As data centers become increasingly unpopular across the country, lawmakers are looking for ways to distance themselves from previous support for the booming $700 billion industry.
State Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R-Montgomery) is taking an interesting approach at walking back her support for fast-tracking data center approval through the state Legislature.
In July, her campaign spent between $7,000 and $8,000 on a 15-second Facebook ad touting her bonafides for taking on Big Tech and stripping fast-track language from a bill that was in committee.
“ Big Tech wants to use secret deals to force data centers into our towns,” the ad said. “ Tracy Pennycuick removed the fast-track language, stopped the bill in her committee, and is fighting to give our communities the final say in stopping data centers.”
However, Pennycuick is campaigning on fixing her own legislation.
Pennycuick was one of the co-sponsors on Senate Bill 939, which was introduced in July 2025. It would have created the new Office of Transformation and Opportunity and allowed data centers to bypass any regulation that restricts their construction and operation.
“When Tracy saw secret deals and efforts to steamroll local communities, she took action. She backed legislation that protects local control, stops backroom deals, and gives municipalities time to prepare before massive developments are forced on residents,” Zach Graaf, Pennycuick’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
With regards to SB 939, Graaf added, “Tracy listened to residents and stood up for them by amending the legislation and killing the bill in committee.”
Pennycuick’s campaign pointed to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s recent executive order, which removed the fast-track provision from his Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) guidelines.
“Tracy is glad Governor Shapiro supported her efforts this week via his executive order, establishing these same guardrails and protections,” Graaf said.
Legislative records show that Pennycuick successfully removed fast-track language from the bill by a unanimous 10-0 vote last February in the Pennsylvania Senate Communications and Technology Committee, which she chairs.
According to a press release from state Sen. Greg Rothman’s (R-Cumberland) office, SB 939 was introduced to coincide with US Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R) Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit and its original goal was to “establish Pennsylvania as the premiere destination for data center and Artificial Intelligence (AI) development.”
“It’s a part of a broader pattern of embracing extreme positions, then trying to walk them back when she realizes they’re unpopular,” said Chris Thomas, a former middle school math and science teacher running against Pennycuick. “Quite frankly, I don’t think the voters are gonna buy it this year.”
He added, “ She embraced AI and data centers full-heartedly the last few years, and once she realized it was unpopular, she walked it back.”
The Pennsylvania Senate Republican Campaign Committee is trying to tie Thomas’ previous work with Gilmore and Associates, a local civil engineering firm, to one of Amazon’s proposed data center locations in Bucks County, and claim that he is bankrolled by the industry.
Gilmore consulted for Amazon’s data center, but, according to Spotlight PA, Thomas’s campaign denied any personal involvement with the project and stated that he did temporary marketing and municipal advising work for the firm.
“It’s preposterous what they’re claiming,” Thomas said. They’re attacking a local, employee-owned civil engineering company that I’ve done work for. I did marketing and client relations for a few months before ramping up in the election season.”
