What states changed on data centers in 2026

Five states, four venues: legislatures, governors, utility regulators, and local governments. Each state moved, and each moved through a different door.

Current as of October 5, 2026. Covers Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Georgia, the same five states as the data center incentive comparison.

The first comparison looked at what these states give data centers. The second looked at whether states check what they give. This one looks at what changed in 2026, and which part of government produced each change.

Where each state acted

Enacted by the legislature Governor's executive action Utility regulator action Local government action Pending or no final action
StateLegislatureGovernorUtility regulatorLocal government
Pennsylvania Reporting enacted; repeal stalledHouse voted 197–5 to repeal the sales tax exemption and passed a PUC cost-allocation bill (HB 1834). The Senate passed repeal language in a separate bill, HB 1667 (44–6), but the two were never reconciled; HB 1834 is in Senate committee. The FY 2026–27 Fiscal Code (SB 146, Act 21 of 2026) expanded PUC review of utility load forecasts and added annual energy and water reporting for data centers of 10 MW or more. Executive order, Aug. 18EO 2026-05 ties state permit review and new exemption applications to the GRID Requirements. Also bars agency NDAs, requires a public map of proposed projects, and requires local land use approval before DEP permits projects above 25 MW. Model tariff adopted, May 12PUC final order sets a statewide framework for customers over 50 MW (or 100 MW in aggregate); each utility adopts it through its own approved tariff. PendingHouse passed HB 2496 201–1 and the Senate Local Government Committee approved it 11–0. It would let municipalities pause applications for up to 180 days, once every three years. Awaits a full Senate vote.
Virginia EnactedAbout 15 bills plus the budget: a $0.011/kWh consumption tax, 25 MW cost allocation, siting disclosure, generator and water rules. Exemption preserved. Executive order, Sept. 18Data Center Accountability Framework and EO 22. First report published Oct. 1SCC's first annual report reported about 21,800 MW of contracted data center demand and 13,767 permitted backup generator sets, about three-quarters of them Tier 2 or older. Water data is pending. New state rules for local votesDevelopers of the largest facilities must disclose more before a local board votes.
Ohio No final action; study committeeNo data center bill enacted. Substitute HB 646 stalled in June and is expected to return after the November election. Repeal bills HB 975 and SB 374 are in committee without hearings. Joint Data Center Committee studying. Directive, May 27Pause on new sales tax exemption requests at the Tax Credit Authority. Approved 2025; under appealAEP Ohio tariff: new data centers pay for at least 85% of requested load. Statewide proposalA citizen group has proposed a constitutional amendment to ban very large AI data centers.
Maryland EnactedUtility RELIEF Act of 2026: large load definition, cost allocation, reporting. Exemption repeal planned for 2027. Executive order, Sept. 23Single review for 25 MW and up, state task force, public dashboard, no agency NDAs. PendingLarge load tariff proceeding for BGE, Pepco, and Delmarva before the PSC. Moratoriums and bans14 of 24 jurisdictions, including Harford County's indefinite ban.
Georgia No final actionSenate passed exemption repeal; House passed HB 1063 159–5. Neither became law. None identifiedNo 2026 executive action found. Rules in effectCustom contracts for 100 MW and up; about 10,000 MW of new generation approved; base rates frozen through 2028. County moratoriumsNumerous counties, including Cobb, Dougherty, Cherokee, and Fannin, paused data centers while they write zoning rules. Data center costs are also a central issue in the Nov. 3 PSC elections.

