Overview
- Mayor Cherelle Parker signed an executive order on Wednesday that pauses approvals for any new data center or hyperscale projects while creating the Philadelphia Data Center Task Force.
- The task force will be co-led by the Office of Sustainability and the Office of Clean and Green and must include city departments, residents, labor leaders, utility experts, universities, advocates, and industry representatives.
- The group is charged with studying benefits and harms such as jobs, tax revenue, energy use, water demand, pollution, emergency response, and decommissioning and may propose changes to city laws and rules.
- Environmental groups and neighborhood activists say the task force is not enough and are pressing City Council for an immediate moratorium, backing protests and petitions that called for a freeze on development.
- Philadelphia’s action follows a statewide order from Gov. Josh Shapiro and a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission analysis warning that fast-rising data center electricity demand could strain the grid if new supply and transmission lag; the city currently has small centers but no hyperscale proposals.