- New York close to one-year moratorium on data centers
- The governor still has to sign the bill
- Ban supporters want more details on environmental impact
Public opinion appears to have turned against the development of large data centers, and this trend shows no signs of stopping. We may 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, although the New York state legislature passed the moratorium, it’s not yet law: It still needs the signature of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who hasn’t said one way or the other whether she would approve the bill, and has until December to decide.
So there are some caveats here. This is more of a temporary pause than a ban, it is not yet enshrined in law and it only applies to large data centers. Nonetheless, this is potentially the largest legal action ever taken against the construction of these data processing structures.
“This is one of the first times we’ve really drawn a line in the sand and said that as a state legislature we have a responsibility to ensure that New Yorkers are in the driver’s seat,” said New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez. “Big tech has been used to writing its own rules, or having no rules to follow.”
Keeping the AI Lights on
The goal of the moratorium is to give New York officials more time to assess the impact of data centers in terms of energy consumption and environmental impact, and the state’s environmental agency will be responsible for compiling a report describing the demand for electricity, water and land coming from these buildings.
A recent survey suggests that 71% of Americans do not want data centers built in their area, with concerns about water and electricity consumption being the main reasons. These structures are therefore now less popular than nuclear power plants.
The main reason why such computing capacity is needed is of course AI. Despite promises from AI companies that data centers will become much more environmentally friendly 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 say data center development is essential to economic growth and technological progress, while recognizing that concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact must be taken into account.
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