- New York is close to a one-year moratorium on data centers
- The governor still needs to sign the bill.
- Ban supporters want to see more details about environmental impact
Public sentiment appears to have turned against large data center development, and the trend shows no signs of stopping. We could now have the first statewide ban of its kind in New York, after lawmakers passed a one-year moratorium (a temporary ban) on large data centers with peak demand of 20 megawatts or more.
As The Guardian reports, while the New York state legislature approved the moratorium, it is not yet law: it still needs the signature of Governor Kathy Hochul, who has not said one way or another whether she will approve the bill, and has until December to decide.
So there are some caveats here. It is more of a temporary pause than a ban, is not yet included in the law and only applies to large data centers. Still, it is potentially the largest legal measure yet against the construction of these data processing structures.
“This is one of the first times we’re really drawing a line in the sand and saying that as a state legislature, we have a responsibility to make sure New Yorkers are in the driver’s seat,” said New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez. “Big tech companies are used to writing their own rules, or not having rules they have to follow.”
Keep the AI lights on
The purpose of the moratorium is to give New York authorities more time to evaluate the impact of data centers in terms of their energy use and environmental impact, and the state’s environmental agency will be tasked with producing a report establishing the demand for electricity, water and land that comes from these buildings.
A recent survey suggested that 71 percent of Americans do not want data centers to be built in their local area, with concerns over water and electricity use being the main reasons, making these structures now less popular than nuclear power plants.
The main reason why so much computing power is needed is, of course, AI. Despite promises from AI companies that data centers will become much greener in the near future, this is not the case for many projects currently in the planning stages.
As The Register reports, the moratorium also has its opponents. Some politicians and industry figures argue that data center development is essential for economic growth and technological advancement, while recognizing that concerns about energy use and environmental impact need to be addressed.
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