ALBANY, NY — On Thursday, June 4, the New York State Legislature passed a moratorium on the approval of the development of large data centers for one year, among other regulations. The measure, which passed on the penultimate day of session for the legislature, now goes to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk to be signed into law or vetoed.

The bill, titled the Responsible Data Center Development Act (S.10642/A.11560), is an omnibus of regulations that includes a moratorium on the development of large data centers, which are defined as “a data center that has a peak demand of 20 megawatts or more,” according to the bill. The legislation also includes provisions to regulate data centers by establishing energy efficiency standards, setting labor standards in their construction, requiring they have a public comment period in their municipality before their approval and creating a water and energy rate class for large data centers.

“Hyper-scale data centers are overloading our energy grid, raising consumer utility costs, using tons of water and polluting our air,” State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D, WF-59), the senate sponsor of the bill, said in an Instagram post. “The Responsible Data Center Development Act looks to address these issues, starting with implementing a one-year moratorium on new permits for facilities with peak loads of over 20 megawatts.” 

“Last October, the Energy Committee, which I have the privilege of chairing, held a public hearing to explore the impact and growth of data centers, and how to protect ratepayers from the increased costs associated with large data centers,” Assembly Member Didi Barrett (D-106) said during debate on the bill. “Parts of this legislation, which we are calling the Responsible Data Center Development Act, came out of that hearing.” 

Barrett went on to demonstrate the amount of power that data centers need. “There are currently at least 30 large data centers seeking interconnection through NYISO [New York Independent Systems Operator] right now,” she said. “Collectively, those 30 data centers would consume as much power as all of New York City.”

The omnibus bill, as well as the individual bills a part of it, received support from Sullivan County lawmakers. In addition to voting for the omnibus bill, Assembly Member Paula Kay (D-100) was the Assembly sponsor of A.10049 and was a co-sponsor of A.10141 and A.9039B, three pieces of legislation that would be used in the development of the omnibus bill. 

In a special meeting called on June 4, the Sullivan County Legislature showed their support for the measures after they unanimously passed resolutions in support of A.10049 and A.10141A.

“According to a 2024 report on U.S. data center energy use conducted by the Department of Energy, U.S. data centers consume roughly 176 terawatts of energy,” said Sullivan County District 5 Legislator Catherine Scott (D) during discussion on the resolution. Scott also works as director of customer experience with Meadow, a community solar company. “One terawatt is generally enough to power 90,000 American homes for an entire year… so imagine almost two Sullivan counties for one full year.”

Scott also outlined how this power consumption is negatively impacting ratepayers. “We’re seeing that utility ratepayers are struggling to pay their electric bill,” she said. “This is about how we want our community to develop and about sustainability: financial sustainability and environmental sustainability.”

While the omnibus bill passed both houses, it still needs to be signed into law by the governor. Sponsors of the legislation feel that the importance of the bill will get it over the finish line.

“This bill is both timely and common sense. Across the state, our constituents are talking about data centers. They are worried about data centers, they are confused about data centers and they are looking for answers about data centers,” Barrett said. 

“As legislators, it is our job to help our state... address this issue with a measured, thoughtful and comprehensive approach to ensure the responsible operation and development of data centers to protect our natural resources and make sure that ratepayers are not being asked to unfairly subsidize the cost, the economic as well as environmental costs of this industry.”