New York state lawmaker proposes three-year moratorium on new data centers

New Yorker state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would suspend permits related to the construction and operation of new data centers for at least three years. The bill’s prospects are uncertain, but Wired reports that New York is at least the sixth state considering a moratorium on new data center construction.

As technology companies plan to spend increasingly large amounts of money building AI infrastructure, both Democrats and Republicans have expressed concern about the impact those data centers will have on surrounding communities. Studies have also found that data centers are associated with higher household electricity bills.

Critics include progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has called for a national moratorium, and conservative Florida Gov. Ron De Santis, who said the data centers would “raise utility bills because chatbots can pollute 13-year-olds online.”

More than 230 environmental organizations, including Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace, recently signed an open letter to Congress calling for a national moratorium on new data center construction.

Food & Water Watch’s Eric Weltman told Wired that the New York bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Liz Krueger and Rep. Anna Keres, was “our idea.” Data center moratoriums have also been proposed by Democrats in Georgia, Vermont and Virginia, and similar bills have been proposed by Republicans in Maryland and Oklahoma.

According to Politico, Krueger said his state was “completely unprepared” for the “massive data centers” that are “launching their attacks on New York.”

“It’s time to press the pause button and have some leeway to adopt strong data center policies to avoid the bubble bursting and imposing huge bills on New York utility customers,” she said.

Last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new initiative called “Energize NY Development,” which her office said would modernize the way large energy users (i.e. data centers) connect to the power grid while also requiring them to “pay their fair share.”