By issue

IssuePennsylvaniaVirginiaOhioMarylandGeorgia
Sales tax exemption Still in effect. House passed repeal 197–5 on June 25; the Senate passed repeal language in a separate bill; neither reached the governor. EO 2026-05 makes new applicants meet the GRID Requirements. Preserved in the 2026–28 budget. Joint Subcommittee on Tax Policy to report on the exemption by mid-December. Governor paused new exemption requests on May 27 while the Joint Data Center Committee studies growth. Substitute HB 646 would cut new exemptions from 100% to 50% but stalled in June; repeal bills HB 975 and SB 374 have had no hearings. 2020 exemption remains. Governor will seek repeal in the 2027 session. Left intact in 2026. Senate passed a repeal bill on March 6; the session ended without final action.
New taxes or fees None enacted. $0.011 per kWh consumption tax from July 1, 2026, capped at $600 million a year; expires June 30, 2028 unless extended. None enacted. None enacted. None enacted.
Who pays for grid costs PUC’s May 2026 model large-load tariff guides utility-specific tariffs. HB 1834 would go further, assigning connection, transmission, reliability, and PJM emergency procurement costs to data centers; passed House, in Senate committee. HB 2828, requiring utilities to adopt the PUC’s large-load tariff and data centers to curtail use during grid emergencies, cleared the House Energy Committee unanimously. Costs of new generating capacity assigned to customers of 25 MW or more; voluntary demand flexibility programs (HB 284). AEP Ohio tariff: 85% minimum on requested load, under appeal at the Ohio Supreme Court. Bills would extend the approach statewide. Substitute HB 646, which would create a data center rate class and require a data center tariff at the PUCO, stalled in June. RELIEF Act assigns infrastructure and grid costs to large load customers. Executive order seeks minimum bills, exit fees, and collateral at the PSC, PJM, and FERC. PSC requires custom contracts for 100 MW and up and cost studies to protect other customers. HB 1063 passed the House but did not become law.
Siting and local approval DEP reviews data center permits only with a binding commitment to the GRID Requirements, and for projects above 25 MW only after local land use approval. Municipal pause bill (HB 2496) passed the House 201–1 and the Senate Local Government Committee 11–0; awaits a full Senate vote. HB 2775, requiring data centers to apply for grid interconnection before seeking local zoning approval, and HB 2674, barring data centers from obtaining public utility status, each cleared House committees unanimously the week of Sept. 28. New siting and pre-vote disclosure law for the largest facilities, effective July 1, 2026 (Va. Code § 15.2-2209.5). Senate bill would address local government impacts. Constitutional amendment proposed. State agencies defer review until local land use approvals are documented. 14 of 24 jurisdictions have moratoriums or bans. No statewide siting change identified. Numerous counties adopted moratoriums in 2026 while they write zoning rules, including Cobb, Dougherty, Cherokee, and Fannin. Cobb County noted its 1972 zoning code gives no consideration to data centers.
Water HB 2246 would create DEP water permitting and reporting. The FY 2026–27 Fiscal Code (SB 146, Act 21 of 2026) requires data centers of 10 MW or more to report energy and water use annually to DEP, which will publish the data, starting in 2027. EO 2026-05 directs DEP to collect annual energy and water use data from existing facilities. Water reporting from January 1, 2027; scarcity-area cooling rules due July 1, 2027; budget requires limits on cooling water use. Senate bill would address water use and testing. Covered in the executive order's environmental criteria. No statewide change identified.
Transparency EO 2026-05 bars Commonwealth agencies under the governor from entering NDAs related to data center projects and requires a public map of proposed projects. It does not cover local governments; HB 2359, pending, addresses local NDAs. SB 1408, banning nondisclosure agreements between data center developers and both state agencies and local governments, cleared the Senate Communications and Technology Committee unanimously. SCC annual report on data center electricity, water, and generators. The first, published October 1, 2026, reported electricity and generator data but no water data; municipal utility responses are pending, and DEQ's public water-use dashboard goes live January 1, 2027. Senate bill would address nondisclosure agreements. State agencies may not enter NDAs with data center developers; public dashboard for every project of 25 MW or more. PSC requires quarterly reporting from Georgia Power.

What stands out

Governors moved faster than legislatures

Four of the five governors acted outside the legislative process in 2026: executive orders in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, and a directive pausing new exemptions in Ohio. Legislatures enacted broad changes in two states, Virginia and Maryland. Pennsylvania's legislature enacted only reporting and load-forecast oversight provisions; both chambers passed exemption repeal language, but in separate bills that were never reconciled. In Georgia, the chambers passed different bills, and neither became law.

The exemptions survived, with strings

No state repealed its data center sales tax exemption in 2026. Instead, states attached conditions or added costs around it: a consumption tax in Virginia, GRID Requirements for new applicants in Pennsylvania, a pause in Ohio, and a repeal effort set for 2027 in Maryland.

Cost allocation is converging on the same tools

Whether by statute, tariff, or executive order, states are reaching for similar mechanisms: size thresholds of 25 or 100 megawatts, minimum bills, long-term contracts, exit fees, and collateral. What differs is who sets them. The durability of each approach will be tested in court in Ohio and at PJM, where Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland all sit.

The question I expect to shape 2027: how much of this year's change holds when it rests on executive action rather than statute. An executive order can be revised by the next governor; a law has to be amended by the next legislature.

What to watch

Sources

Pennsylvania

Virginia

Ohio

Maryland

Georgia