New energy rules for data centers, new capital for startups: Inside PA’s $50.8B budget
Pennsylvania's new $50.8 billion budget includes new compliance requirements for large-scale data centers, mandating annual energy and water usage reports for facilities over 10 megawatts. The budget also introduces new utility planning requirements related to grid-enhancing technologies and expands state oversight of PJM's load forecasting process. Several other proposals to regulate data centers, including repealing a sales tax exemption, did not make it into the final budget.
Pennsylvania's Democrats and Republicans reached a budget compromise, passing a $50.8 billion spending plan two weeks after the deadline. Governor Shapiro signed the budget into law, emphasizing priorities like funding schools, community safety, and economic growth.
The budget includes over $100 million for an innovation investment program, Innovate in PA 2.0, which aims to provide capital to local startups, clinical trials, and innovation infrastructure. It also allocates $193 million to workforce development initiatives, including a $10 million increase for career and technical education, supporting 80 CTE centers across the commonwealth.
Critically for the data center industry, the legislation establishes new compliance requirements for large-scale facilities. Data centers with a peak electric demand exceeding 10 megawatts must now submit annual energy and water usage reports to the Department of Environmental Protection. Furthermore, utility companies planning transmission line projects are required to demonstrate evaluation of grid-enhancing technologies. The budget also expands state oversight of PJM, Pennsylvania's primary grid operator, by requiring it to provide load forecasts and supporting data to the Public Utility Commission for review. Notably, a longer list of proposed data center regulations, including the repeal of the 6% sales tax exemption, did not pass into law.