Tell Governor Hochul to Sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act into Law!
NYS Governor Kathy Hochul
In July, Governor Hochul signed an executive order to pause large data center projects in New York for up to one year. This first-in-the-nation moratorium is an important victory for our grassroots fight to protect all of us from the catastrophic environmental and economic impacts of unregulated data center development!
But we need permanent protections for our communities and our environment from tech oligarchs, not just a one-year pause. The state legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act, but Governor Hochul has not signed it.
That's why we need you to urge Gov. Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act.
TeraWulf, a bitcoin mining company that has recently pivoted to AI, still plans to build a 300 megawatt data center in Lansing, NY. Although Hochul’s moratorium is expected to slow their progress, we need stronger legislation to safeguard Cayuga Lake.
The Responsible Data Center Development Act (S10642/A11560) goes beyond Hochul’s one-year moratorium by:
- Pausing new construction on data centers over 20 megawatts, while the executive order applies only to projects over 50 megawatts,
- Preventing data centers from passing utility costs onto residents by establishing a new utility rate class for data center operators,
- Setting sustainable energy and labor standards for data centers,
- Requiring a broader statewide environmental study and report,
- Requiring public hearings before building permits can be issued for specific projects,
- Allowing fewer exemptions based on permitting progress and facility use than the executive order.
To learn more, see this summary by Dr. Anna Kelles, NYS Assemblymember for District 125.
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To:
NYS Governor Kathy Hochul
From:
[Your Name]
I write to ask you to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act (S10642/A11560) into law. Although the moratorium enacted by executive order creates a temporary stopgap against the adverse impacts of some data center projects, the bill passed by the state legislature offers superior protection against economic and environmental harms to ordinary New Yorkers. Tech companies backed by wealthy investors continue to plan large data center projects that threaten to make utilities unaffordable, destabilize our electrical grid, damage our natural resources, fuel climate change, and create new health risks for residents.
Residents of Tompkins County are still fighting TeraWulf's proposed 300 megawatt data center project on Cayuga Lake in Lansing, NY. Voters demand further action to address this looming threat – the time to sign S10642/A11560 is now.