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Shapiro Signs Executive Order Tightening Rules for AI Data Centers

The order makes Pennsylvania’s GRID standards legally binding so developers must win local approval and cover their own grid and water costs.

FILE - Cars drive past data centers on July 16, 2023, in Ashburn, Va. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
A growing amount of exposed rock is seen near intake tubes at Hoover Dam, where water levels have declined dramatically to lows not seen since the Lake Mead reservoir was filled after its construction, as climate change and growing demand for its water shrink the Colorado River and create challenges, in Boulder City, Nev., April 17, 2022.
Via trivers.com
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Overview

  • Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the order on Tuesday, Aug. 18, making the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) standards enforceable for large AI data centers.
  • The order removes data centers from the state’s Fast Track permitting program and requires projects to obtain explicit local government approval before the state will permit them.
  • Developers must secure and pay for their own electricity, meet water‑conservation limits, sign consent orders committing to GRID rules, and face penalties for violations.
  • The executive action bars state agencies from signing non‑disclosure agreements, creates a public permitting map, and demands community benefit plans and local hiring commitments.
  • Uncertainty remains over how the order will affect projects that already have state permits, including Amazon’s planned campuses, and the move follows similar pauses and audits in other states and federal policy proposals to force developers to fund grid upgrades.