Pennsylvania State House passes legislation to regulate data centers

The Pennsylvania State House has approved legislation designed to regulate data centers and mitigate their impact on residential electric bills. The bill mandates that data center operators be responsible for the costs associated with additional electricity infrastructure needed for their facilities. It also requires these centers to incrementally adopt local carbon-free energy sources. State Representative Robert Matzie of Beaver County stated the bill would incentivize data centers to provide their own energy generation and ensure their wattage consumption directly correlates with their payments, thereby safeguarding regular ratepayers from increased costs. The measure received largely Democratic support in a nearly party-line vote. This legislative action comes as several data center projects are either proposed or currently under construction in Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Valley region.