Sen. Yaw Wants an Act 13-Style Impact Fee for PA Data Centers

State Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23), who has chaired the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee since 2013, wants Pennsylvania's data centers to pay their own version of the shale impact fee. On Thursday (Oct. 23), Yaw sent a co-sponsorship memo to all Senate members announcing plans for an annual, statewide "data center impact fee" modeled on Act 13 of 2012, the law that created the impact fee drillers have paid every year since. Yaw says the fee would be based on each facility's size and electricity demand, and would be paid every year a data center operates. That's different from today's system, where towns rely on one-time deals negotiated with developers. The money would go to host communities and statewide programs, just like the shale fee. What's not in the memo? Any dollar figures. Here's the memo, followed by what it means (and what it doesn't say).

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