Could a Bucks County Amazon data center be affected by Gov. Shapiro’s order?

Amazon has proposed installing hundreds of backup natural gas generators for the hyperscale data center it is building in Falls Township, Bucks County, just off the Delaware River.

The generators require permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which has green-lighted five other environmental permits for the project.

But on Tuesday, Shapiro issued sweeping new guardrails on data centers, including removing Amazon from the state’s fast-track permitting process.

The move was a stark shift from Shapiro’s position on data centers in June 2025, when he championed the Amazon deal as part of a $20 billion Pennsylvania data center investment. Since then, public pushback to data centers has reached a fever pitch.

Tuesday’s announcement raises questions about the DEP’s decision on the Falls Township project, one of the few hyperscale data center developments nearing completion in the region to meet the power-hungry computing needs of artificial intelligence.

Robyn Briggs, a DEP spokesperson, said that as of Thursday, the agency’s air quality team was still reviewing the latest permit application for the generators. The process includes a 30-day public comment period that ended Monday. The DEP has not said when it expects to make a decision.

Briggs said that the DEP received 1,236 comments about the permit and that each would be given “equal weight and consideration.”

It was widely expected that many residents had written to oppose the approval, given the large amount of social media posts on the topic. Nearly 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for a moratorium on data centers in the township.

Amazon Data Services Inc. is developing a 250-acre campus within the Keystone Trade Center in Falls Township on a site formerly occupied by U.S. Steel.

Amazon plans 2 million square feet of data center space across 10 buildings for cloud computing and AI.

It already has both local and state approvals for the first of two expected phases of the project’s build-out. The DEP requires permits to ensure companies meet state and federal standards when sending pollution into the air or water.

To date, Amazon has been approved for five environmental air and water discharge permits. That includes approval last year for 72 diesel-fired emergency engines.

Amazon has also applied to install 280 natural gas-fired “critical backup generator engines” at 4,287 horsepower each.

It also wants to install three more diesel backup generators.

The company says the generators would provide backup power in the event of a main utility power supply interruption and would not be used to meet peak demand.

The generators would have pollution controls to lower nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, including formaldehyde and ammonia, according to the company. Emissions would be restricted to below allowable maximum levels.

The DEP is reviewing public comments before making a decision on Amazon’s permit.

If the permit for the backup generators is approved, Amazon would still need additional permitting for a planned second phase of the project.

Shapiro signed an executive order on Tuesday dramatically restricting data center development in Pennsylvania. He had been an early champion of data center development, including a $20 billion commitment from Amazon to build the Falls Township data center, as well as one in Luzerne County.

Now he is taking a hard-line stance against the industry as proposed projects draw bipartisan backlash. Although his order does not include a moratorium on data center development, it requires local approval for projects to receive state permits, which may block development.

The order removes all data center developments, including those by Amazon, from the fast-track permitting program, and no data centers will be considered for the program moving forward.

The DEP said the governor’s new permit review process would compel all data center projects going forward to enter into consent orders, which are legally binding agreements for environmental requirements, such as wastewater conservation standards.

» READ MORE: In a major shift, Gov. Josh Shapiro restricts data center development in Pennsylvania

When Amazon announced plans to build the data center in 2025, Falls Township officials welcomed the project as a boost to the 1,800-acre Keystone Trade Center being redeveloped by NorthPoint Development on the old steel mill grounds. NorthPoint is working with Amazon.

Shapiro also hailed the data center as a job creator and tax revenue generator. He said his team had worked with Amazon on the deal and would help to garner local support, develop infrastructure, and ensure “our permitting processes move quickly and efficiently.”

Opposition to data centers has gained critical mass over the last year, with local groups fighting against each proposal. Critics fear air and noise pollution and the amount of electricity and water the centers would need. The data centers are also the target of a chorus against rising electricity prices, much of which can be attributed to utility companies’ and regional grid operator PJM’s struggle to keep up with the demand for power.

Falls Township has been no different, but its data center is the closest to completion.

After a particularly contentious community meeting in July, the Falls Township Board of Supervisors approved a resolution declaring a portion of a zoning ordinance used for data centers “substantively invalid.” The board said staff would review sections of the ordinance for possible amendment.

“We heard the people,” Falls Supervisor John Palmer said in a statement.

However, the amendment would have no impact on Amazon’s data center, which the township approved in March 2025 before the public announcement with the governor.

Staff writers Jake Blumgart and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.