Data centers are on the ballot. The House bill to regulate them passed 104-95 and has waited 210 days in the Senate
A Penn State student survey asked 126 legislative and congressional candidates where they stand; 39 answered. The record shows the House's main data center regulation bill split the chamber, unlike the near-unanimous votes we reported last week.
Few local officials are on the Nov. 3 ballot, but the state lawmakers who write the rules for data centers are. Every state House seat and half the state Senate are up, and the people elected will decide how much say towns get, who pays for grid upgrades and whether a sales tax break stays, WITF and the News Lab at Penn State reported Tuesday.
Student reporters contacted 126 candidates for the U.S. House and state House 524 times between Sept. 17 and Oct. 21, and 39 responded, according to the report. Their answers are in the News Lab's voter guide, linked from the WITF story.
Public opinion leans against new projects: a Quinnipiac poll found 74% of Pennsylvanians oppose an AI data center in their community, and the state Department of Environmental Protection is tracking about 70 proposals, WITF reported. Last week, Archbald's council in Lackawanna County unanimously denied a 14-building campus, citing generator noise and health risks.
What the records add
Our Oct. 23 article covered data center bills that passed the House with almost no opposition. The WITF report points to one that didn't.
House Bill 1834 split the House. HB 1834, from Rep. Robert Matzie, a Beaver County Democrat, would have the Public Utility Commission regulate large data centers, bar utilities from shifting those costs to other customers and require a growing share of clean power, according to WITF. It has 44 co-sponsors.
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- House Energy Committee, Feb. 2, 2026: reported 14-12. All 14 Democrats voted yes and all 12 Republicans voted no, including Rep. Natalie Mihalek of Allegheny County, whose seat Democrats are targeting this fall, WESA reported.
- House Appropriations, March 24: re-reported 22-15.
- Final passage, March 24: 104-95.
- Senate: referred to the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee on March 31. The bill page shows no action since: 210 days as of Tuesday.
The tax break repeal is waiting too. House Bill 2198, which would end the sales and use tax exemption for data center equipment, passed the House 197-5 and has been in the Senate Finance Committee since June 26, with no vote. WITF reported that the exemption is projected to cost about $2 billion through mid-2031.
What did become law. The state budget Gov. Josh Shapiro signed in July requires data centers using more than 10 megawatts to report their annual energy and water use, with fines of $10,000 a day for not complying, WITF reported. It kept the tax exemption. An August executive order from Shapiro created a faster permitting path for developers that meet state standards.
Who decides what
Most siting decisions are made by township and borough officials, under zoning rules set by state law, according to WITF. The state Senate also confirms nominees to the PUC, which would oversee data centers under HB 1834.
What happens next
The Senate has two voting days left this session, Nov. 17 and 18, according to its session calendar. Bills that haven't passed both chambers by Nov. 30 die and would need to be reintroduced in January, when the new legislature is seated.