PA Environmental Council In Case You Missed It In June Now Available - A.I. Data Center Guardrails

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council’s In Case You Missed It In June is now available featuring articles on--

A.I. Data Center Guardrails

As budget negotiations dominated the General Assembly, House-approved bills addressing energy infrastructure and data center development continued to pile up in the Senate last month. 

All passed the House comfortably with broad bipartisan majorities:

-- HB 2650, codifying the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) principles for data center projects, approved June 24

-- HB 2496, enabling municipalities to impose a 180-day moratorium on data center development, approved June 24 by the full House and June 30 by the Senate Local Government Committee

-- HB 2359, enacting new transparency and public input requirements for local governments considering data center proposals, approved June 30 by the House

The newly-approved measures join several others passed by the House last spring in the Senate backlog, including two bills on which PEC provided significant input--

--  HB 2223, which requires utilities to consider emerging Advanced Transmission Technologies (ATTs) in infrastructure planning, and 

-- HB 1834, establishing consumer cost protections and requiring data centers to procure clean-firm energy sources. 

Other House-approved proposals address water usage by data centers and local control in zoning and land use decisions.

PEC urges the Senate to act swiftly on these bipartisan priorities, and encourages all Pennsylvanians to do the same. 

To that end, we've created a tool that makes it easy for constituents to reach their Senator with a message of support for House Bill 1834.

Click Here to make your voice heard.

-- Standing Up For Public Lands & Private Property Rights - PEC Opposes Senate Bill 857

-- Governor’s Awards For Environmental Excellence

-- A Vision For Southcentral PA Trail Network Takes Shape

-- PA River Sojourns - PA River Of The Year - Conestoga River

-- Collaborating On Green Stormwater Infrastructure

-- Circuit Trails Community Grants In Philadelphia Region

-- Connecting A Region - Parkersburg, WV to Connellsville, PA Trail System

-- Pocono Forests & Waters Mini Grants Announced

-- PEC Podcast: Advanced Electric Transmission Line Technology

For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the PA Environmental Council website, visit the PEC Blog, PEC Bill/Regulation Tracker, follow PEC on Twitter or Like PEC on Facebook.  Visit PEC’s Audio Room for the latest podcasts.  Click Here to receive regular updates from PEC.

[Posted: July 7, 2026]  PA Environment Digest