Governor Shapiro is Protecting Pennsylvania Wallets and Air While Trump and Republicans Give Big Tech A Blank Check
tags
Choosing cleaner energy over gas and coal to power data centers avoids increasing energy costs for Americans and cuts air pollution
Washington, DC – Today, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to protect Pennsylvania ratepayers from skyrocketing utility bills and dirtier air — including a requirement for tech companies to use more clean energy to power their data centers. It’s a stark contrast to Trump and Republicans, who have failed to hold Big Tech accountable, giving them free rein to spike electricity prices and pump life-threatening toxins into the air.
Instead of actually doing anything to protect Americans from the impacts of data center expansion, Trump has gathered tech executives and utility companies for a toothless, unenforceable “pledge” that won’t do anything to lower energy costs or pollution. In fact, the Trump administration has actively pressured tech companies to power their data centers with polluting fossil fuels – against the overwhelming preference of the American people.
Climate Power Senior Advisor Jesse Lee issued the following statement: “Governor Shapiro is showing real leadership by making clear that the AI boom cannot mean higher utility bills for families or an epidemic of air pollution in our communities. There is always more work to do, but this stands in stark contrast to Republicans who have handed giant tech companies a blank check, and a Trump Administration that is weakening clean air protections and making it harder for communities to have a say when new pollution threatens their health. We need more leaders like Governor Shapiro who stand up for working families and make powerful corporations pay their own way.”
While Trump gives Big Tech a blank check, communities across the country are paying the price with spiking utility bills and increased air pollution from data centers powered by fossil fuels:
- Climate Power polling conducted by Global Strategy Group found that how data centers are powered makes a massive difference in how people feel about them coming to their communities. There is a 60-point swing between clean energy vs coal — the energy source that the Trump administration has been advocating for data centers — with coal underwater by 21 points.
- Data center expansion is spiking energy demand as Trump and Republicans take clean energy projects off the grid, sending electricity prices through the roof. Household electricity costs have spiked by as much as 18% since Trump took office, with Americans facing $100 billion in enacted and proposed utility rate hikes.
- The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released an analysis showing that Trump’s effort to gut clean energy supply will double the inflationary effect of data center expansion.
- Trump is investing hundreds of millions of federal dollars to prop up the coal industry, despite the fact that it could actually increase energy costs, saddling American ratepayers with as much as $6 billion by the end of 2028.
- One in six households is behind on utility bills, with total utility debt projected to reach $25 billion by the end of 2026. Since Trump took office, the national average overdue utility balance rose by more than 8%, to $817.
- Approximately four million people live within one mile of EPA-regulated data centers, exposing them to elevated levels of diesel exhaust and other pollutants.
- Pollutants emitted by data centers can travel hundreds of miles, raising air pollution concentrations even in communities far from the data centers themselves.
- Planned data centers were projected to drive $5.7 billion to $9.2 billion in annual public health costs from air pollution, cause 190,000 to 300,000 asthma symptom cases, and cause between 370 and 595 premature deaths each year.
- In December 2025, the Trump administration established a data center team within the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, aimed at helping companies skirt protections as part of the administration’s AI push.