Yo Craig, your hubris is showing

Lately, I’ve seen our PA State House Rep. Craig Williams say and share some things that… Let’s call them a stretch. Lies? You be the judge.

Before we debunk some of these “big little lies spins,” you’re probably thinking… C’mon Jen. All politicians fib.

Maybe that’s true (though I don’t think it’s entirely the case), but it doesn’t have to be. Call me naive. Or Pollyanna. Or a wishful thinker. But we don’t have to tolerate elected officials, no matter their political stripes, who make a habit of providing intentionally misleading information.

I can live with an exaggerated story or cute spin. We all do that in life. That hilarious story about your wild night in college probably didn’t go down exactly as you described at the happy hour with your work buddies.

But the straight-up lies are BS. As constituents, we don’t have to tolerate this. Vote these fools out! Show elected officials we care at least a touch about the truth. They owe it to us.

On that note, I wanted to quickly clear up a little confusion about what our current House Rep has been up to lately. Let’s unspin the spin.

What Craig Williams tells us about his actions on data centers vs…

If you read Rep. Craig Williams’ newsletter, you might have seen last week that he said he was the only one “with a law” on managing data center electricity use.

We’ll set aside the executive order (EO) issued this week by Governor Shapiro that regulates data centers. That wasn’t public when he made the claims below.

Worth noting, the EO addresses all the energy issues Williams has said concern him about data centers. He seems most upset (understandably) about data center energy use and related costs of infrastructure build-out. Shapiro’s EO covers all of that and beyond.

But let’s get into the truths and… not.

In his August 14, 2026, email newsletter, Williams wrote about data center energy use legislation:

“We need a law. I have offered the only one on the table.”

“The Pennsylvania Electricity Ratepayer Protection Act [his proposed bill] is our only path to a reliable and affordable energy future. It is time to act on it.”

That’s not accurate for multiple reasons.

Not “the only one”

Williams claims his proposed legislation is “the only one.” It’s not. Plain and simple.

On March 24, 2026, the PA House of Representatives passed House Bill 1834, sponsored by Rep. Robert Matzie, by a vote of 104-95. Among other things, this bill proposes legislation to ensure that data centers “pay their own way” for energy.

Craig voted against it, so surely he knows about it. I’m not sure why he’s telling you he’s the only one coming to save you. HB 1834 is awaiting action in the PA Senate (no dice so far). He might not like HB 1834, but it exists. And it passed the House with bipartisan support.

He should stop pretending his bill is “the only one” when it’s not.

Not “the only path”

Williams claims his proposed legislation is “the only path” forward. The only one???! 🤬 Ok, ok. He said “it’s the only one” that’s “reliable and affordable.”

I already explained the fallacies and failures in his proposed legislation. But when you know the magnitude and complexity of the problem we’re collectively trying to solve, you almost don’t even need to know the technical details of his legislation.

We know the problem. We don’t have enough electricity, and it’s not getting to the right places at the right times. His “only path” solution to the potentially humanity-altering problem of AI’s ravenous energy consumption is a bill that’s 4 double-spaced pages and includes no enforcement mechanisms. Furthermore, the bill excludes almost all of the solutions already being deployed across the country and around the world, including the laundry list of possible solutions issued by our current U.S. Department of Energy.

His bill isn’t “the only path” to solve our energy crisis, nor does it take advantage of some of the most “reliable and affordable” possible solutions.

This energy crisis is a highly complex problem that is driving global paradigm shifts in energy, resource management, and artificial intelligence. Literally no one in this country (or even the world) has sufficiently solved it.

We can all be pretty certain, however, that his 4-page, double-spaced bill that:

• entirely dismisses renewables (the cheapest and fastest-to-build forms of new energy generation that account for over 90% of new generation globally) and
• ignores every single innovative idea that isn’t power generation…

… isn’t going to cut it. 

I don’t have the magic solution. No political party or organization does. But I have the humility to recognize that, and I’m sure you do too. Not Craig, apparently…

Two bills; different approaches

The two bills (one from Matzie and one from Williams) take different approaches to regulating data center energy use and related cost socialization. Williams has every right to vote against a bill he doesn’t like or doesn’t think serves Pennsylvania.

If he has conviction in his vote, though, he should be able to communicate with integrity why he voted as he did. If he’s pretending the other bill doesn’t exist, it leads me to believe he doesn’t want us to know he voted against it. Feels like a giant red flag. 🚩

And if he’s willing to share something so obviously untrue that neglects to acknowledge the mere existence of a similar bill, what else in his newsletter is misleading or fabricated?

Maybe he’s not lying and just forgot the bill exists and that he voted against it? I suppose I can’t read minds. 🔮 If that’s the case, he needs a better editor for his newsletter.

Craig also did not vote for a data center moratorium

In another episode of “why is Craig saying this?”…

In one of his latest mailings, he claimed he voted for a data center moratorium. Fun fact: There is no statewide data center moratorium that’s passed the House, so how could he have voted for it? 

I presume Williams is referring to House Bill 2496, which allows local municipalities in Pennsylvania to enact a 180-day pause on the consideration of data center development applications within their jurisdictions. Voting to pass a law that allows someone else to choose to do something is not the same as passing a law that does that thing.

Without context (of which there is none on his mailer), most of his constituents won’t be aware of this important distinction. He’s trying to take credit for something he thinks will make him look good without actually having done it. Gross. 🤢

Moreover, this bill passed 201-1 in the PA House. I’m thrilled it passed with nearly unanimous support, but it’s not the legislation he’s pretending it is.

Currently, the bill is sitting in our PA Senate (where all data center regulation-related bills apparently go to die). I have no idea why they won’t put it up for a vote. But its stagnant state in our state senate means local municipalities are still hamstrung and unable to take advantage of its seemingly broad appeal.

At least he’s consistent?

This fact-fumbling appears to be a consistent habit for Williams. If I rounded up three examples on just one topic from the last few weeks, there’s probably more where they came from.

Not only is he struggling with the truth, but it feels like he’s trying to convince us he’s the superhero among villains. If he’s really such a superhero state rep, my spidey senses tell me there would be more verifiable successes to share. Instead, many of the “best stories” he’s mustering these days feel more fiction than fact.

His hubris is showing. You deserve to know. 🫶🏼