Pennsylvania just changed the order of operations for large data center projects.

Executive Order 2026-05, signed August 18, sets DEP permitting guardrails for any data center with peak demand over 25 MW, on applications filed after that date. Projects already pending at DEP are not swept in.

There are two tracks. Execute the GRID consent order and agreement, and DEP reviews and issues on a rolling basis, but it cannot issue until you document all local approvals under the applicable subdivision and zoning ordinances, and that the project is consistent with the local comprehensive plan. Skip the agreement and DEP will not begin review at all until that documentation is in hand, along with any required water withdrawal or wastewater discharge authorizations. Nothing issues until every application in the package has been reviewed, and the project loses PAyback and the Permit Decision Guarantee.

Three things worth flagging for anyone with a site under consideration:

For these projects, the comprehensive plan is now a permitting document. A comp plan is normally advisory. Municipal action cannot be appealed for inconsistency with it. DEP now needs documented consistency before it can issue.

Nobody’s shot clock runs during local review. Even on the consent track, the PAyback and Permit Decision Guarantee timelines do not start until both are documented. Local approval time is schedule you carry, not time the state absorbs.

Every municipality counts. Where the project puts facilities or infrastructure in more than one municipality or county, the order reaches each one’s approvals. Water lines, substations, and transmission crossings each add a jurisdiction.

One sequencing note: the consent agreement has to be in place before you file. The rolling track is available only to applicants who give DEP a notice of intent and hold a pre-application meeting first.

DEP has permit applications tied to 20 of the 100-plus facilities reported as proposed statewide. If you are evaluating a parcel, we are glad to talk through what this means for your timeline.

Source: the Governor’s announcement of Executive Order 2026-05, signed August 18, 2026.