Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is cracking down on data centers, becoming the latest state leader to scale back support for the massive facilities critical to the future of AI.
Shapiro painted a stark picture of communities being overrun by half-baked data center proposals, even as he stressed that only five such facilities have the permits they need to begin operating.
“These speculators are nevertheless scaring our communities — being aggressive with township officials, bullying our neighbors, and refusing to listen to the people of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said during an announcement Tuesday in Harrisburg. “And they’re threatening to fundamentally change the character of our communities.”
It’s unclear what the announcement means for Amazon’s planned $20 billion investment for data center campuses in Bucks and Luzerne counties. A spokesperson for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Dan Diorio, the executive vice president of state policy and government affairs at the Data Center Coalition, an interest group representing data center developers like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google, expressed concern about what the new rules could mean for ongoing projects.
“In distinguishing speculative proposals from real projects, it’s important that rules are not changed midstream impacting ongoing investment in verified and responsible data center projects,” Diorio said in a statement shared with Business Insider. “Companies have made plans, communities have prepared for economic opportunities, and workers are ready to build the next generation of digital infrastructure right here in Pennsylvania.”
In Pennsylvania and across the country, that AI future has run into a buzzsaw of public dissent. Now, governors in both parties are pushing their states to rein in incentives for data center development. Last month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul imposed the nation’s first statewide moratorium.
Under the order, Shapiro said he was immediately removing data centers from fast-track permitting. Most critically, the order will also offer local communities an effective veto over a data center project’s permits.
“Let me put it succinctly: if the local community doesn’t approve a project, the state won’t approve it either,” he said.
Shapiro, who is widely viewed as a 2028 presidential hopeful, said that local opposition to proposed data centers had shaped his view on the topic. He also said that the legislature’s failure to act “left him with no other choice” but to act on his own.
Shapiro called out projects by name that are unrelated to the Amazon plans. In describing one proposal, Shapiro lamented that a developer wants to build on top of local baseball fields.
“That left field line where parents should gather to watch their kids play Little League,” he said. “Instead, that’s where the corner of one of those data centers was to be built.”
“I want you to know I hear you,” he said.
