Pennsylvania requires larger data centers to report energy and water use by July 2027
A budget-season amendment to the Fiscal Code makes data centers above 10 megawatts file annual energy and water reports with environmental regulators, with reported penalties of $10,000 a day.
Owners and operators of large data centers in Pennsylvania now carry a standing duty to tell the state how much power and water their facilities use, and the first filing falls due in under nine months. Governor Josh Shapiro approved Senate Bill 146 on July 12, 2026, as Act No. 21 of 2026, an omnibus amendment to The Fiscal Code, Act of Apr. 9, 1929, P.L. 343, No. 176, whose title includes “providing for energy and water reporting”; as reported by the Altoona Mirror and Utility Dive, it requires data centers above 10 megawatts to file annual reports with the Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”), with the first reports due July 1, 2027.
Act of July 12, 2026, No. 21 (S.B. 146), amending The Fiscal Code, Act of Apr. 9, 1929, P.L. 343, No. 176; H.B. 2150, 2025-2026 Reg. Sess. (Pa. 2026); Pa. Exec. Order No. 2026-05 (Aug. 18, 2026)