SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
New York State has imposed the country's first statewide pause on the construction of large data centers. Governor Kathy Hochul took the action in an executive order she signed today. This all comes as backlash has built in communities across the country. And there's some pushback against data center growth coming from politicians from both parties. We're joined now by Samuel King of the New York Public News Network. Hey, Samuel.
SAMUEL KING, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: Tell us a little bit more about this order that Governor Hochul signed today.
KING: Well, the order will do a few things, Scott. It pauses, for up to one year, state environmental permits for any large data center projects that would use 50 megawatts or more in electricity. Those are known as hyperscale data centers. One project that this would affect is a massive data center plan for the town of Alabama that's out in western New York that's drawn a lot of community opposition. Hochul says that pause will give the state time to develop stronger regulations to protect consumers and the environment.
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KATHY HOCHUL: The bottom line is progress shouldn't arrive with a higher utility bill, deleted water supply or noise pollution. So we have no choice but to address these challenges created by these massive facilities.
KING: At the same time she's doing this, there's a bill going to her from the legislature that would impose a tougher moratorium. It's unclear whether she'll sign that. But I'd note a main sponsor of that bill was with Hochul at the signing in Brooklyn and supported the executive order. Meanwhile, Hochul said the state will make sure, through zoning and other laws, that data centers will only go in areas where they are wanted and that she'd oppose tax breaks for new data centers. Those have been common in other places.
DETROW: At the same time, these data centers have become more and more intertwined with our lives as users, right? These are used to develop artificial intelligence, help run the internet. How is the tech industry responding to this?
KING: Yeah. I got a statement from Tech:NYC. They represent a number of the biggest names in tech, including Meta and Google. They say they welcome what they call the governor's thoughtful approach to examining issues like energy demand and community impacts. They say a pause would hurt the state's economy by driving needed investment in technology elsewhere.
In general, supporters of these centers say they create jobs in construction and tech fields, and there are community benefits. Sometimes there's places with smaller populations looking for new businesses to contribute to the tax base, and some places have brought in a lot of money for schools and other services from these centers.
DETROW: Worth pointing out - it is not just New York that's taking action against data center growth, right?
KING: Yeah. There's some counties and cities that have imposed local pauses or moratoriums. And on the state level, the National Conference of State Legislatures says 15 states actually had bills this year that would place moratoriums on data centers. They only passed, though, in Maine and in New York state. In Virginia, lawmakers will take up that bill again next year.
Now, in Maine, the governor vetoed that bill because it lacked an exemption for a small town that has lost a paper mill and wants a data center project to help boost the economy there. While, in Virginia, which has one of the biggest clusters of data centers in the world, they're imposing a new tax on the energy they use to try to minimize the impact on energy prices for consumers.
And on the federal level, the picture's unclear. At one point, you might remember President Trump told states to not regulate the artificial intelligence industry. Then he said he would get tech companies to make sure that their data centers will support their own energy.
But back to New York, Hochul is a Democrat running for election this year against Republican Bruce Blakeman, and she's taking the lead on slowing these projects down, and it may be an indication of where things stand politically in this election year.
DETROW: That is Samuel King from the New York Public News Network. Thank you so much.
KING: Thank you, Scott.
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