‘Pay for your own power’: Shapiro digs in on data center energy costs
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PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a bellwether Democrat on AI and data centers, is tempering his message ahead of his reelection campaign.
Shapiro, a swing-state Democrat and a 2028 presidential prospect, has staked his state’s economic fortunes on the tech industry. He wooed a $20 billion investment from Amazon along with major investments by Microsoft and Google. Shapiro has backed President Donald Trump’s call for more nuclear and natural gas plants to power new tech hubs.
He's now trying to hedge his bet as data centers absorb a nationwide backlash from voters increasingly concerned about their impact on electricity bills.
“Pay for your own power, so it's not saddling local businesses or homeowners with higher costs,” Shapiro said in an interview with POLITICO earlier this month from a union hall in Philadelphia.
It’s an unmistakable pivot by a leading practitioner of data center politics who along with other Democratic governors has been trying to bring under control rising electricity prices that could be political kryptonite for both parties. Household electricity bills are rising at twice the rate of inflation. In recent weeks, Shapiro has joined Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other Democrats who are sharpening their tone and putting new policies in place to try to claw back taxpayer expenses, increase pressure on utility companies and address local backlash against development.
“Too many of these projects have been shrouded in secrecy, with local communities left in the dark about who is coming in and what they’re building,” Shapiro said in his annual address to the Pennsylvania General Assembly earlier this month.
Shapiro, who is riding high in the polls as he launches his reelection campaign, is pitching the AI and data center boom as a source of union jobs during the yearslong construction phase — but also trying to manage the boom's potential to alienate other voters.
Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, said Shapiro’s “get stuff done” political brand runs into trouble if voters tie energy affordability concerns to data center projects.
“People have started to connect the demand for AI and data centers to pricing,” he said.
Jobs and energy
Few Democrats have anticipated the data center zeitgeist as deftly as Shapiro. Shortly after taking office in 2023, he ordered an analysis of where the state and U.S. economies were headed. AI jumped out as a key opportunity, a top adviser said.
“Not just because we thought it was cool, but because we have strengths,” said Rick Siger, a former Obama staffer who serves as Shapiro’s secretary of community and economic development.
Carnegie Mellon University, a top engineering and technology school, was a …
Why resist verification?
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a bellwether Democrat on AI and data centers, is tempering his message ahead of his reelection campaign.
Shapiro, a swing-state Democrat and a 2028 presidential prospect, has staked his state’s economic fortunes on the tech industry. He wooed a $20 billion investment from Amazon along with major investments by Microsoft and Google. Shapiro has backed President Donald Trump’s call for more nuclear and natural gas plants to power new tech hubs.
He's now trying to hedge his bet as data centers absorb a nationwide backlash from voters increasingly concerned about their impact on electricity bills.
“Pay for your own power, so it's not saddling local businesses or homeowners with higher costs,” Shapiro said in an interview with POLITICO earlier this month from a union hall in Philadelphia.
It’s an unmistakable pivot by a leading practitioner of data center politics who along with other Democratic governors has been trying to bring under control rising electricity prices that could be political kryptonite for both parties. Household electricity bills are rising at twice the rate of inflation. In recent weeks, Shapiro has joined Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other Democrats who are sharpening their tone and putting new policies in place to try to claw back taxpayer expenses, increase pressure on utility companies and address local backlash against development.
“Too many of these projects have been shrouded in secrecy, with local communities left in the dark about who is coming in and what they’re building,” Shapiro said in his annual address to the Pennsylvania General Assembly earlier this month.
Shapiro, who is riding high in the polls as he launches his reelection campaign, is pitching the AI and data center boom as a source of union jobs during the yearslong construction phase — but also trying to manage the boom's potential to alienate other voters.
Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, said Shapiro’s “get stuff done” political brand runs into trouble if voters tie energy affordability concerns to data center projects.
“People have started to connect the demand for AI and data centers to pricing,” he said.
Jobs and energy
Few Democrats have anticipated the data center zeitgeist as deftly as Shapiro. Shortly after taking office in 2023, he ordered an analysis of where the state and U.S. economies were headed. AI jumped out as a key opportunity, a top adviser said.
“Not just because we thought it was cool, but because we have strengths,” said Rick Siger, a former Obama staffer who serves as Shapiro’s secretary of community and economic development.
Carnegie Mellon University, a top engineering and technology school, was a …
‘Pay for your own power’: Shapiro digs in on data center energy costs
Why resist verification?
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a bellwether Democrat on AI and data centers, is tempering his message ahead of his reelection campaign.
Shapiro, a swing-state Democrat and a 2028 presidential prospect, has staked his state’s economic fortunes on the tech industry. He wooed a $20 billion investment from Amazon along with major investments by Microsoft and Google. Shapiro has backed President Donald Trump’s call for more nuclear and natural gas plants to power new tech hubs.
He's now trying to hedge his bet as data centers absorb a nationwide backlash from voters increasingly concerned about their impact on electricity bills.
“Pay for your own power, so it's not saddling local businesses or homeowners with higher costs,” Shapiro said in an interview with POLITICO earlier this month from a union hall in Philadelphia.
It’s an unmistakable pivot by a leading practitioner of data center politics who along with other Democratic governors has been trying to bring under control rising electricity prices that could be political kryptonite for both parties. Household electricity bills are rising at twice the rate of inflation. In recent weeks, Shapiro has joined Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other Democrats who are sharpening their tone and putting new policies in place to try to claw back taxpayer expenses, increase pressure on utility companies and address local backlash against development.
“Too many of these projects have been shrouded in secrecy, with local communities left in the dark about who is coming in and what they’re building,” Shapiro said in his annual address to the Pennsylvania General Assembly earlier this month.
Shapiro, who is riding high in the polls as he launches his reelection campaign, is pitching the AI and data center boom as a source of union jobs during the yearslong construction phase — but also trying to manage the boom's potential to alienate other voters.
Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, said Shapiro’s “get stuff done” political brand runs into trouble if voters tie energy affordability concerns to data center projects.
“People have started to connect the demand for AI and data centers to pricing,” he said.
Jobs and energy
Few Democrats have anticipated the data center zeitgeist as deftly as Shapiro. Shortly after taking office in 2023, he ordered an analysis of where the state and U.S. economies were headed. AI jumped out as a key opportunity, a top adviser said.
“Not just because we thought it was cool, but because we have strengths,” said Rick Siger, a former Obama staffer who serves as Shapiro’s secretary of community and economic development.
Carnegie Mellon University, a top engineering and technology school, was a …
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