Pennsylvania ordered data centers to obtain local approval, meet water standards, fund added electricity costs, and secure power.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro issued an executive order imposing new requirements on data-center development. Projects must obtain local-government approval before seeking state permits and must comply with water-conservation standards.

Developers are also required to cover the incremental electricity costs created by their projects and address their own power-supply requirements. The measures distinguish responsibility for added data-center load from general electricity costs borne by other users.

Shapiro said numerous data-center projects were entering Pennsylvania and that some developers were disregarding community interests. The report also noted that New York had pursued a suspension of up to one year for environmental permitting of large data centers, while Texas had paused approvals for some new projects and initiated a review.