New York legislators look to pass a one-year ban on new data centers
Article excerpt
New York lawmakers are pursuing a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, a move that would pause the expansion of facilities that consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. The proposed ban addresses growing concerns about infrastructure strain on the state's power grid and environmental impact, particularly as AI companies race to build facilities to support their computing needs. Data centers in New York have become increasingly controversial as energy demands surge, with critics warning that unchecked growth could undermine the state's climate goals and strain municipal water supplies. The moratorium would give legislators time to develop stronger regulations before allowing new projects to resume.
In New York, legislators have passed a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, reports The Verge, marking the first statewide ban on a critical component of the infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence.
Governor Kathy Hochul has yet to sign the bill into law, however, so at this stage it is better understood as a proposed framework than actual policy, but the lawmakers behind the bill say it is designed less as an outright ban than as a means of buying time to assess the many impacts of new data center construction, on the environment, on energy prices, and on local jobs.
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If passed into law, the bill would require any company planning to build a "large" data center, defined as having at least 20 megawatts of capacity, to also fund a public hearing into the desirability of the project among local residents.
Public opinion on data centers has rapidly soured, even since last fall, with 7 in 10 Americans now opposed to the construction of new data centers in their area, and lawmakers are starting to take note. A similar moratorium was attempted in Maine earlier this year, but the proposal was ultimately rejected by Democratic Governor Janet Mills on the grounds that it failed to exempt a previously planned project.
Unsurprisingly, representatives from companies backing new data center construction oppose the moratoriums, favoring a case-by-case assessment of new builds. Politico spoke with Stacy Sikes, the current president and CEO of the Long Island Association business group, who warned about the economic ramifications of a blanket ban: "We think it would overall be damaging to the state’s economy, because having a blanket moratorium instead of looking at it at a case by case basis would not allow the state to move forward on a data center project that would actually be helpful to our economy."
When asked about the likelihood of the bill becoming law, Hochul's spokesperson Kristin Devoe was predictably terse: "The Governor will review the bill."