Pennsylvania Sen. Katie Muth, D-Chester County, speaks in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg on Tuesday. Ford Turner / The Center Square

A large throng of residents from across the state who are fed up with the data center frenzy filled the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday with cheers and speeches of support for a proposed three-year moratorium on data center development.

None of the speakers had kind words for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, whom they accused of siding with wealthy tech companies and being absent from conversations with people concerned about data centers. Colby Wesner, a pediatrician from Montour County who has used Right-to-Know requests to illuminate unpublicized and concerning aspects of data center activity, said the governor had made “best friends” of Amazon and the Data Center Coalition, an industry trade group.

Wesner dismissed Shapiro’s announced Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development standards — which the administration has touted as a set of best practices for data center proposals — as a “PR stunt to attempt to show concern.”

A main thrust Tuesday was to show support for the proposed three-year moratorium. A bill to enact the stoppage has been introduced by Democratic Sen. Katie Muth of Chester County, who told the crowd the state had reached a critical moment.

Muth chastised state leaders for failing to put forth proposals on protecting residents’ health from “these massive industrial projects.”

Also present was Republican Sen. Rosemary Brown of Monroe County, a supporter of the proposed three-year moratorium, and Republican Rep. Jamie Walsh of Luzerne County. Walsh told The Center Square this week he will be doing some “investigation” of large-scale purchases of properties associated with data center proposals in Salem Township in his district.

Other flashpoints in the state where transparency has been an issue include Clinton Township, Wayne County, where a former township supervisor filed a lawsuit accusing the current board of violating the state Sunshine Act; and Limerick Township, Montgomery County, where a controversial proposal and the local government handling of it has produced alleged threats.

A lead organizer of the event on Tuesday was the nonprofit Food & Water Watch. The state director for the organization, Megan McDonough, said “communities are being hunted, not consulted” for data center development.

She used the example of a proposal in Springdale Borough in northeastern Allegheny County. There, she said, residents never consented to the proposal and the rush was so great “they barely had time to understand it.”

Data center proposers, she said, have established a pattern of attempting to hide potential impacts and rush the approval process amid a false air of inevitability. In the Capitol, she said, some politicians have established a pattern of publicly ignoring what is going on with the issue.

“Every sellout in this building understands that Pennsylvania belongs to the people, and not Big Tech,” McDonough said.