(TNS) — Niagara Falls will be one of the first stops for a state senator’s tour of New York concerning data center development.

Kristen Gonzalez, representing New York’s 59th Senate District, which covers areas of Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan along the East River, is taking part in an eight-day, 13-stop “New York Fights AI Data Centers” tour, hearing concerns from residents who live near proposed data center sites. She is also advocating for the Responsible Data Center Development Act, creating new regulations for future centers.

“Communities near existing data centers have experienced higher electricity bills, undrinkable water, and noise pollution causing health problems,” the release announcing this tour reads. “Without strong safeguards, these facilities risk driving up utility bills for everyday New Yorkers, strain our electric grid, increase water use and pollution, and undermine our climate goals — all while providing relatively few permanent local jobs once construction is complete.”

Gonzalez will visit Western New York this Saturday along with the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, starting at the Trinity Church at 371 Delaware Ave. in Buffalo at 11 a.m., followed by site visits to six proposed data center locations in Erie and Niagara counties. Her Niagara Falls appearance will be at 7 p.m. at the Doris Jones Community Center at 3001 9th St.

“Across Erie and Niagara counties, we have about 2 GW of proposed or operating data center projects for cryptomining, as well as AI data centers,” said Bridge Rauch, the Environmental Justice Organizer with the Clean Air Coalition. “This has become a new, unregulated industrial sector that has really caused a lot of problems for residents.”

The following day, Gonzalez plans to visit Alabama in Genesee County, the proposed site of the STAMP data center, and meet with organizers there. Other communities she plans to visit include Seneca Lake, Orangeburg, East Fishkill, Albany, Ithaca, and Syracuse.

This past July, New York became the first state to establish a one-year moratorium on new data centers, with Gov. Kathy Hochul directing state regulators to create standards that would address environmental impacts, energy demand, and water usage among other factors.

Gonzalez helped write the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which passed both state legislative chambers. This omnibus bill combines several previously introduced bills dealing with data center development and would:

Establish a one-year moratorium on new data center permits for those with a peak load of over 20 MWRequire a public hearing in the local community prior to permit approvalRequire the DEC to conduct an environmental impact report on data centersCreate new electric and water rate classes for data centers over 20 MWEstablish energy-efficient goals for data centers with a peak load of over 5 MWCreate a host community benefit program requiring data centers with peak loads over 20 MW to invest in the local communitySet labor standards for data center construction for those with peak load over 5 MWNiagara County is home to five different data center complexes, those being the Lake Mariner center in Somerset, Digipower X in North Tonawanda, the H5 Data Centers in Lockport, and the U.S. Bitcoin and Blockfusion centers in Niagara Falls. Five reportedly proposed data centers would be in Niagara Falls, which include NFR’s proposed center in the downtown area, Whattum Management’s center on Portage Road, and three locations for Globe Digital Holdings on Packard Road and Highland Avenue.

Statewide, there are 38 proposed large data center projects that would use a combined 11,900 MW of new electricity demand, nearly double that of all state households.

© 2026 the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (Lockport, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.