PA Environment Digest Blog: Team PA Releases PA Energy, Data Center, A.I. RoadMap, Includes ‘Aggressively Streamlining Permitting,' Establishing Regional Permitting Commissions

On September 18, Team Pennsylvania released a new 10-Year Roadmap for Advancing Pennsylvania's Leadership In Energy, Data Centers and A.I.

Team PA said the roadmap provides a coordinated framework to guide cross-industry action, positioning Pennsylvania at the forefront of this once-in-a-generation economic transformation.

[The plan calls for fundamentally reconfiguring Pennsylvania’s energy generation, transmission, environmental and other permitting and local land use controls with the sole purpose of promoting the development and operation of A.I. infrastructure.]

The Plan says “by harnessing energy innovation, advancements in A.I. integration, and meeting the growing demand for data infrastructure, the roadmap charts a path for Pennsylvania to lead the nation in powering the future, strengthening economic resilience and ensuring prosperity is broadly shared across communities.”

The roadmap sets six strategic goals, including leveraging A.I. to modernize the power grid, deploying 10–12 gigawatts of scalable energy, commercializing A.I. innovation from Pennsylvania’s universities and startups, and creating regional innovation corridors that connect rural and urban communities to growth opportunities, ensuring that economic benefit from A.I. and data centers extends well beyond our urban centers.

It also lays out near-term actions over the next two years that send a strong signal to the market: invest in Pennsylvania.

Survey To Share Your Priorities

The Team PA A.I. Roadmap webpage also includes a public survey where they “invite you to share how you see yourself in the Roadmap, what priorities matter most and how you can help carry this work forward.”

Click Here to take the survey.

Aggressively Streamlining Permitting

Near-term actions (2025-2027) include steps to speed A.I. computing power to market by "even more aggressively streamlining permitting and building a meaningful inventory of sites spanning the readiness spectrum to ensure communities can meet energy-related development and the rising demand for A.I."

The actions include--

-- Establish regional permitting commissions to harmonize requirements across jurisdictions, supporting local municipal officials with effective technical assistance, providing access to expertise and resources to help guide their communities, and facilitating the delivery of permits.

[Environmental organizations, local government groups oppose legislation to fast track large-scale energy generation projects. Read more here.]

-- Accelerate the permitting modernization strategy by bundling approvals for energy, broadband, water, and zoning, modeled on successful frameworks in other states, expanding funding and resources for the Pennsylvania Office of Transformation & Opportunity (PA FastTrack), which conducts inter-agency coordination and transparency for project sponsors and the public alike, and using AI to streamline the process

-- Elevate appropriate “No-Bottleneck Sites” across regions with zoning already in place for data centers, local approvals secured, and clear interconnection options to accelerate near-term construction.

Include detailed energy attributes and new energy technologies such as geothermal, fuel cells, carbon capture, and behind-the-meter generation to guide companies with sustainability goals, clear interconnection contacts, comparative graphics that benchmark Pennsylvania’s energy strengths, and real-time updates on private-sector energy investments

-- Generate an inventory of redevelopment/reinvestment sites across Pennsylvania suitable for data centers, including sites on publicly owned lands with assessments of infrastructure elements, environmental remediation, and other land development requirements, leveraging the Commonwealth’s acceleration of site readiness, the PA Sites program, the existing inventory at PA Site Search, and the expertise and knowledge of local economic development practitioners–attention should be given to a range of data center operation types, to include options suitable for smaller, in-fill sites and/or rural landscapes.

-- Launch AI Infrastructure Opportunity Zones in regions with aligned assets (e.g., sites zoned appropriately for data centers, with adequate power, water, broadband, and innovation anchors such as academic research institutions) to test integrated siting strategies that adapt to the anticipated evolution of data centers and offer targeted incentive packages that primarily focus on speed to market.

-- Establish a centralized AI–Energy–Data Center Ombudsman/Coordination Office to work in public-private partnership with government, utilities, communities, developers, and end-users to serve as a clearinghouse for information, sharing data and insights across organizations and agencies, and a project tracking center.

