Pennsylvania Advocates Rally for Data Center Moratorium at State Capitol
Anti-data-center advocates rallied at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, urging lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro to impose a statewide moratorium on new data center construction. A three-year moratorium bill sponsored by Sen. Katie Muth is awaiting action in the Senate Local Government Committee, while lawmakers have also discussed allowing municipalities to enact six-month pauses.
Advocacy groups gathered at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg to protest the state’s rapid expansion of data centers and call for stronger regulation. Speakers, including Green Amendments for the Generations founder Maya van Rossum and Stuart Day of Ohio Valley Allies, urged lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro to stop developers from entering communities without greater local control.
Several lawmakers support giving municipalities authority to impose optional six-month moratoriums, while a bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Katie Muth of Chester County would establish a three-year statewide moratorium. The legislation is pending in the Pennsylvania Senate Local Government Committee. Protesters also criticized Shapiro’s support for the industry before he signed an executive order on Aug. 18 establishing guardrails for data center development.