(The Center Square) – Municipalities would be able to bring about a six-month “pause” in considering data center proposals under a bill that passed the state House with nearly unanimous support on Wednesday.
“They need time,” Rep. Greg Scott, a Montgomery County Democrat, said of municipalities dealing with such proposals.
The bill, he said, would help municipalities get better control of a challenging situation.
Sponsored by Chester County Democratic Rep. Paul Friel, the legislation passed 201-1 with the only “no” coming from Republican Rep. Eric Nelson of Westmoreland County. The vote came just before action on another high-profile bill that would put into state law a set of data center standards proposed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The vote on the GRID standards bill sponsored by Montgomery County Democratic Rep. Joe Webster was 134-68.
All but one Democrat – Rep. Greg Vitali of Delaware County – voted in favor of the bill, and they were joined by about one-third of the 100 Republicans. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Democratic Majority Leader Matt Bradford of Montgomery County said “the time to act is past” on data center rules, and he slammed the Republican majority Senate for what he described as a lack of action.
During debate on the six-month pause bill, multiple speakers from both sides of the aisle acknowledged that data center proposals have become a top constituent concern. Specifically, residents are pushing back against pressure being placed on local governments for quick decisions and against lack of transparency.
The Friel bill would let leaders of a municipality declare a “pause” of up to 180 days on considering data center proposals. It would cover those with a peak electrical demand of 25 megawatts or greater.
Other proposals to pause data center development continue to percolate in the Legislature.
A bill filed by Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a Lehigh County Republican, would allow municipalities to pass an ordinance putting in place a moratorium of up to 18 months on the filing or consideration of documents tied to large data center proposals. Democratic Sen. Katie Muth of Chester County has filed a bill setting up a three-year, statewide moratorium on development or permitting of “hyperscale” data centers.
The Muth and Coleman bills are awaiting action in the Senate Local Government Committee.
“Pennsylvania is standing at the doorstep of the next industrial revolution,” Republican Rep. Charity Krupa of Fayette County said on Wednesday, adding that artificial intelligence is changing life faster than any technology in history. It was sensible, she said, to ask, “At what cost?” and give communities adequate time to digest the issue and make decisions.
Northampton County Republican Rep. Joe Emrick lamented the lack of consideration given to a proposal he made earlier in the session day, in the form of a proposed amendment to a another bill. He said it would have created a two-year data center moratorium.
“That would have been more appropriate,” he said, citing deep concerns about the number of data center proposals and the speed with which they are progressing.
