Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity pitched a statewide data center pause to voters at Conshohocken's Fun Fest on Saturday, Sept. 19. The Republican gubernatorial candidate walked Fayette Street with Plymouth Township GOP leader Jim Saring, meeting residents along the way.

Garrity told MoreThanTheCurve.com she supports leaving data center decisions to local communities. She also called for economic development and regulatory reform to help small businesses open.

The visit put Garrity steps from a township where data centers are already a live fight. Plymouth Township Council formally opposed a proposed 2-million-square-foot data center at 900 Conshohocken Road in late July. Developer MLP Ventures' Brian O'Neill proposed transforming the old Cleveland-Cliffs plate finishing site into the facility.

That case hit a procedural snag days before Garrity's appearance. Plymouth Township cancelled its Sept. 17 zoning hearing on the project after failing to post the agenda 24 hours in advance, as required by the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. The township called it an "administrative oversight." As we reported Sept. 20, no new hearing date has been set.

Council Chairwoman Lynne Viscio said on July 27, when the council formally opposed the application, that the township would "not allow ourselves to be bullied or intimidated by any developer. Full stop."

Garrity supports local control and a statewide construction pause. She has argued in a MultiState policy analysis that a pause would "give local officials time to update zoning ordinances" and "establish safeguards for communities that could become sites for future projects."

That stance puts her at odds with Gov. Josh Shapiro, her Democratic opponent in the Nov. 3 general election. Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on Aug. 18, creating the Governor's Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Requirements. The order removed data centers from the state's fast-track permitting program and requires projects with peak demand over 25 megawatts to follow a new review process, according to a State Capital Lobbyist analysis.

Garrity called Shapiro's approach insufficient. In an Aug. 18 statement reported by PhillyBurbs, she said Shapiro was playing "CYA" after spending the previous summer as "the biggest data center cheerleader in the nation." She called for a full construction pause, alleging Shapiro received millions in campaign donations from data center interests.

More than 100 data center projects have reportedly been proposed statewide, according to State Capital Lobbyist. A Franklin and Marshall College poll found that 79% of Pennsylvania respondents oppose having a data center built in their community, according to WHYY.

Closer to home, Whitemarsh Township scheduled a public hearing on Sept. 10 for a proposed data center ordinance. The township said it had not received any data center application and described the ordinance as a proactive effort, developed using recommendations from the Montgomery County Planning Commission and a model ordinance from Penn Future. State law prohibits municipalities from banning data centers outright, so the ordinance focuses on regulating health, safety and welfare impacts. The outcome of that hearing was not available as of publication.

A Quinnipiac University poll found Garrity's favorability at 22%, with 58% of voters saying they had not heard enough about her. Pennsylvania has not elected a Republican governor since Tom Corbett in 2010.

Plymouth Township's rescheduled zoning hearing date has not been announced.