The New York Legislature passed a one-year moratorium Thursday night on data center permits, the latest sign of pushback amid a nationwide rush to build the power-hungry facilities.
New York would become the first state in the nation to enact such a freeze if Gov. Kathy Hochul signs the bill into law. But Hochul, who is up for re-election this year, has said that she believes it should be left up to municipalities, Politico’s E&E News reported last week. Maine’s governor vetoed a moratorium there in April.
The bill, 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.
“We 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,” state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who introduced the bill, told Inside Climate News.
