Gov. Shapiro’s wide-ranging executive order imposes strict requirements on the projects but stops short of a moratorium on development.
Fact check: That is technically true, if you exclude moratoriums, or the full-stop pauses on development that have been implemented in two other states.
States around the country have taken different approaches to data centers in the race for AI supremacy — and, subsequently, how to rein in the increasingly unpopular massive developments that some fear will disrupt their communities, drain resources, and increase energy costs.
Governors, including Shapiro, initially welcomed companies that came knocking on their states’ doors, offering billion-dollar investments to build there. As the political tide has turned data centers into widely unwelcome developments among most Americans, leaders have had to adapt—or even change their positions.
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