New York Democrats introduced legislation imposing a moratorium of at least three years on development of data centers using 20 MW or more of electricity in the state, amid growing backlash to data centers' impact on customer bills.
The bill (S.9144), introduced Feb. 6, would require the Public Service Commission to issue a report on how data center growth affects ratepayers and direct the Department of Environmental Conservation to issue an environmental impact statement on data center development in New York during the moratorium.
As of July 2025, there were 29 large-load projects in the New York ISO interconnection queue totaling a combined 6,055 MW of capacity. The system operator has warned that the state could face reliability challenges in the coming decade because of rapid large-load growth and a lack of new dispatchable generation.
State lawmakers have raised concerns about environmental consequences and ratepayer affordability amid heightened scrutiny of data center developers.
"Massive data centers are gunning for New York, and right now we are completely unprepared. When one of these energy-guzzling facilities comes to town they drive up utility prices and have significant negative impacts on the environment and the community — and they have little to no positive impact on the local economy," said Democrat Senator Liz Krueger, a sponsor of the bill.
The legislation states that "56% of the electricity used to power data centers comes from fossil fuels," which they use at a higher-than-average carbon intensity.
Environmental group Food and Water Watch described S.9144 as the "strongest data center moratorium bill in the country."
"Data centers are expanding rapidly across the country and in New York, often with significant demands on our electric grid, water resources, and waste systems, and with real consequences for energy bills and climate pollution," said Assemblymember Anna Kelles.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said in her Jan. 14 State of the State address that data centers developers should "pay their fair share for the power they use," while other states in the region have also moved to introduce new regulations for data center development. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro recently unveiled a proposal requiring data centers to fully cover their usage costs.
Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy at the Data Center Coalition, told Platts in a statement that "data centers supported more than 169,880 jobs and contributed $4.723 billion in tax revenue in 2023."
"Across the country, the US data center industry provides significant benefits to local communities where data centers operate — creating hundreds of thousands of high-wage jobs, providing billions of dollars in economic investment, and generating significant local, state, and federal tax revenue that helps fund schools, transportation, public safety, and other community priorities," he said.
S.9144 has been referred to the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee.
