When many of the nation’s governors gathered in Oklahoma City late last month for their National Governors Association meeting, data centers, their power needs and how to meet the challenge took up considerable discussion.
Some was led by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt who was President of the NGA at the time of the meeting. Now a few weeks later, some of that discussion apparently resonated with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro because this week, he signed an executive order which he says will place the strictest guardrails in the nation on data centers and developers.
“We will not be bullied by these developers,” Gov. Shapiro said before signing the order during a press conference in Harrisburg on Tuesday, Aug. 18. “We will not be bulldozed by the lawyers for these big tech companies. That will not happen here in the commonwealth.”
He also issued a stern warning to developers.
“This executive order represents the most stringent requirements in the entire country,” Shapiro said. “And my word to developers is you better follow these requirements. Otherwise you shouldn’t plan to do business here.”
NBC Philadelphia reports the state has 89 data centers planned, under construction or in operation. Just as in Oklahoma and virtually every other state across the U.S., there are rising concerns about increasing electricity costs and the strain it puts on electric grids, all fueled by the growth of the AI industry.
As a result of Shapiro’s order, developers will be required to sign a legally binding consent order to comply with the GRID standards and will face strict penalties if they fail to comply.
“If a developer refuses to comply with those requirements, they will have no pathway of getting the necessary approvals to build a data center in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. “And they will be disqualified from receiving the existing exemption on sales tax on data center equipment that was put in place two years prior to me being elected as your governor.”
