FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 2, 2026
Contact: Alex Downing, alex@centerforcoalfieldjustice.org, 412-229-7234
The Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Standards released by Governor Shapiro this week mark some progress for protecting communities and ratepayers, but come up short of the strong, mandatory regulations needed to truly meet the moment. The program checks some boxes by incentivizing clean energy use, additional public disclosure and community participation opportunities, and the use of technology to limit water and electricity consumption. It also encourages good-faith efforts to negotiate (but not necessarily sign) community benefit agreements. All of these measures are voluntary options available to developers without formal oversight into their implementation. Doing so gives a data center project access to fast-tracked permitting and tax incentives that may undermine some of the economic benefits and community oversight of approved projects.
The GRID Standards also include some worrying policies that weaken the program as a whole. It requires 50 new jobs in the first four years of a project, but does not specify that any of them come from the local community. It fails to strengthen regulations for how often polluting backup generators can be run, leaving communities at risk downwind during high-consumption days. And it does nothing to limit the construction of new fossil fuel power generation in our backyards that threaten our health and environment. Pennsylvania cannot afford to fast-track new developments and lock into decades of additional pollution and energy consumption without the strongest possible protections for residents.
The measures signal that widespread community concerns about data center development are being heard and taken seriously by the administration. However, until binding, protective standards are passed for all new data centers, a statewide moratorium is the only way to prevent rural communities from being locked into a generation of dirty air and water and costly electric bills.