New York just drew a line in the sand for the AI infrastructure boom. Governor Kathy Hochul signed Executive Order No. 62 on July 14, 2026, placing a one-year moratorium on the construction and expansion of data centers capable of consuming 50 megawatts or more of power. That makes New York the first state in the country to impose a statewide freeze of this kind.
The order halts discretionary permits and approvals for covered facilities while state agencies develop new standards, conduct a full Generic Environmental Impact Statement, and design a framework for community benefits from data center operations.
What the order actually does
The 50 MW threshold targets hyperscale facilities, the kind built by major cloud and AI operators to run thousands of servers at once. The moratorium does not touch already-approved projects, so anything with permits in hand before the order was signed moves forward.
The Department of Public Service is required to review large-load interconnection requests during the freeze. The Department of Environmental Conservation must simultaneously pause processing current applications from covered facilities.
