Pennsylvania Communities vs. AI Data Centers
Red Wine & Blue Pennsylvania takes the fight against AI data centers to Harrisburg
Our Red Wine & Blue Pennsylvania team always has its finger on the pulse of its communities. And right now, Pennsylvanians are growing increasingly concerned about the AI data centers infiltrating their hometowns.
Pennsylvania has become one of the country’s fastest-growing hubs for data centers, with over 100 active data centers and approximately 50 more proposed. Over the past year, major tech, energy, and investment firms have committed more than $100 billion in private sector funding to Pennsylvania, which has received strong support from both state and federal elected officials.
Pennsylvania citizens, on the other hand, are doing everything in their power to stop it.
Concerns over rising electricity bills, air pollution, health risks, and more have sparked bipartisan efforts to stop — or at least slow — the construction of these centers in local communities. And Red Wine & Blue is mobilizing at the state and local level to support those efforts and help protect our hometowns.
For our 2026 Advocacy Day, Team PA headed to the Capitol in Harrisburg to meet with state legislators about the environmental impact of data centers and the steps lawmakers can take to protect communities by enacting stronger regulations.
Throughout the day, advocates spoke directly with elected officials about concerns ranging from rising electricity costs to increased pollution and strain on local resources. The legislators they met with were highly receptive to the conversation, sharing thoughtful feedback about their own concerns and what they’re hearing from constituents back home.
These conversations made one thing clear: people across Pennsylvania want growth that puts communities first, and they want lawmakers to take an active role in protecting public health and affordability.
Do you want to help push back against the AI data centers that threaten not just Pennsylvania but every single state in our country? Talk to your state lawmakers — tell them what we expect about rules on data centers:
State agencies should immediately begin tracking the use of natural resources, such as water.
Statewide legislation must ensure that all costs are borne (and secured by bond) by investors, NOT by local and Pennsylvania residents. This includes buildings and additions, transmission lines, security and safety (fire and police departments), water access, infrastructure and processing, shutdown, and abandonment.
Statewide agencies and task forces must follow up with data center owners on a 6-month to annual basis to verify compliance.
Localities must be given full legal authority over data center construction, operational safety, and shutdown plans and actions.
There must be plans in place to reduce the dark data stored by data centers.
And if you want to get involved with Red Wine & Blue’s Pennsylvania team, a community of 32,000 women and 42 local groups standing up to extremism in PA, join us here!