New York State halts construction of all new data centers
New York has become the first state to temporarily halt approval of large data centers, as Gov. Kathy Hochul argues the AI-driven building boom shouldn’t come at the expense of higher electricity costs, water supplies, or local control.
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New York State has temporarily halted the construction of new large data centers through an executive order that bars approval of permits for projects of 50 megawatts or larger. The moratorium will remain in place while the state completes an environmental review process expected to take about a year. Public concern about data centers has grown because their large scale and rapid construction strain electrical grids and regional resources like water and farmland, with additional worry about their role in powering artificial intelligence systems that most Americans view with concern. This makes New York the first state to implement such a pause, though similar proposals have been debated elsewhere and faced political opposition.
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