House Energy Committee advances two bills strengthening transparency and community protections related to data centers
Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus March 6, 2026 | 3:57 PM
HARRISBURG, March 6 - On Monday, the House Energy Committee, chaired by state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila., advanced H.B. 2150 and H.B. 2151. If enacted, these bills would strengthen transparency and protections for communities navigating nearby data center proposals.
Fiedler said major tech companies have ushered in the explosive growth of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and video streaming within the last five years, resulting in a data center development boom. Communities across Pennsylvania are now grappling with proposals from developers to site data centers, which require a tremendous amount of energy and water.
House Bill 2150, sponsored by state Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-Lackawanna, would boost transparency by establishing annual energy and water reporting requirements for data center facilities. The bill was reported out of committee by a vote of 14-12.
“If the data center industry wants to expand in Pennsylvania and avail itself of our critical resources – water, electricity, and land – the very least among many things that should be required is full transparency,” said Mullins. “If data centers truly want to be responsible and responsive neighbors, they must publicly report how much water and power they plan to use.”
Environmental groups also voiced their support for the bill.
"NRDC supports H.B. 2150 because it would establish straightforward reporting requirements for data centers, plain and simple," said Robert Routh, Pennsylvania policy director of the Climate & Energy Department of NRDC. "Pennsylvania currently lacks a systematic way to measure and sufficiently understand or anticipate relevant impacts associated with data center operations. This bill represents a commonsense proposal that would advance a data-driven approach to energy policy and better allow for informed, proactive measures to protect consumers, the grid, and our climate.”
House Bill 2151, sponsored by state Rep. Kyle Donahue, D-Lackawanna, is designed to assist local communities in establishing regulations for data centers. The bill directs the creation of optional model ordinance language by the Department of Community and Economic Development. Providing this tool could help municipalities that may not have the staff, capacity or vast legal resources to develop their own ordinance and serve their communities. The bill was reported out of committee by a vote of 14-12.
“Right now, communities across the Commonwealth lack clear standards to address the noise, size, water usage, and other impacts data centers can have on local neighborhoods,” said Donahue. “House Bill 2151 gives municipalities an optional tool they can use to ensure data centers are responsibly sited and operated while protecting residents’ quality of life. The rapid growth of data centers across our state has real impacts on the neighborhoods around them, and that growth shouldn’t come at the expense of the people who live, work, and go to school nearby.”
Both bills earned the support of environmental organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, Sierra Club of Pennsylvania, Clean Air Council, PA Environmental Council, Clean Water Action, and PennFuture.
"We support these commonsense measures to ensure transparency and equip municipalities with tools to manage data center proposals in their communities," said Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Molly Parzen. "These two bills will ensure the public better understands the impact of data centers on our energy grid and on our rivers and streams. They will also provide towns with technical assistance to manage the impact proposed data centers will have on local residents' quality of life. We're asking the full House and Senate to swiftly take up these bills and send them to Governor Shapiro's desk.”
Both bills were previously discussed at a public hearing of the House Energy Committee on February 2.
As Chair of the House Energy Committee, Fiedler has prioritized legislation that protects communities and hardworking people from shouldering additional costs associated with large-load projects, including data centers.