-- Partner with Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Municipal League to create model Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs), deliver outreach and training to local officials, and equip municipalities with tools to evaluate, plan for, and communicate the value of data-driven economic development

-- Evaluate policy to modernize land use and permitting policy to better align local planning with high-growth industries and A.I. infrastructure needs, support municipalities with model zoning templates and technical assistance hubs, helping local officials update comprehensive plans and permitting codes to accommodate new industries

-- Deploy immersive demonstration tools to help communities visualize the impacts of AI and energy infrastructure, making benefits and trade-offs more concrete for stakeholders

Longer-Term Actions

Among the longer-term actions (2025-2035) to support A.I. leadership are--

-- Investing In A Comprehensive Energy Transformation: This investment means upgrading grid infrastructure, modernizing transmission and distribution systems, and streamlining permitting processes to accelerate new projects.

It also means deploying scalable generation through an all-of-the-above energy approach that leans into best available technologies (e.g., including natural gas with carbon capture and storage, small modular reactors, grid-scale storage). [Renewable?]

Priority should be placed on reliable and flexible power sources that can balance variable demand and ensure sufficient capacity to serve large-scale loads. [Renewable?]

-- Three to five Regional A.I. Activation corridors will anchor around infrastructure that can maximize access to water, available land, and existing infrastructure such as brownfield industrial sites or vacated educational campuses.

These regions will integrate energy, water, and broadband to ensure benefits are shared between rural and urban communities.

-- Pennsylvania will also deepen coordination with PJM and regional utilities to reform interconnection processes, shorten timelines for new energy projects, and create a transparent framework for high-load interconnections.

By pairing A.I.-grid optimization with targeted siting strategies and co-locating generation, storage, and data infrastructure, Pennsylvania can distinguish itself from neighboring states.

Given Pennsylvania’s status as a deregulated utility state that separates generation from transmission and distribution, where generation is financed at developer risk, creative approaches such as conditional incentives, grants, or low-cost financing will be necessary to compete with vertically integrated states that can build more easily and rate-base new capacity.

Pennsylvania will also work with PJM and utilities to standardize data center forecasting and demand reporting to avoid overbuilding or double-counting across state lines.

Click Here for a copy of the Team PA A.I. Roadmap.

Click Here for Team PA’s announcement. Questions should be directed to: info@teampa.com.

Resource Links - A.I. Data Centers:

-- Gov. Shapiro To Convene 13-State Summit Sept. 22 On Critical Changes Needed At PJM To Keep Energy Costs Low, Bring New Electricity To Grid, Serve Power Demands Of A.I. Data Centers [PaEN]

-- Team PA Releases PA Energy, Data Center, A.I. RoadMap, Includes ‘Aggressively Streamlining Permitting,' Establishing Regional Permitting Commissions [PaEN]

-- PUC Chairman: Model Tariff For Connecting A.I. Data Centers To Local Electric Grid To Be Published For Comment By End Of September [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Rewriting The Energy Story — Together - By Stephen M. DeFrank, Chairman, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission [PaEN]

-- NRDC: Another Proposed PJM Plan To Deal With Massive A.I. Data Center Electricity Demands Fails To Protect Consumers, Will Increase Electricity Bills Up To $100 Billion From 2028 To 2032 [PaEN]

-- PA Senate Republicans Introduce Bill To Eliminate Need For Any State Permits, Any Public Review Of Permits Before Construction Of A.I. Data Centers, Related Power Plants [PaEN]

-- PUC: Brace For Higher Electric Bills As A Result Of Soaring Power Use; Consumers Should Review Energy Options [PaEN]

-- Independent Fiscal Office: Residential Electricity Bills ‘Begin Surge:’ Natural Gas Prices Up 71%, PJM Prices Up Due To A.I. Data Center Demand [PaEN]

-- PJM Electricity Auction: PJM Lost 2.8 Gigawatts Of Power Due To Reduced Reliability Rating Of Natural Gas Power Plants; Could Gain 12.2 Gigawatts By Increasing Reliability From Less Than 75% Now To An Achievable 90% [PaEN]