Pennsylvania Lawmakers Advance Budget, Consider Data Center Moratorium and Regulations
Pennsylvania lawmakers are advancing a state budget that includes new policies affecting data centers. These provisions involve increased regulatory oversight of electricity demand, annual reporting requirements for data center energy and water use, and a proposed bill to allow municipalities to implement 18-month moratoriums on new data center applications. The
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is debating a $50.8 billion state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, approximately a week and a half past its constitutional deadline. Negotiations between Democratic and Republican leaders in Harrisburg have yielded a spending plan that includes new funding for public education and teacher pensions, but also leaves several key policy initiatives, such as Governor Josh Shapiro's "GRID Standards" for data center tax cuts and expedited permitting, in limbo.
While controversial proposals like recreational marijuana and skill games regulation were stripped from the main bill, the budget process has advanced other data center-related measures. The fiscal code bill includes provisions for greater regulatory oversight of electricity demand forecasts, mandates annual reporting on energy and water usage by data centers exceeding 10 megawatts to the DEP (with a $10,000 daily penalty for non-compliance), and requires utilities to evaluate advanced transmission technologies for new power lines.
Significantly, the Senate Rules Committee amended and approved a bill from Sen. Jarett Coleman (R-Lehigh) that would empower municipalities to enact an 18-month moratorium on new land use applications for data centers, with an exception for data centers co-located with power plants. These measures arise from growing concerns among policymakers and constituents regarding the environmental and energy impacts of hyperscale data centers across the commonwealth.
Other policy areas like second-degree murder sentencing guidelines and skill games legislation also remain unresolved as lawmakers continue weekend sessions to finalize the budget deal.