Thursday PA Environment & Energy Articles - NewsClips: 2.26.26

"The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

-- Article I, Section 27 Pennsylvania Constitution  [It’s Not A Suggestion]

Senate Voting Schedule

Budget Hearings: Thru March 5

March 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25

April 20, 21, 22

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30

-- Committee Schedule

House Voting Schedule

Budget Hearings: Thru March 12

March. 23, 24, 25

April 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

September 28, 29, 30

October 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21

November 9, 10

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 

TODAY 1:00: Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Department of Environmental Protection.  Click Here to watch online.   [DEP FY 2026-27 Legislative Budget Document]

March 2-- NEW. House Energy Committee meets to consider House Bill 2150 (Mullins-D- Lackawanna) requiring energy consumption and water use by data centers [Draft Amendment], House Bill 2151 (Donahue-D-Lackawanna) directing DCED to develop Model Data Center Zoning Ordinance and provide assistance to municipalities [Draft Amendment]. Room G-50 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

March 2-- NEW. House Energy Committee informational meeting on net metering policies. Room G-50 Irvis Building. 10:30 a.m.  to Noon. Click Here to watch online.

March 2-- House Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources. Click Here to watch live.

March 3-- Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Public Utility Commission.  

March 5-- House Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Public Utility Commission. Click Here to watch live.

March 16-- NEW. House Energy Committee hearing on House Bill 2223 (Fiedler-D- Philadelphia) advanced transmission technologies [Draft Bill], House Bill 2225 (Davidson) virtual power plants [Draft Bill]  Room G-50 Irvis Building.  Noon to 2:30 p.m. Click Here to watch online.

March 18--  CANCELED. Rescheduled for April 30. DEP Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board meeting. 10:00 a.m. Contact: Todd M. Wallace twallace@pa.gov.  (formal notice)

March 23-- NEW. House Energy Committee informational meeting on the PA Energy Development Authority. Room G-50 Irvis Building.  10:30 to 11:30 a.m.  Click Here to watch online.

March 24-- NEW. House Energy Committee hearing on House Bill 2076 (Venkat-D-Allegheny) establishing a regulatory framework for geothermal energy for residential, commercial and industrial uses. Room B-31 Main Capital. 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch online.

April 16-- DCED PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council meeting.  Penn State, State College.  10:00.  Contact: Adam Walters 717-214-6548 or adwalters@pa.gov. 

-- PA Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Dr. Lauren Minsky - People’s Cancer Incidence Screening Tool Reports Cancer Rates In Washington County Up To 16 Times Higher Than PA Averages  [PaEN] 

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports 2025 PA Natural Gas Production Up 5.1% Over 2024; Average Natural Gas Prices Up 70.9% From 2024  [PaEN] 

-- Kleinman Center For Energy Policy: Heat Stress And Urban Resilience: Alternative Cooling Strategies To Combat Extreme Heat In The Urban Environment 

-- DCNR Invests $905,846 In Volunteer Fire Companies To Help Protect Rural Communities From Wildfires; PA Now Entering Peak Wildfire Season  [PaEN] 

-- DCNR Grants News: New Funding Opportunities; New Publication-Financing Municipal Parks & Recreation In PA 

-- WeConservePA: 2027 PA Greenways & Trails Summit To Be Held In Tioga County 

A.I. /Data Centers

-- Quinnipiac University Poll: 68% Of Pennsylvanians Oppose Building An A.I. Data Center In Their Community

-- Scranton Times: NE PA Lawmakers Target A.I. Data Centers, Back Moratoriums [PDF of Article] 

-- Morning Call: Developers Propose ‘Responsible’ A.I. Data Center In Lower Mount Bethel Twp.,  Northampton County; Neighbors Are Skeptical

-- Morning Call: Upper Saucon Twp., Lehigh County Adopts Ordinance Setting Limits On A.I. Data Centers

-- Morning Call: Zoning Hearing Delayed As Air Products Continues Upper Macungie A.I. Data Center Plan Review

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: PECO’s Profits Skyrocket Almost 50% After 2025 Rate Hikes 

 

-- Canary Media: Pittsburgh Region Form Energy To Power Google A.I. Data Center In Minnesota  [Why Don’t We Do This In PA?]

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Form Energy To Supply Batteries For World’s Largest Energy Storage Project

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: President Said A.I. Data Centers Should Build Their Owner Power Source, But Offers No Details

-- WTAE: President Says Tech Companies Pledge To Supply Their Own Power Supply For A.I. Data Centers

Other States/National

-- The Guardian: North Dakota Judge Orders Greenpeace To Pay Energy Transfer/Sunoco $345 Million Over 2016 Protests Against Dakota Access Oil Pipeline; Group Says Case Is Far From Over

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- PA Capital-Star: Democrats Maintain House Majority Winning Allegheny, Lehigh County Special Elections; 3 More Special Elections For Seats Vacated By Republicans Up Next 

-- PennLive: Quinnipiac University Poll: Shapiro Has Nearly 20 Point Lead Over Garrity In Governor’s Race 

-- Inquirer: Quinnipiac University Poll: Shapiro’s Presidential Prospects; Fetterman’s Eye-Popping Numbers: Highlights Of New PA Poll

-- Quinnipiac University Poll: 68% Of Pennsylvanians Oppose Building An A.I. Data Center In Their Community

-- WITF: Hospital Closures, Fraud, Federal Health Cuts Spotlighted In PA Senate Budget Hearing

-- The Center Square: Medical Debt, Charity Care Costs Loom Large Over PA Health Insurance Rates 

-- PA Capital-Star: Gov. Shapiro Joins Democratic AGs Suing President’s CDC Over Change In Childhood Vaccine Recommendation  

-- WNEP: Gov. Shapiro Visits Mosque In Pike County After It Was Shot At Multiple Times 

-- Spotlight PA: Crowd Rallies At First Protest Against Planned ICE Warehouse Detention Facility In Upper Bern, Berks County

-- Spotlight PA: President’s ICE Planning Warehouse Detention Facilities For PA, Will The Shapiro Administration Sue To Stop Them?

-- AP: Lawyers Say Quakertown H.S. Student Protestors Did Not Know A Man Who Joined ICE Protest Was The Quakertown Police Chief

-- Inquirer Editorial: Quakertown Police Mimic President’s ICE Brutality In High School Protest Arrests 

-- WESA: Pittsburgh Somali Bantu Leaders Say President’s Rhetoric, ICE Crackdown Has Residents Fearful

-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Guess Essay: In 2025 The President Set The Policies, In 2026 Those Policies Will Deliver The Payoff - By Republican Con. Dan Meuser

-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Editorial: US Supreme Court’s Tariff Ruling Welcome, But It Doesn’t Undo The Damage Tariffs Did, Doesn’t Prevent Worse To Come 

-- Morning Call/AP: President’s Portrayal Of ‘Golden Age’ Is Out Of Sync With What Americans See In The Economy Every Day

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[Posted: February 26, 2026]  PA Environment Digest