Carbon County commissioners said Thursday they have no intention of taking a countywide position on data center development, arguing the question belongs squarely with local townships and boroughs in the wake of the Pennsylvania governor’s recent executive order on the issue.

“The statement in reference to Carbon County remains the same from the three commissioners; we believe that belongs on our local front,” Commissioner Michael Sofranko said. “The local boards, townships, borough councils — they decide from their residents what’s best for their communities.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the executive order on Tuesday, directing all commonwealth agencies to require data center project proposals to comply with his Responsible Infrastructure Development, or GRID, requirements. The order requires local approval for projects to receive state permits.

The county’s role, Sofranko said, is limited to its planning and development office, which will ensure local regulations are properly followed and enforced as applications come forward for approval.

The divide in opinion across Carbon County itself reflects why commissioners say a blanket countywide stance isn’t possible.

“In some areas of the county, there are communities that wish to sit down and have a discussion about data centers and look at the development,” Sofranko said. “And then there are other areas that absolutely, positively do not wish to have it. We feel that belongs at the local level. We’re not going to sit here as county commissioners and dictate what the entire county should do.”

Sofranko took direct aim at what he described as pressure from Harrisburg to take a position without the financial support to back it up.

“I don’t like mandates coming down to me from the state that are unfunded,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here as a county commissioner and tell townships and boroughs what to do if I don’t have the money to take care of that. It’s easy to say do this or don’t do this and have no money behind it.”

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said the county had navigated similar terrain years earlier when wind energy developers began eyeing the region, and the lesson then was the same as now.

“We had presentations when the windmills were coming, and I think everybody was aware they didn’t know what was coming and needed to update their zoning,” Ahner said. “It’s more or less the same — it’s on the local supervisors, the townships and towns, to make their own regulations. We gave them the tools, so they had to put the tools to work.”

Sofranko said some municipalities have already begun updating ordinances, and the county planning office is monitoring compliance. Despite declining to take a public stand on the governor’s action, he pushed back on any suggestion the county is standing on the sidelines.

“I know everybody seems to want to loop the county into this,” Sofranko said. “We are monitoring it. We’re not letting it go. We are on top of it.”