As some residents in Bucks County are grappling with the implications of data centers in their communities, lawmakers in Harrisburg are pushing back against the technology spreading across the state.
State Senator Katie Muth introduced Pennsylvania’s first moratorium bill against data center growth on May 29, aiming to put a 3-year pause on the permitting and development of “hyperscale data centers.”
The legislation would additionally stop data centers from expanding to become hyperscale facilities and curb the construction of infrastructure required to power data centers.
The bipartisan bill is supported by Food & Water Watch, an environmental advocacy group that called for a national moratorium on data center expansion in October 2025.
An analysis from the group found that by 2028 data centers that support artificial intelligence infrastructure could use 720 billion gallons of water annually to cool servers in the facilities and enough electricity to power 28 million U.S. homes.
Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, a senior organizer for Food & Water Watch in Pennsylvania, said that Muth’s bill will give the state’s residents “a fighting chance.”
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“Communities across Pennsylvania are already doing the work Harrisburg refuses to do,” Kerslake said. “They are standing up to Big Tech data centers to protect their water, their land, and their right to decide what happens in their own towns.”
A hyperscale data center, according to the bill, is a facility that is primarily used for the storage, processing and dissemination of electronic data through servers and other related equipment.
“Pennsylvania is not a blank check for Big Tech. These companies do not get to drain our water, consume our electricity, raise costs on families, threaten local control, and tell communities to accept it.” – State Senator Katie Muth
These facilities are also categorized as hyperscale by a monthly minimum electrical demand — 20 megawatts or 1 megawatt, depending on the peak load of the data center.
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Muth has been preparing this legislation for months, first announcing plans to introduce the moratorium in February.
“Pennsylvania is not a blank check for Big Tech,” Muth said. “These companies do not get to drain our water, consume our electricity, raise costs on families, threaten local control, and tell communities to accept it.”
