ALBANY, New York — Key Democratic state lawmakers alarmed by the surge in demand for power by the tech industry want to pull the plug on new data centers in New York.
New legislation in Albany would freeze state and local approvals for data centers for three years — a sweeping moratorium that has not previously been reported. The pause would continue until new regulations are in place.
The move would put New York on the front lines of a national reckoning over whether states can absorb the energy demands of the artificial intelligence boom without driving up electricity costs or destabilizing already strained power grids.
“Massive data centers are gunning for New York, and right now we are completely unprepared,” said Democratic state Sen. Liz Krueger, one of the bill’s sponsors and chair of the state Senate’s powerful Finance Committee. “It’s time to hit the pause button, give ourselves some breathing room to adopt strong policies on data centers, and avoid getting caught in a bubble that will burst and leave New York utility customers footing a huge bill.”
