State Senator Rosemary Brown (R-40) announced her support Tuesday for a statewide moratorium on data center development, joining a growing bipartisan effort to slow the industry’s rapid expansion in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Brown unveiled a comprehensive "Residents First" legislative package that would restrict large-scale data centers exclusively to industrial zones and require developers to provide "will-serve" letters from utility companies before any formal application is submitted. The senator’s shift toward a temporary pause aligns her with Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, who recently called on Governor Josh Shapiro to implement a three-year moratorium to allow for a full study of the industry’s impact on the regional power grid and water supply.
The push for tighter regulations is also gaining traction in the state House, where Representatives Kyle Mullins and Kyle Donahue have introduced bills focused on transparency and community standards. Their legislation would mandate annual energy and water reporting for data centers and provide municipalities with a model ordinance to help local boards navigate complex proposals. While Governor Shapiro has introduced his own "GRID" standards to address infrastructure concerns, the momentum for a total moratorium reflects deep-seated local anxieties over the thousands of acres currently targeted for development across Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.