Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday called for protecting electric utility customers from the costs of data center development and for tougher scrutiny of potentially dangerous and deceptive artificial intelligence content — bringing a sharper edge to his views on AI ahead of the 2026 campaign season.
Shapiro, considered a likely Democratic presidential contender in 2028, has been an “all-in” advocate for bringing the tech industry’s massive computer farms to Pennsylvania. Shapiro’s administration won a pledge from Amazon last year to spend more than $20 billion on AI infrastructure in the state.
In his annual address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Shapiro made the case that multibillion-dollar data centers built for the booming AI industry shouldn’t add to rising household electricity costs.
“Developers must commit to bringing their own power generation or paying entirely for the new generation they’ll need,” Shapiro said.
“I know Pennsylvanians have real concerns about these data centers and the impact they could have on our communities, our utility bills and our environment, and so do I,” he said. “We need to be selective about the projects that get built here.”
Shapiro is running for reelection this year, in what is widely seen as a platform for a potential Democratic presidential bid in 2028. In the speech before lawmakers in Harrisburg, Shapiro said he won agreements from the state’s four largest electric utilities to control costs.
Naming PECO, FirstEnergy, Duquesne Light and PPL Electric Utilities, Shapiro said, “I made clear that if they were unwilling to act, the Public Utility Commission would step in and force them.”
Shapiro said he had created a new state watchdog office to scrutinize electricity bills. And Shapiro reiterated the price controls that he and 12 other Eastern governors and the White House have demanded of the regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection — the wholesale electricity supplier for mid-Atlantic states.
Shapiro’s requirement that data center developers supply their own power and pay for any new generation appeared more demanding than what PJM and its industry members have been debating for months.
Shapiro sees Pennsylvania’s abundant natural gas production as a unique asset in the competition for the tech industry’s giant data center investments. Critics see Pennsylvania’s likely reliance on gas to power data centers as a significant source of future greenhouse gas emissions. That could pit Shapiro’s approach to AI infrastructure projects against a core constituency of progressive Democrats.
In the Tuesday speech, he called for tech companies to “commit to the highest standards of environmental protection, especially water conservation.”
“This is uncharted territory. So let’s come together, codify these principles and take advantage of this opportunity,” he said.
He angered climate policy advocates last year by abandoning Pennsylvania Democrats’ long-standing quest to join a regional state compact to incentivize zero-carbon energy production.
Shapiro said Pennsylvania’s membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was a hopeless cause, given the adamant opposition of the Republican-controlled state Senate, and he gave up the goal to end last year’s deadlock over a state budget agreement.
On Tuesday, he said with RGGI off the table, it was time for the Legislature’s Republicans to bargain over a new policy for adding more electricity resources. Shapiro said his “Lightning Plan” to speed energy permitting and licensing approvals was still in play.
“If you don’t like it, stop making excuses, put your proposal on the table,” Shapiro said. But Republican and Democratic energy priorities are still split along partisan preferences for either more fossil fuel use or a shift to wind and solar power.
Shapiro pressed for greater transparency as data center project developers approach towns, counties and the state for support.
“Too many of these projects have been shrouded in secrecy, with local communities left in the dark about who’s coming in and what they’re building,” Shapiro said. “That needs to change, and it will.”
Shapiro also took a far harder line on AI technology itself — acknowledging the risks of AI in a more direct way.
“This space is entirely unregulated and there are no protections,” Shapiro said. “You can find bots that will tell you that they’re real people. Some, and I’ve seen this with my own eyes, will tell you they’re real doctors and give out medical advice.”
“That’s dangerous, and I would argue that is illegal,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said he has directed the Pennsylvania State Police to find legal options “to hold developers of these apps accountable.”
“And let’s prohibit AI chatbots from producing sexually explicit or violent content featuring kids,” Shapiro said.
