Pa. election 2026: Where governor candidates Garrity and Shapiro stand on data centers
Pennsylvania's gubernatorial candidates, Stacy Garrity and Gov. Josh Shapiro, are taking different stances on data center development ahead of the 2026 election, with public concern over environmental and economic impacts growing. Garrity advocates for mandatory regulations and a development pause, criticizing Shapiro's voluntary standards. Shapiro proposes voluntary environmental and energy standards tied to incentives and has previously fast-tracked some projects, including Amazon's.
Pennsylvania's 2026 gubernatorial election features data center development as a key issue, with Republican Stacy Garrity and incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro presenting differing approaches. Garrity advocates for mandatory regulations and a "pause" on data center development to allow townships to update zoning and emergency services, though she opposes a long-term moratorium or clean energy mandates, favoring natural gas. She has criticized Shapiro for initially championing the industry and then proposing voluntary "guard rails," while also opposing "sweetheart tax deals" for developers like Amazon Web Services.
Conversely, Governor Shapiro, who previously fast-tracked nine data center projects and touted a $20 billion Amazon investment, now proposes voluntary environmental, workforce, and energy standards (known as GRID standards) in exchange for existing tax incentives. These standards include using at least 32% clean energy and community benefit agreements. His administration is also working with the state House on an "appropriate package" of data center legislation. Both candidates initially supported the industry but have tempered their positions due to growing public concerns over energy prices, water availability, and property values, with a recent poll showing 64% of Pennsylvanians view data centers as a crisis or problem.
The state legislature is also active, with both the House and Senate passing bills to repeal sales tax exemptions for data centers' computer equipment, though neither has passed both chambers. The Senate also passed legislation to prevent data centers built after February 2026 from accessing "opportunity zone" tax breaks. While Shapiro's GRID plan would amend existing tax breaks to be conditional on meeting standards, Garrity explicitly supports repealing the sales tax exemption and generally opposes special tax incentives for data centers. Bills proposing statewide or local moratoriums are also moving through the legislature.