Pennsylvania

Energy/Power is the dominant stress point: the entire state debate centers on who pays for grid upgrades, capacity needs, load growth, and ratepayer protections, from the PUC tariff docket to House Bill 1834 and the Shapiro administration's messaging (PA PUC, The Philadelphia Inquirer). Water/Geology is the secondary pressure point: resident testimony and reporting repeatedly cite water use, cooling impacts, and siting near communities and contaminated sites, especially in Chester County (The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Inquirer).

U.S. House: no race has become explicitly data-center-centric, but Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R) in PA-1 and other Philadelphia-suburban Republicans are facing pressure in districts with proposed projects; The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Bucks County Republicans KC Tomlinson and Joe Hogan backed data-center regulation while seeking reelection amid proposed county projects. U.S. Senate/Governor/statewide races: no declared 2026 candidate has made data centers a defining issue as of May 2026, though Sen. John Fetterman (D) publicly opposed a federal moratorium and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has turned data-center power costs into a signature talking point.

No statewide moratorium or ban is enacted as of May 2026. Instead, Pennsylvania is moving toward a regulatory framework: the PUC adopted a modified Large Load Tariff Framework on April 30, 2026 to govern large-load interconnection and cost recovery, after a 2025 en banc proceeding and tentatively adopted order (PA PUC). At the local level, East Whiteland Township voted April 1, 2026 to begin a curative amendment process that temporarily pauses new data-center applications for up to 180 days while it rewrites zoning rules; East Vincent, North Coventry, and East Coventry have also seen local resistance, but not a statewide pause (The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Inquirer).

House Bill 1834 (2026) passed the Pennsylvania House 104-95 on March 24, 2026 to require data centers to pay increased power-system costs, add clean-energy requirements, and contribute to low-income energy programs; it faces uncertain prospects in the GOP-controlled Senate (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Separately, the PUC’s M-2025-3054271 proceeding produced a statewide Large Load Tariff Framework on April 30, 2026 that directs utility upgrades to be recovered from large-load customers, requires deposits/collateral, and provides for six-month interconnection studies (PA PUC).

None identified.

1) Pennhurst State School and Hospital site, East Vincent Township (Chester County) — proposed by the site owner/developer with a data-center complex; contested through conditional-use hearings and resident opposition, status: contested/proposed (The Philadelphia Inquirer). 2) East Whiteland Township / Swedesford Road Superfund-site project (Chester County) — Sentinel Data Centers and Green Fig Land LLC; amended plan would expand to roughly 1.6 million square feet, status: contested and under township review (The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Inquirer). 3) Montour County / Talen Energy rezoning for Amazon-linked co-location near Montour Power Plant (Danville area) — county commission denied rezoning on Feb. 10, 2026, status: effectively paused but still being pursued (Reuters).

No single statewide umbrella has consolidated the issue, but active opposition is led by local resident coalitions and municipal bodies around each project, including the East Whiteland residents group reflected in township hearings, Pennhurst/No Pennhurst Data Center organizers, and county/township planning commissions in Chester and Montour counties (The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Reuters). The state-level consumer-protection side is anchored by the Office of Consumer Advocate and allied ratepayer groups in the PUC docket, while industry opposition is led by the Data Center Coalition on the other side of the debate (PA PUC, The Philadelphia Inquirer).

None identified at the state political-surface layer as of May 2026. Talent and workforce dynamics in Pennsylvania surface primarily at the sub-state and labor-market level — county and municipal proceedings on named projects, regional building trades council positions, and utility commission workforce testimony — which are out of scope for the tracker's state-political-surface read. Request a full RAIL briefing for sub-state and labor-market analysis.

Growing cluster. Pennsylvania is not yet a top-tier national hub, but it has 50+ active facilities plus a comparable pipeline of proposed projects in Philadelphia-region counties; reporting cited 56 active and 55 proposed sites in spring 2026 (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

"Nobody’s electric bill should go up one cent if a data center comes to Pennsylvania," Rep. Rob Matzie (D-Allegheny) said during debate on House Bill 1834 (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

PA Public Utility Commission, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Reuters, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ballotpedia, POLITICO