Akerman Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure Practice Chair James Grice was featured in Infrastructure Investor, offering perspective on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed “Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development” (GRID) standards and what they could mean for the pace and competitiveness of data center development in the commonwealth, as explored in the article “Pennsylvania governor voices worry about the manner of data centre development as new measures announced.”
The article examines how the governor’s proposed standards — centered on protecting energy and water resources, transparency and community engagement, local economic benefits, and responsible growth with accountability — are emerging as states compete aggressively to attract large-scale digital infrastructure investment amid rising public scrutiny of data center projects.
While noting that many of the GRID principles reflect practices already followed by most data center developers, James emphasized the importance of regulatory clarity and predictability. “If you take the worst case of these four points, you might create a situation where Pennsylvania is just not as interesting, and so now people will start looking at other jurisdictions,” James said. “There is a line they don’t want to cross.”
James also underscored the central role incentives play in development decisions, particularly for capital-intensive projects. “The incentives that are statutory and objectively available are obviously much more popular and much more viable for the data center operator and user than when there is some kind of state-level discretion,” he told Infrastructure Investor.