‘We should not have to sacrifice’: New York could become first state to temporarily ban large datacenters

Advocates and progressive lawmakers hold a rally in support of moratorium on new datacenters in May in New York. Photograph: Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Advocates and progressive lawmakers hold a rally in support of moratorium on new datacenters in May in New York. Photograph: Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images ‘We should not have to sacrifice’: New York could become first state to temporarily ban large datacenters Kristen Gonzalez, a state senator who authored the bill, said moratorium would target ‘hyperscale’ datacenters over 20MW N ew York moved closer toward becoming the first US state to enact a moratorium on large datacenters this week. On Thursday, the state legislature approved a one-year ban on the facilities powering the AI boom. The measure now heads to Kathy Hochul, the governor, who will decide whether to sign it into law. The Guardian spoke to a state senator in the wake of the historic vote about authoring the bill and the wider US backlash against datacenters. Thursday’s vote comes as anger toward datacenters, and AI , sweeps the nation. Almost three-quarters of Americans oppose a datacenter project being built near their homes, according to a new Heatmap poll . Many local communities across the country, including in New York , have already enacted a patchwork of moratoriums on datacenters. But some residents are feeling overwhelmed by the pace and secrecy of development – and they’re calling on state governments for help . Kristen Gonzalez, a New York state senator, Kristen Gonzalez wanted to buy her state some time. She co-authored a bill that would temporarily ban “hyperscale” datacenters over 20MW. “Big tech has been used to writing their own rules, or not having rules that they have to play by, when it comes to new technology,” Gonzalez says. “This is one of the first times that we’re really drawing a line in the sand and saying that as a state legislature, we have the responsibility to make sure that New Yorkers are in the driver’s seat.” How would New York’s temporary ban on datacenters work? The moratorium largely targets datacenters built by “tech goliaths” and will not apply to facilities already possessing the necessary state permits, Gonzalez says. She notes that currently, there are at least 28 large data centers being evaluated by the state for their impact on the grid and that they would “add an additional 9,682MW of energy onto the state’s already constrained and aging grid”. “We should not have to sacrifice our water, our energy, our green space and local communities for big tech and specifically for generative AI, which is oftentimes used for things like AI slop,” Gonzalez says. Gonzalez says she introduced the bill after hearing from concerned New Yorkers and a coalition of environmental justice advocates. View image in fullscreen Kristen Gonzales, a New York state senator, co-authored the bill for a moratorium on datacenters in the state. Composite: