PA House Passed 20 A.I. Data Center Bills, Many By Lopsided Bipartisan Votes; PA Senate Acts On Tax Changes

As of June 26, the Pennsylvania House has now passed 20 bills to give the PUC authority to regulate data center energy use, repeal and condition the state data center sales tax exemption, give municipalities more authority to consider data center developments, promote data center transparency and encourage the  development of more electric generation, improve grid reliability, address energy affordability issues.

The Senate has not yet acted on any of those bills, but late on June 25 did pass Tax Code changes in House Bill 1667 (Takac-D- Centre) that repeals the data center sales tax exemption, eliminates the 6% Gross Receipts Tax on electric bills, makes changes to the Education Tax Credits Program and a variety of other changes.

Here’s a list of what the House has passed so far--

-- Authorize PUC To Regulate Data Centers: House Bill 1834 (Matzie-D-Beaver) authorized the Public Utility Commission to regulate A.I. data centers and other large loads passed by a vote of 104 to 95-- Republicans opposed. (Passed House in March, now in Senate.)  [Read more here]

-- Repeal Data Center Tax Exemption: House Bill 2198 (Vitali-D-Delaware) that would repeal the state data center sales tax exemption for computer equipment by a vote of 197 to 5. (Passed in June, now in the Senate.)  [Read more here.]

-- Put Conditions On Data Center Tax Exemption: House Bill 2650 (Webster-D- Montgomery) limiting the state data center tax credit to A.I. data center developers who follow Gov. Shapiro's Responsible Infrastructure Development Standards (GRID) by a vote of 134 to 58-- Republicans opposed. (Passed House in June, now in Senate). [Read more here.]

-- Authorized Individual Municipal 6-Month Moratoriums: House Bill 2496 (Friel-D-Chester) giving individual municipalities authority to pause consideration of A.I. data center proposals for six months by a vote of 201 to 1-- Republican opposed. (Passed the House in June, now in the Senate).  Read more here.

-- Repeal Tax On Electricity, Utility Rate Reform: House Bill 2224 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) eliminates the 6% Gross Receipts Tax on electric bills saving $1.69 billion annually and changing the basis for determining rates for  electric, natural gas, water and wastewater public utilities to a market-based return on equity unanimously passed by a vote of 202 to 0.  (Passed the House in June, now in the Senate. [Read more here]

-- Community Solar Energy: House Bill 504 (Schweyer-D-Lehigh) authorizing Community Energy Programs to expand solar energy access across Pennsylvania (part of Governor’s Lightning Energy Plan) by a vote of 114 to 89- Republicans opposing.  (Passed the House in May 2025, now in the Senate).  [Read more here.]

-- Encouraging Warehouse Solar: House Bill 1260 (Rusnock-D-Berks) encourages the development of solar energy generation facilities at warehouses and distribution centers by a vote of 101 to 98-- Republicans opposed. (Passed House in March, now in Senate.)  [Read more here.]

-- Encourage Geothermal Energy:  House Bill 2076 (Venkat-D-Allegheny, Williams-R-Chester) to establish a framework for development of clean, safe geothermal energy to meet exploding base load energy demands by a vote of 118 to 83-- 16 Republicans supporting. (Passed House in May, now in Senate.)  [Read more here]

-- Authorize Virtual Power Plants: House Bill 2264 (Davidson-D-Cumberland) to establish a framework for a virtual power plant to use existing energy resources more effectively, increase grid reliability and address rising energy bills by a vote of 107 to 95-- Republicans voting no. (House passed in June, now in the Senate.)

-- Require Evaluation Of Advanced Transmission Line Technology: House Bill 2223 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) requiring the consideration of advanced transmission line technology in transmission projects by a unanimous vote. (Passed House in May, now in Senate.)  [Read more here]

-- Make Available Electric Grid Capacity Maps: House Bill 2429 (Cerrato-D-Montgomery) requires electric utilities to make available maps showing the hosting capacity of transmission lines to allow for faster connection of generation by a vote of 110 to 92-- Republicans opposing.  (Passed House in June, now in the Senate.

-- Retool PA Energy Financing Authority: House Bill 2347 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) making changes to the authority of the PA Energy Financing Authority to take advantage of available federal funding by a vote of 106 to 95-- 4 Republicans supporting. (Passed House in May, now in Senate.)  [Read more here]

-- Update Act 129 Energy Efficiency Plans: House Bill 505 (Donahue-D-Lackawanna) updating Act 129 utility energy efficiency programs and adding natural gas utilities (part of Governor’s Lightning Energy Plan) by a vote of 102 to 101-- Republicans opposing. (Passed House in December 2025, now in the Senate).

-- Tax Credit Changes To Develop Clean Energy Generation: House Bill 500 (Inglis-D- Allegheny) -- the Pennsylvania Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) Tax Credit to develop new clean, reliable and affordable electric generation facilities (part of Governor’s Lightning Energy Plan) by a vote of 108 to 95-- Republicans opposing. (House passed in May 2025, now in the Senate.)

-- Advanced Clean Manufacturing Tax Credit: House Bill 1556 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) authorizing a clean manufacturing tax credit by a vote of 104 to 93- Republicans opposed. (Passed House in February, now in Senate.) [Read more here]

-- Model Data Center Zoning Ordinance: House Bill 2151 (Donahue-D-Lackawanna) directing DCED to develop a model zoning ordinance for voluntary use by local governments to regulate and mitigate the community impacts of A.I. data center developments by a vote of 124 to 77-- Some Democrats oppose, mostly Republicans.   (House passed in April, now in the Senate.)  [Read more here.]

-- Reporting Data Center Energy, Water Use: House Bill 2150 (Donahue-D-Lackawanna) by a vote of 133 to 68 requiring data centers in Pennsylvania to send information about their energy and water use to DEP and requires DEP to aggregate the information and create an annual report on data center impacts by a vote of 133 to 68-- Republicans voting no. (House passed in April, now in the Senate.)  [Read more here.]

-- Reporting Data Center Water Use: House Bill 2246 (Webster-D-Montgomery) requiring data centers to report on and regulate water use, water quality and other information on water discharges to DEP by a vote of 116 to 84-- Republicans opposing. (Passed House in April, now in Senate.)  [Read more here]

-- Reducing Fees On Modular Nuclear Reactors: House Bill 2017 (Giral-D-Philadelphia) reducing fees on modular and micro nuclear reactors passed by unanimous vote. (House passed in February, now in Senate.)

-- Nuclear Power Plant Fees:  House Bill 2450 (Mehaffie-R-Dauphin) increases fees on nuclear power plants to support oversight by DEP by a vote of 199 to 3- Republicans voted no. (Passed the House in June, now in the Senate.)

Related Articles This Week:

-- Hundreds Of Residents From Communities Across PA Dealing With A.I. Data Center Development Rally At State Capitol To Support Bipartisan Legislation To Enact A 3-Year A.I.  Data Center Moratorium  [PaEN] 

-- PA House Passed 20 A.I. Data Center Bills, Many By Lopsided Bipartisan Votes; PA Senate Acts On Tax Changes  [PaEN]

-- PA House Passes Bill Giving Individual Municipalities Authority To Pause Consideration Of A.I. Data Center Proposals For 6 Months  [PaEN] 

-- PA House Nearly Unanimously Passes Bill To Repeal State Data Center Computer Equipment Sales Tax Exemption  [PaEN]  

-- PA House Passes Bill Limiting State Data Center Sales Tax Exemption To Those Developers Following Gov. Shapiro's Responsible Infrastructure Development Standards  [PaEN]   

-- PA House Unanimously Passes Bill To Eliminate 6% Gross Receipts Tax On Electric Bills, Fix Electric, Natural Gas, Water, Wastewater Utility Ratemaking Process To Limit Shareholder Profits  [PaEN] 

-- PJM Interconnection Holds Next Generation Capacity Auction June 30, Results To Be Announced July 14  [PaEN] 

-- PJM Adds New Emergency Procedures To Deal With Strained Grid: A Capacity Advisory; Directive For Data Centers To Use Backup Generators  [PaEN]

-- PJM Interconnection Issues Hot Weather Alert For June 29 In Western Region, June 30 to July 3 For Entire Service Area; 5th Alert This Season  [PaEN]

-- Lt. Gov. Davis Brings Together Utility Industry Experts To Highlight Solutions To Rising Energy Costs

-- Senate Democratic Policy Committee Holds Hearing On Solutions To Lower Consumer Electric Bills

NewsClips:

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Environmental Groups Push PA Lawmakers To Pass HB 1834 To Protect Ratepayers, Regulate A.I. Data Centers

-- PA Capital-Star: PA House Passes Bill With $1.7 Billion Tax Cut On Electricity, Reins In Public Utility Company Profits [Electric, Natural Gas, Water, Wastewater] By Setting New Rate Formula

-- House Unanimously Passed Bill To Base All Electric, Natural Gas, Water And Wastewater Rates On A Market-Based Return On Equity To Address  Increasing Utility Bills  [House Bill 2224]

-- The Citizens’ Voice: Project Hazelnut A.I. Data Center Offers $10,000 To Hazle Twp. Households As An Incentive To Approve The Plan  [4,505 Households In Twp. - $45 Million]

-- Inquirer: Constellation Energy Three Mile Island Nuclear Data Center Power Plant Engineer Manager Indicted On Federal Insider Trading Charges Of Illegally Profiting On Stock Options Related To The Plant Reopening

-- PennLive: Amid Growing Voter Outcry, A.I. Data Centers Have Emerged As An Election Issue For PA Lawmakers

-- PennLive: Massive 3,200 Acre Homer City A.I. Data Center Campus, 4.5 GW Gas Power Plant Swallowing Tiny PA Coal Town In Indiana County: ‘It Will Devour The Future’

-- Republican Herald: Mount Carmel Area Residents Concerned About Data Centers Launch New Grassroots Group Aimed At Giving Coal Region Communities A Stronger Voice 

-- PennLive: Western PA Coal Towns Are Ground Zero For A.I. Data Centers: ‘A Boom Coming’ 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: How A.I. Data Centers Lost The PR War And What It Means For Business

-- AP: A.I. Is An Energy And Water Hog, Here’s What You Can Do To Counter That

-- Utility Dive: Grid Operators Making Significant Progress In Generation Queues, But No Evidence Requests Are Being Processed More Quickly; Fast-Track Policies Promote Fossil-Fuel Heavy Generation 

-- Utility Dive: North American Electric Reliability Corp: Deployable Generation Reserves Shrinking As Coal, Gas-Fired Power Plants Forced Outage Rates Rise

-- Utility Dive: US DOE Orders Keeping Power Plants Open Beyond Their Closure Dates Are Incurring $550 Million In Added Costs, What Are The Benefits?

-- Utility Dive: US DOE Offers $17.5 Billion In Loans For 10 Westinghouse Nuclear Power Reactors; Westinghouse Has Signed Letters Of Intent With 7 Partners, Each With Identified Project Sites 

-- Wall Street Journal: A.I. Data Center Boom Sparking Third Wave Of Inflation - Cost Of Computer Chips - Following Energy, Labor & Constructions Costs

[Posted: June 25, 2026]  PA Environment Digest