By Whitney Downard | Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Over the course of an hourlong rally calling for a data center moratorium in Pennsylvania, no single individual’s name came up more than Gov. Josh Shapiro — who was repeatedly criticized for welcoming a $20 billion Amazon investment last year.
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Colby Wesner, part of the Concerned Citizens of Montour County who opposed a local data center rezoning effort related to Amazon, filed numerous Right-to-Know requests seeking details about the proposal. Those records, he said, revealed “how incredibly cozy our governor and his administration are with Amazon and the data center industry.”
“The only thing I haven’t been able to find yet is where and when he sat down with big tech to make friendship bracelets,” said Wesner.
The event is only the most recent grassroots backlash to data centers, which are springing up across the commonwealth — and country — at a breakneck pace, prompting several to call for a development pause. The resource-hungry facilities are necessary to process the influx of digital information, powering new technologies like artificial intelligence.
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It’s not clear how much Amazon will get in return for its Pennsylvania investment, but, like other data center developments, it could receive a sales tax exemption diverting millions from the state’s coffers.
Speaker after speaker decried deals that they said occurred without public notice behind closed doors, only to be revealed by a well-placed public records request. But powerful politicians, including Shapiro alongside Republicans U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick and President Donald Trump, have all touted their support for various efforts related to AI and data centers.
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Megan McDonough, the state director at Food & Water Watch, compared the data center “playbook” to fracking companies, who tried to come into communities like hers over a decade ago.
“Now they want us to hand data centers powered by fracked gas and call it the future. Nope. That’s not the future we’re fighting for,” continued McDonough. “We show up. We get louder. We get stronger and we do not stop until every sellout in this building understands that Pennsylvania belongs to the people, not big tech.”
The power-hungry demands of data centers are being used to kickstart future fracking efforts, she continued, while pointing to studies linking increased cancer rates to fracking proximity in southwestern Pennsylvania.
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“It’s the same thing that we do over and over again,” McDonough told the Capital-Star. “The AI data centers that they want to build in Pennsylvania, they want gas-fired power plants to power them. That inevitably means that we’re all on the chopping block for fracking again … and we’ve had enough. We’ve already suffered enough.”
At the Capitol
Perhaps one of the most vocal data center critics in the legislature is Sen Katie Muth (D-Montgomery), whose Senate Bill 1359 would prohibit developments statewide for the next three years.
Muth was unsparing in her assessment of data centers and Shapiro’s plan for “responsible” development, saying she would “love to see a data center that’s built responsibly.” But, she added, she has yet to see “anything that protects the public from the health harms of these massive, industrial projects.”
“The lesson of Pennsylvania’s industrial history is clear,” said Muth, noting that Pennsylvania leads the nation in its number of polluted superfund sites. “When government fails to ask hard questions at the beginning, communities pay the price for generations.”
“We cannot afford to repeat those mistakes. Not with our water, not with our air, not with our families and our communities, and not with our future,” continued Muth. “Because Pennsylvania is not for sale.”
She tied ever-increasing electric bills with the projects, saying average users “subsidize the transmission and distribution costs for infrastructure buildout.”
“If you think we’re going to sit by and live next to massive high-voltage power lines, massive hyperscale data centers and then also pay the bill for it, you’re out of your mind,” said Muth.
In response to concerns about electrical and water usage, Shapiro pitched voluntary standards, known as GRID, which tie tax breaks to sustainability measures and incentivizes companies who supply their own power. Wesner dismissed these rules as a “PR stunt to attempt to show concern,” drafted in coordination with Amazon and other data center interest groups.
“But behind the scenes, you’re making sure your friendship bracelets stay firmly in place,” continued Wesner. “That’s not leadership, that’s duplicity.”
Ramifications for the November election?
Again and again, speakers warned of consequences for Shapiro if the governor didn’t take action to limit data centers. He’s running for reelection in the fall.
Sam Burleigh, also of Montour County, pointed to a primary write-in effort for Muth, with some voters casting ballots for the state senator to protest Shapiro. He said opposition to data center projects would be “a major topic” up and down the ballot.
“There’s Republicans and Democrats standing side-by-side on this, and whoever wants to stand with the people and stop these things — or at least slow them down so that people can get ahead of them — they’re going to be the ones that are in the limelight,” said Burleigh. “I voted for Shapiro, and he’s done some good, but this is one issue (where) the party is not going to matter.”
Alluding to Shapiro’s rumored presidential aspirations, Burleigh said that even if Shapiro was reelected as governor, support for data centers would sink that campaign.
Shapiro’s Republican gubernatorial opponent, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, attacked Shapiro over the Amazon deal in May, calling it a “sweetheart tax deal” for former company CEO Jeff Bezos.
“Pennsylvania should pause data center development to give local communities the opportunity to update zoning laws and the Office of the Attorney General should initiate an investigation into the sweetheart tax deal Jeff Bezos and others received from the Shapiro Administration,” said Garrity. “We need a Governor who will partner with local communities to find solutions that best meet their needs, not sacrifice the people they represent for the sake of their personal political aspirations.”
But at the time of the Amazon announcement, when she was already considered a frontrunner to challenge Shapiro for his seat in 2026, she called the investment “great news” on the social media platform X. She previously pitched rural Pennsylvania as communities that could “welcome” data centers.
In a statement, Shapiro spokesperson Rosie Lapowsky said the administration was working with the General Assembly to codify GRID standards into law, but pinned inaction on Senate Republicans.
“(The Shapiro Administration) is working closely with the House Democrats on an appropriate package of data center legislation that will protect Pennsylvanians and establish strict guardrails to hold data center developers accountable,” said Lapowsky. “Unfortunately, Senate Republican leadership has said they will not take action to rein in these developments — we urge advocates and others to engage them on the need for legislation to protect our communities.”
Lapowsky added that Shapiro proposed the voluntary GRID guidance because he believes the state “should establish strong, enforceable standards,” saying he “has heard directly from Pennsylvanians who are concerned about what data center development could mean for their communities.”
Shapiro didn’t respond directly to a question about whether he was reviewing the Amazon project, or if the administration would consider a statewide data center moratorium.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.
