Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on Tuesday, what he called the nation's strictest guardrails on AI data center development. The order immediately removes all data center projects from the state's Fast Track permitting program and bars their future consideration.
The order requires data center developers to meet the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Requirements, which include:
- Energy affordability: Developers must pay the full cost of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution needed for their projects without shifting costs to Pennsylvania households and businesses. - Community approval: Projects must receive local approval before the Department of Environmental Protection will begin reviewing permit applications. - Transparency: Developers are prohibited from using nondisclosure agreements. The administration has also created a publicly accessible map tracking all proposed data center projects. - Environmental protection: Strict water conservation requirements and energy/water consumption reporting. - Local hiring: Developers must hire and train local workers and enter into community benefit agreements.
The order affects an unprecedented number of proposed projects — over 100 data center proposals have been reported in publicly sourced databases, with 58 actively engaged with the state's Department of Environmental Protection. Only five have received all necessary permits.
'If you can't agree to our strict requirements and get the community where you want to build to say yes, you're not going to have the Commonwealth's support either,' Shapiro said. 'These are some of the biggest companies in the world — they can afford to be good neighbors, follow the rules, and do this right.'
The executive order also directs the state's Special Counsel for Energy Affordability to work with the Public Utility Commission to ensure data center electricity demand doesn't raise costs for residential customers, and to establish protocols where data centers lose power before households during grid stress.
The order was praised by environmental groups and local government associations, but the broader fight over data center regulation continues in the state legislature, where Senate Republicans have refused to act on data center protections.
