{"id":40892,"date":"2026-07-16T16:59:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=40892"},"modified":"2026-07-16T16:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:59:12","slug":"governor-hochul-launches-first-statewide-moratorium-on-new-hyperscale-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/40892","title":{"rendered":"Governor Hochul launches first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Governor Kathy Hochul signed an Executive Order to create the nation\u2019s first moratorium on new hyperscale data centers, establishing the strongest standards for data center development and creating a blueprint to support localities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Governor is temporarily pausing State environmental permits for up to one year in order to build a nation-leading regulatory framework that protects ratepayers, the environment, the energy grid and communities across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York has always been at the forefront of innovation and change but we\u2019ve also always guaranteed that New Yorkers benefit. As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it\u2019s my responsibility to take action and lead,\u201d\u00a0Governor Hochul said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York will lead the way in creating the strongest standards in the nation for data center development, ensuring that when companies succeed because of New York, New Yorkers succeed too.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York State is experiencing unprecedented growth in demand for data center development driven by artificial intelligence and other computing operations.<\/p>\n

The increase in demand has led to proposals across the state for the construction and operation of data centers that could require massive amounts of energy and water to run and cool thousands of computer servers.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Governor directed the Department of Public Service (DPS) to begin the Energize NY proceeding, which will require data centers to either pay more for their energy or supply their own, allowing the state to keep energy more affordable for New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

As part of that proceeding, the Governor is now also directing DPS to develop a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for data centers to ensure new data centers coming online are being held to consistent standards.<\/p>\n

During the development of this GEIS, which will take up to a year, a moratorium will be in place and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will not issue any discretionary permits not already deemed complete.<\/p>\n

The state will use the GEIS to assess the potential environmental impacts of the construction and operation of data centers in the state, including their effect on energy demand, water use and quality, and air quality.<\/p>\n

Once the State finalizes these standards, the moratorium will be lifted, allowing new data center projects to proceed as long as they follow state, zoning code and other local approvals.<\/p>\n

The Governor also directed Empire State Development (ESD) to issue a Community Investment Framework (CIF) within 60 days, which will provide clear guidance to local entities to help them negotiate community benefits as part of any large-scale data center deal, including local infrastructure improvements, child care investments, and direct financial support for their community.<\/p>\n

The CIF will also establish frameworks that provide organized labor a seat at the table and prioritize prevailing wage standards and project labor agreements for data center construction, local hiring, apprenticeships and workforce development to maximize economic benefits. This framework will additionally include a formula to help communities assess where to begin investment negotiations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Governor Kathy Hochul signed an Executive Order to create the nation\u2019s first moratorium on new hyperscale data centers, establishing the strongest standards for data center development and creating a blueprint to support localities. The Governor is temporarily pausing State environmental permits for up to one year in order to build a nation-leading regulatory framework […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":40894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40895,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40892\/revisions\/40895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}