Tell Governor Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act
New York Governor Kathy Hochul
AI Hyperscale data centers have been rolled out and developed with little community input or government oversight. People are seeing their water sources contaminated, their communities polluted, their life’s real estate investments tanked, and their energy bills skyrocket due to the insatiable demand of the AI bubble. Datacenters are essential and have undergone development for years without as much cause for concern, but now to power the AI revolution, AI and big tech companies are looking to build these massive “hyperscale” industrial developments in communities across the state with no regard to the people that live there. These installations have unprecedented impacts; the need for power/electricity — a burden our energy grid cannot fathom as it already struggles to keep up, the need for fresh water — pulled from natural sources that are already often limited in their use for residential and other commercial purposes, and the environmental impact — we do not know what the local environmental consequences might be whether it be from noise pollution or heat exhaust.
Even for downstate residents or those who don't feel the direct environmental impacts, we are seeing what the burden on the energy grid looks like on our utility bills, or in who gets their power back first when a storm hits. The costs of data centers are passed on to all utility rate payers in 2 main ways.
1) The insatiable demand from hyperscale datacenters drives up wholesale commodity cost for everyone, meaning you pay more in supply charges. Despite this, data centers pay at an even lower rate than we do due to bulk purchasing contracts ($12.88 per MWhr vs our $244 per MWhr) that also ensures their priority in outages and consistent delivery.
2) When a utility provider has to build out infrastructure to connect a new data center, the hookup cost is not on the developer. It's passed on to everyone else through increased delivery charges
On July 14, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul made headlines by signing an executive order that enacted a moratorium up to one year, on the permitting of new hyperscale (over 50 megawatts) data centers in New York, the first of its kind in the US. While a step in the right direction, this action falls short to fully protect New York communities facing data center developments. The Responsible Data Center Development Act, sponsored by State Senator Kristin Gonzalez and passed in the State Legislature in June, proposes a similar moratorium but with far stricter requirements and stronger protections for New Yorkers currently sits on the Governor's desk, awaiting her signature.
Responsible Datacenter Development Act: | Issues with the Executive Order: |
Bans large data center permits for 1 year at a lower 20 Megawatt limit | A pause to ongoing permits with looser requirements at a higher 50 MW capacity, no guarantee to last a full year |
Requires thorough review, environmental assessment, and community engagement | Does not set any lasting requirements |
Keeps data center costs off our utility bills and classifies them separate from residents | No protections |
Sets targets for ⅓ renewable energy supply | Ignored |
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To:
New York Governor Kathy Hochul
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Governor Hochul,
While we welcome the bold first step of the Executive Order in making New York the first state to institute a moratorium on hyperscale datacenters (50 MW), we know there is so much more needed to adequately protect New York communities. New Yorkers across the state are unified in their desire to have their voices heard through processes of community engagement throughout development, assurances that they won't bear the cost in an ongoing affordability crisis, and not see their communities ravaged by the environmental consequences that datacenters and tributary power plants pose to the surrounding air, water, wildlife, and general quality of life.
While we recognize the development of data centers is a necessity in some capacity, we ask for the most modest protections against the ramifications of the AI movement driving demand for hyperscale installations. These developments have proven to be environmental threats to local waters supplies, increase local temperatures through heat island effect, and raise utility bills statewide both through basic wholesale price from increased demand, as well as delivery charges from the added infrastructure to be connected to the grid.
The Responsible Datacenter Development Act (A11560/S10642) provides much more stringent protections by creating a mandate for community engagement, classifications to track data center electricity and water use different from the typical consumer, and a supply target of 1/3 to be renewably powered. This will ensure that not only are New Yorkers heard throughout the process, but also that data center development does not have to come at the cost of our communities, our pockets, or our futures.