pa-56-36-1274: Protecting Pennsylvania consumers from data center impacts

Summary

August 18, 2026 Whereas , Pennsylvania has seen significant interest in the development of data centers within the Commonwealth; and Whereas , most of these proposals are speculative in nature, with no identified end user, but comprise plans that, if realized, would add significant burdens to the local community including energy costs, noise pollution, and more absent sufficient efforts to mitigate those impacts; and Whereas , while there are reports of over 100 data center facilities having been proposed in Pennsylvania, as of the effective date of this Executive Order, the Department of Environmental Protection has received permit applications related to 20 proposed data center facilities in this Commonwealth, and there are 14 existing or in-development data center locations with an active certificate of exemption from the Department of Revenue under the Computer Data Center Equipment Program authorized under Article XXIX-D of the Act of March 4, 1971, P.L. 6, No. 2, known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971; and Whereas , in its 2025 Load Forecast, PJM Interconnection (PJM) projected 74 GW of summer peak electric load growth on the PJM regional grid through 2045, primarily driven by data center development; and Whereas , due almost entirely to demand from prospective data centers, prices in the electric capacity market operated by PJM have surged to record highs, and the settling prices of the last three base residual capacity auctions have been curtailed only because of...

The agency’s own summary, as published.