The bill<\/a>, named the Responsible Data Center Development Act, would also require a local public hearing before such facilities are constructed and a statewide data center environmental impact report within a year and a half after the bill becomes law. The moratorium would apply to any data center with a peak energy use above 20 megawatts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure that we have the appropriate infrastructure and processes in place to protect communities from rising utility bills, protect our environmental resources and actually have a positive vision for what our energy future as a state should look like,\u201d state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who introduced the bill, told Inside Climate News.<\/p>\n Large data centers that support artificial intelligence suck up an enormous amount of energy<\/a> to power their computers. They also need water to cool them.\u00a0<\/p>\n In New York, data centers have been proposed across upstate communities, from Niagara and Erie counties along the border with Canada to the town of East Fishkill in the southeast. Local opposition to these projects, which are often proposed in rural areas, is growing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe burden of rigorous analysis and defense against billionaires and their white-shoe law firms should not be put on volunteer planning board appointees,\u201d said Gay Nicholson of Sustainable Finger Lakes, a nonprofit opposed to a large data center in the upstate town of Lansing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need state-level intervention,\u201d she said at a recent press conference.<\/p>\n The bill is not without its detractors. Khara Boender, the director of state policy at the Data Center Coalition, an industry group, told<\/a> local station Spectrum News that \u201ca statewide moratorium on data centers would discourage further investment, undermine New York\u2019s economy, and send a signal that the state is closed for business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ken Pokalsky, the vice president of the Business Council of New York State, said in a memo that the \u201cexpansive and unworkable mandates proposed in this bill would result in significant adverse economic development impacts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Multiple data center developers working in the state declined or did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Ed Nadeau, the president of the New York State Pipe Trades Association, told Inside Climate News that he was concerned about the loss of construction jobs during the 12-month moratorium, but did not oppose any other aspects of the bill. Workers in his union have been training to build and maintain these types of facilities for years, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make any sense,\u201d Nadeau said of the freeze. \u201cWe want these jobs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This story is funded by readers like you.<\/p>\n Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.<\/p>\n Donate Now<\/a> <\/p>\n In response to questions about job reductions, Gonzalez said that the capital expended to build and operate a data center is very high compared to the jobs created. New York Focus, a state news outlet, recently reported<\/a> that a $77 million subsidy for a data center near the state\u2019s border with New Jersey had led to the creation of only a single permanent job.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure our building trades have as many opportunities to build as possible,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we invest deeply in housing, but as part of this bill, we\u2019re also identifying new ways the [electricity] grid has to be improved, and those will be jobs moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Local Opposition to Data Centers<\/p>\n The town of Oneonta in central New York is among the localities nationwide<\/a> enacting their own moratoriums.\u00a0<\/p>\n William Rivera, now the town supervisor, said he became aware of a proposed data center there last year at a town hall meeting. Eco-Yotta Inc., a technology company, wanted to rezone over 150 acres of what Rivera called \u201cpristine farmland\u201d for the data center.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month, his administration successfully passed a 12-month moratorium on data center development.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGone are the days where these mega-corporations can come in and sneak in harmful applications on the backs of working people,\u201d said Rivera, who drafted the Oneonta moratorium policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, he said, many local governments and residents struggle to get access to all the information concerning data centers and their impacts. Historically, data center developers have been extremely reluctant to share information about their energy and water use with the public, to the point of getting local officials to sign non-disclosure agreements<\/a> concerning the details of a project.\u00a0<\/p>\n The newly passed state legislation would force developers to be more transparent about their use of local resources, and includes a requirement to make efforts toward \u201cenergy efficiency goals\u201d like recycling waste heat.<\/p>\n New York\u2019s electricity grid operator has stated<\/a> that data center projects will put pressure on the grid and complicate efforts to retire aging gas-fired power plants.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2250204873.jpg\"\/)
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An aerial view of data centers in Ashburn, Va. Credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
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