Pennsylvania towns could pause applications for very large data centers

A municipality may adopt an ordinance that temporarily bars filing or considering certain applications for a high impact data center. A high impact data center is a facility or group of facilities on one or more Pennsylvania parcels, owned, operated, or leased by one entity or affiliated entities, with computing equipment that draws at least 25 megawatts. Before adopting the ordinance, the municipality must hold a public hearing with required notice and explain why the pause is needed and how it relates to planned work. The ordinance must identify planning or code work, and the municipality must make reasonable progress on it; where applicable, it must consult the county planning agency. The pause cannot cover unrelated applications, data centers below the defined threshold, enforcement actions, routine maintenance or safety upgrades at existing facilities, or approvals and permits already granted. A pause may last no longer than 18 months from the ordinance's effective date.

An applicant may request a waiver from the pause, and the municipality's governing body may grant it, add conditions, or deny it. The waiver process applies to applicants affected by a municipal pause on applications for high impact data centers. The applicant must show that the pause would cause substantial, unusual, demonstrable hardship that the applicant did not create, and that a waiver would fit the public interest and the section's purposes. The governing body must decide after a public meeting and issue a written decision with factual findings and conclusions.