NY set to pass one-year pause on data centers as business, tech leaders warn its latest move to stifle economy | Latest Tech News
Scrub the data heart ban!
Desperate tech and business teams begged Gov. Kathy Hochul to pull the plug on a measure that will block new artificial intelligence data centers from coming online in New York for one yr.
Albany Democrats had been poised Thursday to ram through the ban as they wrapped up their work for the yr – drawing an outcry from teams such as the Business Council of New York that contended it’d stymie financial growth.
“The rush to enact this measure left critical issues unanswered, creating uncertainty for businesses, consumers, and energy stakeholders alike,” Business Council spokesperson Patrick Bailey wrote in a assertion to The Post.
Business teams are calling on Hochul to reject the ban on data centers. Matt Roberts/Shutterstock
“We intend to engage directly with the Administration to address these concerns and advocate for reasonable changes through chapter amendments or a veto,” he added.
The unfold of AI data centers has sparked a backlash from a spectrum of teams involved about them straining local communities’ vitality provide, driving up already sky-high electric utility charges, growing pollution and Big Tech’s growing energy.
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But the business teams urging Hochul to reject the ban argue the Empire State wants to keep aggressive as artificial intelligence turns into more and more important.
“A blanket moratorium on data centers would slow investment in the next generation of infrastructure projects our economy increasingly depends on, and we urge Governor Hochul to veto this bill,” said Julie Samuels, president and CEO of Tech:NYC, a coalition of New York technology sector companies.
“Energy usage, grid capacity, and the community impact of data centers must be addressed, and the Governor’s Public Service Commission is already pursuing the right approach by ensuring data centers pay their fair share for grid upgrades and energy usage.”
The invoice would place a one-year moratorium on allowing for new data centers of more than 5 megawatts.
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) confirmed her chamber would pass the invoice Thursday, following go well with with the state Assembly, which handed it earlier in the day.
“We believe that we can get this right and we believe that we should just put a pause on the application process and look at it,” Stewart-Cousins said.
The invoice would ban data centers for a yr. LightRocket via Getty Images
“We don’t think data centers are going away, but we do think we can have a say,” she added.
After the one-year moratorium is up, stiff necessities would stay in place such as an costly prevailing wage requirement that’d pressure construction of new centers toward utilizing union labor.
Larger amenities demanding more than 20 megawatts of vitality usage would face even more roadblocks – such as a ban on utility and water firms subsidizing a data heart’s hookup and a requirement that they most principally use renewable vitality by 2040.
“If we’re saying to them they can’t use natural gas, they’re not going to come here, period,” said Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R-Schuyler) as he railed against the measure on the Assembly ground Thursday.
Participants seen holding indicators at the protest. LightRocket via Getty Images
He identified that data centers are being singled out, where other major tech and financial developments such the Micron chip manufacturing facility exterior Onondaga County that New York enticed to the state with lavish incentives.
“If we told Micron they had to power their energy demands strictly using renewable resources, they wouldn’t be here,” Palesano added, emphasizing his view that the laws is more than just a one-year pause.
Hochul has thrown cold water on statewide restrictions not too long ago, saying allowing ought to be up to localities.
A spokesperson for her workplace gave The Post her boilerplate response for newly handed payments saying she is going to “review” the laws.
The ban is much from the first time New York lawmakers have sided with greeny activists over an rising sector.
In 2022, Hochul signed a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations, laying out many of the same issues about water and vitality usage being posed in the current debate.
And former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was fast to signal an government order implementing a moratorium on natural fuel fracking that would later be solidified in state law.
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