A one-year moratorium on data centers along with some longer-term regulations was passed by the New York State Legislature last week, but has yet to be signed by Governor Kathy Hochul.
At an unrelated event in Buffalo today, Hochul signaled that she’s sympathetic toward concerns about higher utility bills, but stopped short of saying she’ll sign or veto the bill.
"I cannot have a scenario where they come and they're a drain on our grid driving up the cost for rate payers that are just right now being crushed with high utility bills," said Hochul. "With respect to this particular bill — I have over 850 bills. I have a lot of bills to look at between now and the end of December."
Assemblymember Jon Rivera was one of the legislators pushing for a moratorium on new data centers. Rivera believes regulators need time to catch up on the industry. He's been urging the governor to sign the bill into law.
"This moratorium is about ensuring that New Yorkers have the time to ask questions, to examine the facts, and to make informed decisions before a project that could consume hundreds of megawatts of electricity moves forward," he said. "The public deserves clear answers about how it will affect energy reliability, affordability, and our environment."
The governor said the moratorium bill will have to go through a review by her office.
"As a matter of policy, I do not comment on bills that are before me at this time, or even not yet before me, because my legal team has to review every single word," she said. "We pressure test, we talk to people affected, and then it comes to me for review. So, we've got some time."
Hochul also once again highlighted the central role local governments play in approvals for data centers.
"Even before I talk about the moratorium, which I have to review, I've also wanted to make sure that New York communities that have plans before them right now are doing the right thing and getting the best deal they possibly can," Hochul said.
There’s at least three new large-scale data center projects in Western New York at various stages of development including Niagara Falls, Tonawanda and Genesee County.
"You can put up all the berms and trees and fencing that you want, but you're not going to stop infrasound," said Cheryl Cortes, a resident near the STAMP facility in Genesee County. "Infrasound travels through buildings, it travels through closed windows, and it's most detrimental at night when people are trying to sleep. Sleep is important to the human body. It's when the human body heals. What are you doing to us?"
Developers behind Riverview Innovation & Technology Campus at the former Tonawanda Coke site temporarily withdrew their site proposal with the Tonawanda Planning Board. Their plan calls for a 300 megawatt data center, which drew hundreds to protest at a recent town meeting.
"Once we have all of the necessary information from New York Independent System Operator and National Grid to chart a path forward, we will resume the Town review process," a statement from developers read. "At this time, we have every intention to continue our proposed development, as we continue and complete the massive environmental clean-up effort we have been leading at the site for the past several years."
The Niagara Falls City Council in early June approved a settlement with Niagara Falls Redevelopment, which among other actions, gives a greenlight for the company to develop a 100-acre data center in the middle of the city.
Hochul has until the end of December to sign any outstanding bills passed by the legislature, or they will expire under a pocket veto.
