New York Governor Signs First Statewide Data Center Moratorium

Governor of New York Kathy Hochul signed legislation Tuesday to put a one-year moratorium on hyperscale development data centerwhich is causing the entire country to stop data storage. The Executive Order comes as opposition Data center construction is sweeping the country, putting elected officials on the hook.

The law specifically halts federal environmental reviews of facilities exceeding 50 megawatts per year. It instructs the Department of Public Service to show how the storage facilities affect the environment and energy at this time, and create a new environmental impact policy, a policy to allow the environmental problems that may arise with data centers that want to build in the state. Hochul also wants an end to all tax incentives for data centers.

“We have no choice but to deal with the problems created by this large facility,” Hochul said at a press conference in New York City on Tuesday. The pause, he said, will give New York a chance to create “a more robust way to protect our communities.”

Hochul has been under increasing pressure to act on data tools for months. In early June, the New York Legislature passed the law Responsible Data Center Development Act. The omnibus bill, which would introduce various changes related to the development of the data center and have bipartisan support, has been on Hochul’s desk since it was passed, as well as lawmakers and environmental, faith, and working groups in the state. forced ambassador to sign. (A representative from Hochul’s office tells WIRED that the governor is still reviewing the bill.)

The executive order signed today is narrower than the law passed in May: The moratorium extends to data centers larger than 50 megawatts, versus the 20-megawatt limit in the bill on the governor’s desk. But representatives of the Data Center Development Act praised Hochul’s actions.

“Technology should make our lives better, not pollute our water, waste our electricity, or drive up utility bills,” said Democratic state Senator Kristin Gonzalez, a sponsor of the bill, in a statement. “By giving our country time to prepare, we can ensure that development and innovation do not come at the expense of all of us.”

Alex Beauchamp, the Northeast regional director for Food and Water Watch, an environmental group that helped draft the original New York ban, says it’s clear that the legislation passed in May was effective in forcing the governor to sign the executive order. (At a press conference Tuesday, Hochul thanked those who supported the bill, including Gonzalez.)

“Every stop is really a big step forward,” he says.

In his State of the State speech earlier this year, Hochul he said asks the data center under construction in New York to “pay their fair share” for power. This is not the first time the governor has crossed the line on Big Tech in the state. In 2022, he he signed a one-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining, despite strong lobbying from companies against the bill.

At least 13 other countriesincluding Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Maryland, Vermont, and South Dakota, introduced data center policies in their state legislatures this year, with both Democrats and Republicans providing funding. In April, Maine became the first state to establish a data center from the legislature. Governor Janet Mills opposed this, defending a particular data center project, built on the site of an old mill, that would, he said“bringing back jobs and money.” This work was hold forever in June.