Senator Gonzalez will join advocates and community members at the Finger Lakes Welcome Center in Geneva for a rally and press conference as part of her statewide tour around data centers. Speakers will include Assemblymember Kelles, business owners, residents, academic experts and representatives of the Gayogo̱hóǫˀ (Cayuga) Nation, who will underscore the impacts of the Greenidge Generation facility and concerns about data center expansion across the Finger Lakes. Greenidge recently rebranded as ‘Vulcan Infrastructure and Power’ as it shifts its focus toward AI, raising renewed concerns about the facility’s future. Following the press conference, Senator Gonzalez will join residents for a boat ride on Seneca Lake to view the facility from the water.

Today, there are over 30 large data center proposals pending in New York State; if these data centers were to come online, they would need more than 11,900 MW of new electricity demand—nearly double the energy demand of all of New York households.

Communities near existing data centers have experienced higher electricity bills, undrinkable water, and noise pollution. Without safeguards, these facilities risk driving up utility bills for everyday New Yorkers, strain our electric grid, increase water use and pollution—all while providing relatively few permanent local jobs after construction.

New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, sponsor of the Responsible Data Center Development Act, and Food & Water Watch, will be embarking on the New York Fights AI Data Centers statewide tour from August 22 to August 30. The Senator will visit over a dozen sites with active or proposed data centers across New York State to hear the concerns from impacted communities and advocate for Governor Hochul to sign the Senator’s bill, which codifies requirements for public participation and transparency, renewable energy use, and labor standards. The legislation also creates separate water and energy rate classes for data centers in an effort to protect ratepayers from increased costs.