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2026 Maine Senate Race
Key developments
Pennsylvania candidates split on data-center controls
The Scranton Times-Tribune reports Republican Stacy Garrity and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro are drawing sharper contrasts on data-center policy as local frustration rises in Pennsylvania. Shapiro’s GRID framework would tie existing tax breaks and expedited permitting to standards including 32% clean energy, 200 construction jobs, $1.5 million in annual wages, energy responsibility and community benefits agreements. Garrity backs mandatory requirements, a temporary pause, brownfield or industrial siting, and opposes Shapiro’s clean-energy mandate; lawmakers are also weighing disclosure rules, utility-contract requirements, moratoriums and limits or repeal of data-center tax exemptions.
Why it matters
Pennsylvania is becoming a major test of whether states can keep AI infrastructure investment while limiting ratepayer, water and land-use impacts.
Sources & driving stories
SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE · Kate Huangpu
Scranton Times-Tribune coverageMassachusetts keeps data-center tax exemptions paused
The Lowell Sun reports Gov. Maura Healey said Massachusetts will continue pausing applications for 20-year sales- and use-tax exemptions for qualified data centers. Healey said there will be “no sales-tax credit” until the state has stronger protections against higher gas and electric bills and clearer accountability to host communities. She said data centers should generate clean energy and avoid harming water supplies or causing environmental pollution.
Why it matters
The pause turns a major state incentive into leverage for energy, water and community-protection requirements.
Sources & driving stories
LOWELL SUN
Lowell Sun coverageBay County adopts six-month data-center moratorium
The News Herald reports Bay County, Florida, commissioners approved a six-month moratorium on data centers using more than 5 megawatts of power at a July 7 meeting. The moratorium can be extended another six months while staff develops permanent rules on whether such facilities should be allowed and under what conditions. County attorney Brian Leebrick said no project is currently proposed, but officials want time to assess electricity, water and noise impacts; Panama City Beach is separately preparing a land-development-code update to ban data centers.
Why it matters
Local governments are increasingly using preemptive pauses before proposals arrive, signaling a shift from reactive permitting to defensive zoning.
Sources & driving stories
THE NEWS HERALD
The News Herald coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Franklin County records reveal Project Flash
WDBJ reports FOIA documents reference a potential Crusoe AI-linked 50 to 100 megawatt data center or AI facility at Summit View Business Park, tied to a 150-acre real estate agreement with at least 95 developable acres.
WORTH NOTING
New York renewable bill awaits Hochul
Yahoo Finance carried AP reporting that legislation on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk would require large data centers to meet renewable-energy benchmarks starting in 2030 and reach at least 90% renewable energy by 2040.
WORTH NOTING
QTS reportedly exits Virginia mega-campus
Freedoms Phoenix reports QTS withdrew from a planned 2,100-acre Virginia data-center campus near Manassas National Battlefield after adverse court rulings, county withdrawal from litigation and Compass Datacenters’ earlier exit.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Are tax incentives becoming the main regulatory lever?
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York are all using or considering incentive eligibility to impose energy, ratepayer, workforce or community conditions on data centers.
OPEN QUESTION
Can utilities protect existing customers from large-load risk?
Local concerns about higher bills are recurring while proposed and potential facilities range from 50 megawatts in Franklin County to hyperscale loads that can require hundreds of megawatts.