GENESEE COUNTY, N.Y. \u2014 Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a bill that pauses the construction of large-scale data centers for up to a year, creating the nation\u2019s first data center moratorium.<\/p>\n
The state is pausing environmental permits to build a regulatory framework that aims to protect the energy grid and the environment as data centers seek to expand. As News10NBC has covered, data centers often house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool, which has raised criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n Genesee County residents have spoken in opposition<\/a> to a proposed $19 billion data center project in the Town of Alabama. Developers say the Stream Data Centers complex would create 125 permanent jobs,\u00a0but residents say they\u2019re concerned about how much water the\u00a02.2 million square foot data center campus would use.<\/p>\n Is the proposed data center in Genesee County impacted?<\/p>\n In June, the New York State Legislature passed the moratorium on data centers. After the bill passed, News10NBC\u2019s Emily Putnam spoke with Mark Masse<\/a>, President & CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, about how the moratorium could impact the project.<\/p>\n Masse said the project is continuing to move forward unless the moratorium is signed into law. He said the project is still undergoing the\u00a0State Environmental Quality Review act<\/a>\u00a0process, or SEQR. <\/p>\n \u201cUnless it gets signed into law, we\u2019re continuing to move along with this project as we have been,\u201d Masse said. \u201cI would point out that a lot of the items that the legislature was looking for under the moratorium we are actively doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Those items include a DEC environmental impact statement, which Masse said was completed in 2012, and a study on energy demand.<\/p>\n \u201cThis project will pay, if approved, for 100% for any of the electrical infrastructure needed for it, so that will not go back on to the rate payers, so you know, a lot of those qualifiers that they wanted as the basis for the moratorium, we are already doing as part of our normal review process as part of this project,\u201d Masse said.<\/p>\n At the time of the interview, Gov. Hochul hadn\u2019t publicly said whether she would sign the moratorium. News10NBC is working to track the impact on the data center project now that the governor has signed the bill into law.<\/p>\n More about the moratorium<\/p>\n The moratorium order will pause state permitting for new large data centers and direct state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage and other factors, the governor\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n Tech companies and other backers have argued moves to block the construction of data centers hurt job growth for local communities and cede ground to China in a race to lead in the rapidly growing AI industry.<\/p>\n Earlier this year,\u00a0Maine<\/a>\u00a0seemed poised to establish a similar moratorium. But the measure was vetoed by the state\u2019s governor because it would have blocked a proposed data center in a town that has struggled following the closure of a local mill. Moratoriums have been proposed in at least a dozen states but have not gotten far, though some counties and municipalities have imposed their own temporary bans.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a0data centers<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0moratorium<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0New York State<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY, N.Y. \u2014 Gov. 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