A QPQ Tracker study · Pennsylvania · 2023–2026
Pennsylvania: who paid for the data centers and what the state decided
Pennsylvania is a case where the money and the policy point in opposite directions. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s June to September 2026 report lists $100,000 from an Anthropic-associated donor the week before his order, $100,000 from Clayco, $25,000 from Constellation and $25,000 from Cozen O’Connor.
On August 18, 2026 he signed Executive Order 2026-05. Developers pay the full energy cost of their projects. Water rules apply. Local approval is required. Nondisclosure agreements are barred. Data centers were removed from the permit fast-track.
The Public Utility Commission’s large-load order is the other measure tracked here. The payer rows reconcile to the dollar with the filing the press read.
Who paid
Each company's direct giving from its treasury and employee PAC, as filed in Pennsylvania. Executives' personal cheques, super PAC spending and lobbying are different kinds of money and are not added here.
| Payer | Class | Direct giving in Pennsylvania | Filings (every state the payer files in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exelon (ComEd, PECO) | Utility | $827,350 | |
| Cozen O'Connor | Trade group, developer, pipeline or investor | $555,943 | 2 filer rows → |
| PPL | Utility | $201,550 | |
| Microsoft | Hyperscaler | $25,000 | |
| NiSource / NIPSCO | Utility | $20,000 | |
| Hyperscaler | $15,000 | ||
| Constellation Energy | Utility | $4,000 | Filings and recipients → |
Who took it
The Pennsylvania officeholders and candidates who received the most from the payer set, and what each did on the state's data center measures: the votes they cast, the bills they authored, the orders they signed. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled.
1 action on a measure
- issuedPennsylvania Executive Order 2026-05 — Protecting Pennsylvania Consumers from Data Center ImpactsEnacted
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
The 12 largest recipients of any kind, committees included
| # | Recipient | Kind | From the payer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Shapiro | person | $146,000 |
| 2 | Joe Pittman | person | $71,000 |
| 3 | Chamber PAC | PAC or committee | $59,250 |
| 4 | Joanna McClinton | person | $58,000 |
| 5 | Kim Ward | person | $56,000 |
| 6 | People For Parker | PAC or committee | $51,000 |
| 7 | Friends Of Tom Mehaffie | PAC or committee | $46,000 |
| 8 | The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia Political Action Committee aka ChamberPHL PAC | PAC or committee | $45,000 |
| 9 | Citizens For Jordan A. Harris | PAC or committee | $42,967 |
| 10 | House Republican Campaign Committee (Pennsylvania) | PAC or committee | $34,500 |
| 11 | Senate Republican Campaign Committee (Pennsylvania) | PAC or committee | $32,500 |
| 12 | Matt Bradford | person | $32,500 |
What they decided
Every Pennsylvania bill, regulator's order, executive action and election the study tracks, with its result, its recorded vote and the people and companies on the record for it. Each links to the official document.
Pennsylvania2 measures
- Executive orderEnactedAug 18, 2026Josh Shapiro issued
- Regulator's orderEnactedApr 30, 2026
How to read this page
The money is corporate-treasury and employee-PAC giving reported in Pennsylvania’s own filing system, the Department of State full exports, from January 2023 to the latest filing loaded (1,162 contributions, January 2023 to September 2026). Transfers between a politician’s own committees, conduit memo lines and gifts from the opposing side are left out. Executives’ personal cheques, super PAC spending, 527 transfers and lobbying are different kinds of money. The report keeps them apart, and the written part of this page names them as such. Nothing on this page adds across kinds.
The votes are the legislature’s own roll calls, loaded for the members the study follows. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled. The measures are the bills, commission orders, executive actions and elections the study identified; each links to its official record.
Every payer total was reconciled against the payer’s own reports where the state publishes them. The checks are in the report’s verification log. Figures on this page were last recomputed on October 31, 2026. Correlation is not proof of causation; the record shows what was paid and what was decided.