Overview
- Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on Aug. 18, 2026, converting the administration’s voluntary GRID Requirements into conditions applied by state agencies for data center projects above 25 MW.
- The order creates two tracks: developers who sign a GRID-based Consent Order and Agreement receive rolling DEP review and program access while developers who decline face sequential review, exclusion from permit timeliness programs, and loss of the sales-and-use tax exemption.
- The DEP must not issue permits for covered projects until developers document local subdivision and zoning approvals and consistency with the local comprehensive plan, which makes municipal land-use actions the critical path for timing.
- Agencies immediately removed all data centers from the PA Permit Fast Track Program, banned agency nondisclosure agreements for these projects, ordered a public permitting map, and told the Department of Revenue to condition the Computer Data Center Equipment tax exemption on GRID compliance.
- Key implementation pieces such as the DEP COA template and DOR program rules remain unpublished, creating legal and scheduling uncertainty for developers, lenders, tenants, and utilities and signaling likely follow-up in PUC and PJM/FERC proceedings.