Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro signs wide-ranging executive order reining in data center development
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Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order Tuesday, dramatically shifting his stance on data center development in Pennsylvania, calling out “predatory” data center developers who are “running roughshod” over local communities.
“While there are no AI data centers up and running right now in Pennsylvania, and only five have the permits they would need to begin operating,” Shapiro said at a press conference , “these speculators are nevertheless scaring our communities — being aggressive with township officials, bullying our neighbors and refusing to listen to the people of Pennsylvania.”
While not naming him directly, Shapiro had strong words for the Montgomery County developer Brian O’Neill, who local officials have accused of “bullying” behavior to get his hyper-scale data center plans approved.
“Instead of respecting those residents, listening to them and trying to work with them, that developer is attempting to sue his way into building these data centers,” Shapiro said. “And he is creating this chaos and stoking fear in the community, even though he has no realistic path to getting power at the sites any time soon. Here’s something else he has no realistic path to getting: my support.”
A representative for O’Neill said he had no comment.
The remarks and the wide-ranging executive order are a sharp departure for Shapiro, who had touted data center development in his February budget address.
But as more proposals surface, and local opposition mounts to artificial intelligence and the data centers that power it, Shapiro said he has listened to residents and local officials struggling to beat back proposals that he said “lack detailed plans, have insufficient financing, don’t have access to the electricity they actually need to build these centers and have no agreement with a tech company to use the space once it’s built.”
A recent poll by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center found that 61% of U.S. citizens, both Democrats and Republicans, oppose new data center construction. The research revealed a sharp jump in opposition by 12 points in just four months after a previous survey.
Shapiro is running for reelection against Republican Stacy Garrity, who has called for a “pause” on data center development. He is also rumored to be eyeing a run for president in 2028.