Plug Power announces land sale to Stream Data Centers ahead of New York data center moratorium

Plug Power announced the sale of land in Western New York to Stream Data Centers for $142 million, with a final closing deadline now set for March 31, 2027, due to regulatory issues. This announcement came a day before New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order imposing a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers statewide. Plug Power CEO Jose Luis Crespo expressed support for regulations protecting the electrical grid and taxpayers but opposed the moratorium, emphasizing that the New York transaction for Stream Data Centers is still proceeding. Crespo highlighted that Stream has already invested over $21 million in the deal, and the company expects to gain over $80 million in near-term liquidity from the sale, especially important given its nearly $1.7 billion in losses last year.

Crespo also mentioned exploring hydrogen power from Plug Power for data centers as a potential new collaboration avenue with Stream. Additionally, Plug Power and Stream are set to close another land deal in Texas. Governor Hochul's executive order, which is under review by her team in conjunction with a more comprehensive legislative moratorium bill, has received mixed reactions from anti-data center activists like No Kings Collective Albany, who described it as a "step in the right direction and wildly insufficient," advocating for the Legislature's stricter moratorium to be signed into law. Bryan Paz-Hernandez, Co-Facilitator of No Kings Collective Albany, suggested the executive order was a political move to avoid upsetting more stakeholders.