Keel Infrastructure Corp. has publicly thrown its support behind Executive Order 2026-05, signed by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on August 18, 2026, and the accompanying Responsible Infrastructure Development standards, known as GRID.

The New York-based digital infrastructure company said its existing development practices already align with the framework's requirements and that permitting at its two active Pennsylvania sites remains on track.

The Executive Order and What It Requires

Governor Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on August 18, 2026, establishing what Keel described as the highest bar in the country for data center development.

The GRID Standards are organized around four key principles: protecting energy affordability, transparency and community engagement, workforce and economic development, and environmental protection.

Keel's endorsement, announced August 20, 2026, positions the company as an early and voluntary supporter of the new regulatory framework rather than a reluctant subject of it.

The order arrives as Pennsylvania experiences growing demand for digital infrastructure capacity, driven in part by the expansion of artificial intelligence computing workloads.

Questions about how that growth affects electricity costs for existing ratepayers, local water supplies, community input, and environmental outcomes have shaped the policy debate leading to the executive order.

Keel's Pennsylvania Footprint

Keel Infrastructure Corp. trades on both the Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KEEL.

The company describes itself as a North American digital infrastructure and energy company focused on high-performance computing workloads, including AI.

Its overall development pipeline stands at 2.2 gigawatts, with established grid interconnections in place across Pennsylvania, Washington and Quebec.

In Pennsylvania specifically, the company has energized capacity and active development underway at two sites: Panther Creek and Sharon. Both projects involve the redevelopment of legacy energy and industrial sites, a strategy the company has pursued for several years.

Keel said its approach brings incremental transmission and interconnection capacity with each project rather than relying solely on the existing grid infrastructure.

Company Says It Already Meets the New Standards

CEO Ben Gagnon said in a statement that the GRID principles largely reflect practices Keel has maintained throughout its Pennsylvania development work.

"We engage with communities long before we file permits, and we measure ourselves on tangible outcomes delivered locally," Gagnon said.

"Pennsylvania is setting the highest bar in the country for this industry, and we intend to clear it at Panther Creek, at Sharon, and at every project we build in the Commonwealth."

On the energy affordability question, Keel said its development model in Pennsylvania centers on bringing its own power rather than drawing from existing supply.

The company stated it pays the interconnection, transmission, distribution, and network upgrade costs attributable to its own load, with the stated goal of avoiding cost shifts to Pennsylvania households and businesses. Keel said it supports the Commonwealth's position that growth should pay for growth.

Community Engagement and Investment

The company said it has engaged local governments, held public meetings and disclosed project footprints, load figures and water use assumptions before major design decisions are finalized.

As a specific example of community investment, Keel cited expenditures in local schools, which it said are directed toward modernizing facilities, expanding student programming, and supporting underserved students and families.

On workforce development, Keel stated its data center projects are expected to create hundreds of high-paying skilled construction and operations jobs for Pennsylvania workers.

The company said it is working with local educational institutions to develop and fund scholarship programs focused on data center construction and operations skills, with the goal of ensuring communities have a workforce prepared to fill those roles.

Environmental Commitments at the Site Level

Keel described environmental stewardship as central to its project design.

Its data centers are built to use closed-loop cooling systems, which the company said limit annual water consumption to the equivalent of a few dozen households.

The company also said it is prioritizing zero-emission energy storage for grid resiliency where technically feasible and is supporting local water quality improvement and reforestation initiatives in the communities surrounding its projects.

The choice to redevelop legacy energy and industrial sites rather than greenfield locations is itself framed by the company as part of its environmental and community approach, bringing renewed use to previously developed land.

Permitting Status Unaffected

Keel was explicit that the executive order does not disrupt its existing development timeline. The company stated that permitting at both the Panther Creek and Sharon sites continues to proceed on schedule and is unaffected by Executive Order 2026-05.

Keel said it intends to continue working alongside the Governor's Office, the Department of Environmental Protection, utility partners, and local officials throughout the development process.