Codifying AI Data Center Safeguards: Pennsylvania's Next Essential Step
On August 18th, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an Executive Order directing the Department of Environmental Protection to only review permit applications if developers have made a legally binding commitment to meet the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Requirements and have received local approval.
The GRID Requirements represent a commonsense approach that requires developers to meet strict standards on energy affordability, environmental protection, workforce and economic development, transparency, and community engagement.
Local communities must approve a project before construction begins and must generate or pay for their own power including all electricity and grid upgrade costs. Developers must commit to 32% renewable energy by 2035, follow strict water-conservation standards, hire locally, and enter into community benefit agreements without using non-disclosure agreements. The Executive Order removes all AI data center proposals from the Fast Track permitting process.
But a Governor’s Executive Order is only a temporary measure and isn’t sufficient to protect Pennsylvanians from unhindered development of hyperscale AI data centers. An Executive Order can be overturned by the future Republican governor aligned with NVIDIA, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
We’ve seen this already at the federal level. The centerpiece of the Biden agenda on AI was Executive Order 14401, issued on October 30, 2023, titled “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” But on the first day of his administration Trump revoked Executive Order 14401 on Jan. 20, 2025.
Action is required by state legislatures. Lawmakers can create permanent zoning rules, environmental guardrails, and energy standards that survive changes in the governor's office. Without action from state lawmakers, an executive order remains a temporary speed bump rather than a permanent solution.
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