On August 18, 2026, Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05, establishing the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Requirements, legally binding agreements for any new data center project in Pennsylvania to protect energy affordability and power grid reliability, comply with environmental and resource management standards, secure local development approvals, and maintain transparency through energy and water data reporting.
The Executive Order directs the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which houses the State Energy Office, to enforce GRID requirements. DEP will only review permit applications from data center developers that:
- Participate in a pre-meeting with DEP to announce development plans (tracked on this map),
- Execute a binding Consent Order and Agreement that enforces penalties for compliance failures, and
- Secure all local land-use, zoning, and development approvals.
Data center operators will also be required to report annual energy and water use to DEP, including peak consumption and any pollution mitigation and environmental protection measures. This Executive Order directs several other Pennsylvania state agencies to enforce additional guardrails on new data center development:
- The Department of Revenue will ensure that data centers meet new GRID requirements before receiving the existing computer data center equipment tax exemption;
- The Office of Transformation and Opportunity will remove all data centers from Pennsylvania’s Permit Fast Track Program;
- The Department of Community and Economic Development will publish best practices for municipalities on negotiating zoning standards and community benefits agreements with data center developers.
This Executive Order goes into effect immediately. A press release can be found here.