New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order on July 14 ordering a statewide moratorium on large data centers, making it the first state in the country to suspend construction of the server farms.
Hochul’s order halts the construction and expansion of data centers for up to a year while state regulators develop standards to address the energy demand, environmental impacts, and water usage of hyperscale data centers.
The statewide moratorium applies to data centers that use 50 megawatts or more of energy. The governor’s order came after the state Legislature passed a bill in June to pause construction of data centers that use 20 megawatts or more….