Data centers becoming hot issue in Pennsylvania's gubernatorial race

Data centers have become the hottest issue in political races across the country, including Pennsylvania's race for governor.  

In a spate of attack ads, Gov. Josh Shapiro and state Treasurer Stacy Garrity are walking back past support and accusing each other of flip-flopping.

Once a shiny new penny bringing the promise of jobs and a new economy, data centers have become wildly unpopular, with polls showing more than 70% of respondents saying they wouldn't want one in or near their community.

"There's a lot of people unhappy about the notion of something big, noisy, energy-consuming, and in need of water in your backyard," said KDKA political analyst Jon Delano. "Folks don't want this around them."

In fact, data centers have become political Kryptonite to candidates across the country, including in Pennsylvania's race for governor, pitting Shapiro against Garrity. Both candidates appear to be rewriting their past support while accusing the other of changing their tune.

"The bottom line is they both have flip-flopped, as have almost all the politicians that you know," Delano said. 

It was just a year ago that Carnegie Mellon University hosted President Trump and tech leaders who heralded the birth of a new AI economy in the Pittsburgh region. At the time, Shapiro boasted of a massive data center campus coming to Homer City and another $20 billion Amazon campus in eastern Pennsylvania. But he is now chastising data center developers as bullies and signed an executive order, saying he's instituting the strongest safeguards in America. His campaign is accusing Garrity of having favored unregulated development.

Meanwhile, Garrity's former support of data centers chilled to the point of her calling for a moratorium on their development. She calls the governor their "biggest cheerleader" and is demanding he return $5 million in campaign contributions from AI interests. 

Delano says Shapiro and Garrity's past support for the centers appears to have canceled the other out on the issue.

"There's no innocent parties here," Delano said. "I don't know how big an issue this is going to be in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race, but I don't think there's any clean hands when it comes to data centers."

But while both candidates try to wash their hands of data centers, public opposition continues to grow. It remains to be seen how that plays out at the polls.