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Read. Follow. Verify.Pennsylvania requires data centers using over 100,000 gallons of water annually to adopt conservation methods or pay mitigation charges
Last action · September 24, 2026: Referred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, Sept. 24, 2026Sponsors: Tracy Pennycuick and 2 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1470 requires data centers consuming over 100,000 gallons of water per year to utilize closed-loop cooling, , , or another approved conservation technology. Facilities unable to use these methods must submit an alternative compliance plan and pay a mitigation charge to cover all infrastructure and utility costs, protecting residential ratepayers from cost shifts. The measure takes effect in 60 days.
Local water utilities and existing residential customers are protected from bearing the infrastructure and supply costs driven by heavy water-consuming data facilities.
- Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1470 was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Data centers
Data centers must implement approved water conservation methods, submit compliance plans to the department, or pay mitigation charges under an alternative compliance plan.
Water service providers
Water service providers receive mitigation charges from non-exempt data centers and are barred from shifting data center costs to residential customers.
Existing residential customers
Existing residential customers are protected from absorbing any infrastructure or water supply costs driven by data center operations.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifies as a data center under this bill?
What happens if a data center cannot use the required water conservation methods?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Sep 24, 2026SenateCommitteeReferred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, Sept. 24, 2026
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Direct Cost Allocation for High-Volume Water Users
The bill establishes a statutory mechanism preventing water utilities from passing data center infrastructure costs onto residential ratepayers.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.palegis.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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