of data center construction nationally. A June Reuters/Ipsos poll cited in the announcement found that only about a third of Americans approved of the pace at which data centers are being built, and that just 14% would back construction of a data center in their own community.
The state’s attractiveness to large cloud and data center operators has been demonstrated by major corporate commitments. The governor’s statement referenced Amazon’s announcement last year of $20 billion in planned investment in Pennsylvania, underscoring why the state remains a focal point for such projects even as scrutiny increases.
The executive order establishes a tighter procedural and public-interest framework for data center proposals, altering both permitting timelines and confidentiality practices for developers operating under the governor’s purview.