Graded Light and tightening. 13 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
The PUC model tariff (final order May 13, 2026) describes deposits and six-month studies but is guidance only, so utilities still set their own study terms.
The PUC's May 13, 2026 model large-load tariff has no binding terms, and the July 2026 budget only added PJM forecast oversight.
Executive Order 2026-05 (August 18, 2026) holds DEP permits for 25 MW projects until local zoning approval, a statewide sequencing rule short of a ban.
The sales tax exemption survived the July 2026 budget intact; the May 27, 2026 GRID standards add conditions only for streamlined permitting.
The July 2026 budget mandates energy and water reporting above 10 MW and Executive Order 2026-05 bars state agencies from project NDAs.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Pennsylvania moved from recruiting data centers to conditioning them during 2026. Executive Order 2026-05 (18 August 2026) took data centers above 25 MW out of the permit fast-track program and holds state environmental permits until local zoning approvals are in hand. The July 2026 budget added only an energy and water reporting duty for facilities above 10 MW and left the sales tax exemption on data center equipment in place, even though the House voted 197-5 to repeal it. The Public Utility Commission's model large-load tariff (50 MW, or 100 MW in aggregate) is guidance for utilities, not a binding rule, and on 15 October 2026 the governor moved to intervene in the Consumer Advocate's complaint against PPL Electric's large-load tariff, the first contested test of how that guidance applies to an actual filing.
House-passed bills (local 180-day pause, GRID standards, exemption repeal) and the Senate's 18-month local moratorium bill (SB 1345) had no floor action found through 23 October 2026 and die if not enacted before the 2025-26 session ends on 30 November 2026; the 3 November election covers the governor and legislature. A prehearing conference in the PPL large-load tariff complaint is set for 3 November 2026, the live PUC venue for the executive order's curtailment-first and PJM backstop cost asks, which have no deadline. Advocates rallied on 6 October for SB 1359's statewide three-year moratorium, which has no vote scheduled. Annual energy and water reporting under the executive order starts 1 July 2027.
No. As of 23 October 2026 no statewide or local moratorium on data centers is in force in Pennsylvania. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Pennsylvania is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. Governor's order puts local approval first; tax exemption survives, legislature deadlocked. The outlook above says what is pending.
Pennsylvania sits in PJM. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. Pennsylvania's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 23 October 2026, though the items below show what is pending.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Pennsylvania scores grid connection 2, power rates 2, siting and land use 3, tax treatment 2, permits and water 3, a mean of 2.4. The most regulated line is siting and land use: Executive Order 2026-05 (August 18, 2026) holds DEP permits for 25 MW projects until local zoning approval, a statewide sequencing rule short of a ban.
13 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
SB 1359 would halt new hyperscale data center development statewide for three years so local officials can assess risks and enact protections. Sen. Rosemary Brown's attempt to substitute it for SB 1345 failed 9-2 in the Senate Local Government Committee on 30 June 2026. Advocates rallied for it at the Capitol on 6 October 2026; no vote is scheduled. Lawmakers have introduced at least 80 data center bills this session and few have become law. The governor's office counts at least 100 proposed projects statewide.
Source: newsfromthestates.comOn 15 October 2026 Governor Shapiro moved to intervene in the Office of Consumer Advocate's complaint at the PUC against PPL Electric's large-load tariff, arguing it does not adequately protect existing customers from data center costs. A prehearing conference is set for 3 November 2026. This is the first contested test of how the PUC's model tariff guidance applies to a utility's actual filing.
Source: aidatacenterinsights.substack.comOn 21 October 2026 Archbald's borough council unanimously rejected a zoning request for the 14-building Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus, according to WVIA as relayed by AI Data Center Insights; the borough had posted no written decision as of 22 October. Reported secondhand; confirm against WVIA or borough minutes.
Source: aidatacenterinsights.substack.comSigned 18 August 2026 for data centers above 25 MW. DEP will not issue permits until local zoning and land development approvals are in place, data centers are removed from the PA Permit Fast Track program, state agencies may not sign project NDAs, and operators must report energy and water use annually from 1 July 2027. Developers who sign a consent order adopting the GRID standards get rolling permit review. The order also presses the PUC for curtailment-first rules and for assigning PJM backstop costs to data centers.
Source: klgates.comThe $50.8 billion budget deal enacted one data center measure: facilities using more than 10 MW must disclose energy and water use. The sales tax exemption, projected to cost about $2 billion by mid-2031, was left unchanged.
Source: spotlightpa.orgThe budget's code bill also gives state regulators more oversight of PJM load forecasts, which may be inflated by speculative data center requests, and requires utilities to show the PUC they considered advanced transmission technologies before building new lines.
Source: alleghenyfront.orgRep. Rob Matzie's bill would make data centers pay for distribution infrastructure and early termination fees, bar utilities from passing data center costs to other ratepayers and require about a third of supply from clean sources. As of July 2026 it had not reached the governor.
Source: spotlightpa.orgSen. Jarrett Coleman's bill would let municipalities pause new and unapproved applications for data centers of 25 MW or more of critical IT load for 18 months, by resolution. The Senate Local Government Committee advanced it 10-1 on 30 June 2026 after rejecting, 9-2, an amendment to replace it with a statewide halt, and it cleared the Senate Rules Committee 13-4 in July 2026. It got no floor vote before the budget passed and none had been reported as of 6 October 2026. House companion: HB 2533.
Source: fox56.comOn 24 June 2026 the House passed HB 2496 (201-1), letting municipalities pause data center applications for 180 days while they rewrite ordinances, and HB 2650 (134-68), making the sales tax exemption conditional on state certification: 32 percent in-state clean energy by 2035, $250 million investment, 200 prevailing-wage construction jobs. The Senate Local Government Committee approved HB 2496 on 30 June 2026, but neither bill got a Senate floor vote.
Source: fox56.comThe House voted 197-5 on 25 June 2026 to repeal the 6 percent sales and use tax exemption on data center computer equipment, projected to cost $517 million a year by 2030. The repeal was not in the final budget and the exemption remains.
Source: penncapital-star.comReleased 27 May 2026. To receive state tax benefits and streamlined permitting, developers commit to cover their own energy costs without raising other ratepayers' bills, run community outreach, invest at least $250 million with community benefit agreements, and file a water and energy sustainability plan.
Source: babstcalland.comAdopted 30 April 2026, final order released 13 May 2026. Applies to customers above 50 MW, or 100 MW in aggregate, with no reduction for behind-the-meter generation. Covers deposits and collateral, contributions for upgrades, load ramps, minimum contract terms, exit provisions, public queue information and six-month interconnection studies. It is guidance for utility tariff filings, not a binding rule.
Source: puc.pa.govOn 10 February 2026 the three county commissioners unanimously refused to rezone more than 800 acres from agricultural to industrial for a data center and an expansion of Talen's power plant. Talen said it would revise its plans.
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