A decree signed on August 18 requires developers to finance the electricity infrastructure themselves, to obtain the agreement of local residents and to waive confidentiality clauses.
On August 18, 2026, Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05, which subjects all data center projects in Pennsylvania to a set of requirements called GRID (Responsible Infrastructure Development). State agencies will no longer be able to support a project whose developer has not previously signed a legally enforceable consent order.
The content of these requirements is explicit: full coverage of the cost of new electricity infrastructure, without deferral to household bills; upstream public consultation; local hiring and community benefits agreements; strengthened environmental standards, particularly on water consumption. The decree also removes AI data center projects from the accelerated permit procedure, prohibits the confidentiality agreements that have surrounded these negotiations until now and provides for a public monitoring map.
The state lists more than 100 projects in public databases, of which 58 have engaged in formal dialogue with the environmental agency, 15 have submitted at least one permit application and 5 have all the authorizations for a first phase. Shapiro said he first sought to have these rules adopted by law — the lower house voted for them in a bipartisan manner, the Senate never put the text on the agenda.
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