PA Data Centers—No Roadblocks, No Special Favors

Companies have announced $90 billion in planned data center investment in Pennsylvania. That’s not a small number. It means jobs, better infrastructure, more energy development, and a bigger tax base for local communities. One project in Cumberland County alone is expected to generate $45 million in annual school property taxes.

But here’s the problem: delays, confusing rules, and organized opposition could push that investment to other states—or out of the country entirely.

Why Data Centers Matter

Data centers will quickly become the backbone of the modern economy. Every time you stream a video, scroll social media, save to cloud storage, or query an A.I. chatbot, a data center makes it possible. These facilities also fund their own energy needs and expand the local tax base, which means lower property taxes and a stronger grid for everyone else.

Many blame data centers for rising energy prices, but their frustration misses the mark. Data centers didn’t cause this problem; bad policies did.

Basic economics teaches that decreased supply and increased demand always result in higher prices. And that’s precisely what brought us to this moment. Excessive regulations, mandates, and taxes forced power plants to close—right when we needed more electricity.

What Pennsylvania Should Do

The right approach is simple: Apply free-market principles across the board. Pennsylvania lawmakers must:

• Speed up permitting for data centers, energy projects, and housing.
• Streamline state and local rules to cut unnecessary delays and legal roadblocks.
• Make data centers pay their own way for energy generation, transmission, and grid upgrades they require.
• Lower energy costs for everyone by cutting taxes, such as the Electricity Gross Receipts Tax.

What Pennsylvania Should Not Do

There is no shortage of bad ideas regarding data centers. Pennsylvania lawmakers should not:

• Impose punitive mandates that function as a backdoor ban on data centers.
• Hand out corporate welfare—no taxpayer subsidies for job training or special carve-outs.
• Play favorites with taxes—end industry-specific exemptions, such as the sales tax exemptions for data centers, rather than adding new ones.
• Enact blanket bans on data center development because they set a dangerous precedent and drive investment elsewhere.

The Bottom Line

Pennsylvania has a rare chance to attract tens of billions in private investment with real benefits for working families and local governments.

So, what role should the state play? Preferably a small one.

It should neither ban nor subsidize data centers. State lawmakers should neither enforce moratoriums nor promise corporate welfare. The best thing the state government can do is get out of the way.

And that principle applies broadly elsewhere. Whether we are talking about data centers or any other industry, the road to prosperity is paved with clear rules, fast permitting, and a level playing field with no special treatment.