Regulation 2026-08-19

If the town says no, the state says no: Pennsylvania just gave local councils a veto over AI data centres

Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on 18 August, directing every state agency to require data centre proposals to meet a set of standards his office calls GRID, covering energy affordability, environmental protection, workforce commitments, transparency and community engagement. The Department of Environmental Protection may now only review a permit application if the developer has signed a legally binding commitment to those standards and has already obtained local approval. In his words, if the local community does not approve a project, the state will not approve it either. The order also strips AI data centre proposals out of the state's fast-track permitting lane and forbids the non-disclosure agreements developers have routinely asked townships to sign. Developers must enter a consent order with penalties attached. Pennsylvania currently has more than 100 data centre proposals under discussion, many of which Shapiro described as speculative. He tried to pass the same requirements as legislation: the state House approved them with votes from both parties, the Senate declined to bring the bill to a vote, and he issued the order instead.

Why it mattersThe fight over data centres has mostly been fought over electricity prices, but the mechanism here is different and probably more consequential: it moves the decision from the state permitting office to the town council. That is the level at which a project can actually be stopped, and it is the level where residents can turn up. Banning non-disclosure agreements matters just as much — a community that cannot know what it is agreeing to cannot meaningfully agree. Watch whether other governors copy the order, because the developers' answer is simply to build in the next state, and that only works while there is a next state.

✓ Verified · 4 sources

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2026-08-20

If the town says no, the state says no: Pennsylvania just gave local councils a veto over AI data centres

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