Data Centers: Power First, Zoning Second
The state House Energy Committee on Wednesday (Sept. 30) advanced three bills aimed at data centers and your electric bill, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports. House Bill 2775, from Reps. Kyle Donahue (D-Lackawanna) and Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia), would require a developer to apply for electric service before seeking zoning approval. It cleared the committee 26-0, and the Capital-Star reports the language will be amended again before a floor vote. House Bill 2828 would make data centers, not ratepayers, pay for the grid upgrades they need, and as amended would hold their backup generators to federal emission standards or tougher ones. House Bill 2755 goes after a perk you may be paying for without knowing it. Utilities that belong to a regional grid operator (here, that's PJM) collect a federal incentive that the bill's sponsor, Rep. Chris Pielli (D-Chester), describes as a 0.5% profit bonus paid by customers. His bill would make that membership mandatory under state law, which he says would end the bonus. Committee members told the Capital-Star they hope to get all three through the House and Senate in the eight voting days left in the session.
That first bill goes right at the kind of fight Monroe County has been having all year, where a township spends months on zoning hearings before anyone knows whether the power is even there. As of our Sept. 21 update, the conditional-use hearing on Smithfield Township's Gateway data center on Route 209 still had no new date.
