Hochul orders one-year pause on new hyperscale data centers in New York
Governor Kathy Hochul has enacted a one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data center projects across New York state to develop comprehensive environmental, energy, and community standards. This statewide action follows a similar 12-month moratorium approved by the Deerfield Town Board for local facilities, amidst growing concerns over resource consumption and calls for local zoning regulations. Protests have also occurred in Ilion regarding a proposed data center project.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has issued an executive order placing a temporary one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data center projects throughout the state. The pause aims to allow state agencies to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework, including environmental, energy, and community standards, for the rapidly expanding industry, driven by demand for AI and cloud computing. During this period, state agencies will halt issuing new discretionary environmental permits for large-scale data centers, with exceptions for already complete applications.
The statewide action follows similar local initiatives, notably the Deerfield Town Board's unanimous approval of its own 12-month moratorium on large data facilities just one day prior. Deerfield officials stated their intention to use this time to research the industry and draft local zoning regulations. Councilman Daniel Fusco expressed support, viewing it as an opportunity to gather information and address misconceptions about data center resource consumption, citing a facility he visited that used air cooling and generated its own electricity.
Governor Hochul's directive also includes instructing the state Department of Public Service to initiate an "Energize NY" proceeding. This program will explore requiring future data centers to either incur higher electricity costs or provide their own energy supply, and will prepare an environmental impact statement. Additionally, Empire State Development is tasked with creating a community investment framework to assist local governments in negotiating community benefit agreements with developers, and the governor will seek legislation to repeal existing sales tax exemptions for large data centers. The measures come amid growing local concerns and protests, particularly around a proposed data center redevelopment in Ilion.