Pennsylvania EO 2026-05 data center restrictions (2026)
Pennsylvania — Executive Order 2026-05: Data Center Permits Conditioned on GRID Requirements and Local Approval, Fast Track Removed, NDAs Prohibited (August 18, 2026)
Pennsylvania · Pa. Exec. Order 2026-05 (Aug. 18, 2026)
- Status
- In effect
- Took effect
- August 18, 2026
- Applies to
- Data center developers seeking Pennsylvania environmental permits, who must make a legally binding GRID commitment and obtain local approval first; the Department of Environmental Protection in accepting applications; parties to data center project negotiations, who may not use NDAs.
- Enforced by
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; Office of the Governor
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on August 18, 2026, sharply restricting data center development in the state. The order conditions state environmental permitting on two things a developer previously did not need. First, the Department of Environmental Protection may only review a permit application if the developer has made a legally binding commitment to meet the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development requirements — the GRID Requirements — which impose limits on electricity and water usage. Second, and more unusual, the developer must already have local approval before the state will look at the application. That inverts the normal sequence, in which a developer can arrive at a township holding state permits and considerable momentum; here the community goes first. The order also removes all AI data center proposals from Pennsylvania's Fast Track permitting process, and prohibits the use of nondisclosure agreements for data center projects — directly addressing the pattern where municipalities negotiate with developers under NDAs and residents learn the details only after decisions are made. The reversal is striking. Shapiro had been an early champion of data center development, including a $20 billion Amazon commitment to build at least two facilities in Bucks and Luzerne Counties. He said he had 'no other choice than but to take this executive action to protect the good people of Pennsylvania from these predatory developers.'
Who is protected: Pennsylvania residents and communities, through state permit review gated on prior local approval and on binding electricity and water limits, removal of AI data centers from expedited permitting, and a prohibition on the NDAs that have kept residents from learning project terms.
Legal detail
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Executive Order 2026-05, signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro August 18, 2026. THREE OPERATIVE COMPONENTS: (1) the Department of Environmental Protection may review a data center permit application ONLY IF the developer has made a legally binding commitment to satisfy the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Requirements, which set limits on electricity and water usage, AND has already obtained LOCAL APPROVAL — state permit review is thus gated on prior municipal consent, inverting the usual sequence in which state permitting precedes or runs parallel to local land-use approval and gives the developer leverage at the township; (2) all AI data center proposals are REMOVED from Pennsylvania's Fast Track permitting process; (3) NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS for data center projects are PROHIBITED — a direct response to the practice of municipalities negotiating with developers under NDAs, which has been a recurring transparency complaint nationally and is the subject of separate debate in New York and elsewhere. POLICY REVERSAL: Shapiro had been an early champion of data center development, including a $20 billion Amazon commitment for at least two facilities in Bucks and Luzerne Counties; he characterised the order as protecting Pennsylvanians from 'predatory developers'. INSTRUMENT TYPE: executive order, revocable by a successor governor — the same durability limitation as the Kentucky and Nebraska executive actions, and weaker on that axis than the Delaware or Oklahoma statutes. Pennsylvania municipalities had separately been pursuing their own moratoriums (see the indexed pa-pennsylvania-...-municipal-data-center-moratorium-bills and SB 1345), and PA HB 1924 on data center reporting is separately enacted.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Level | State |
| Strength | Stronger |
| Enacted | August 18, 2026 |
| Citation | Pa. Exec. Order 2026-05 (Aug. 18, 2026) |
| Private right of action | No, agency enforcement only |
| Penalties | Permit applications are not reviewed absent a binding GRID commitment and local approval; AI data center proposals are ineligible for Fast Track permitting |
| Topics | data-center siting and energy · government use of AI · consumer protection · AI disclosure and transparency |
| Agency page | Governor Shapiro Signs Executive Order on Data Center Development in PA — Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
More AI rules in Pennsylvania
- PA v. Character.AI (Fake Psychiatrist Chatbot) · Blocked / in litigation
- Pennsylvania Municipal Data Center Moratorium Bills (Coleman · Proposed / pending
- House Bill 2512 — Banning surveillance pricing by rideshare companies · Proposed / pending
- Senate Bill 1345 - Municipal Data Center Development Moratorium… · Proposed / pending
- PA AG — GEICO AI Underwriting Settlement · In effect
- Muncy Twp data center deemed-approval challenge (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2026) · Blocked / in litigation
Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere
- Superior WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Dane County WI Hyperscale Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- Madison WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Manitowoc County WI Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- WA SB 5982 (Data Center / Clean Energy) · In effect
- Dayton OH data center moratorium (180-day, Apr 2026) · In effect
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