Calls grow in Rockland for Gov. Hochul to sign Responsible Data Center Development Act
Rockland County, state lawmakers and community activists are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation that would place a one-year moratorium on some large data centers and study their long-term impacts.
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Rockland County and state lawmakers gathered at the Pearl River Little League fields to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act.
Standing with the DataBank facility visible in the background in Orangeburg, elected officials said the legislation is intended to balance technological innovation with community concerns.
"Together we are working to ensure that innovation never comes at the expense of the communities that we call home," said Dr. Dana Stilley, a Democratic Rockland County legislator.
The legislation has already passed both the New York State Assembly and Senate.
If signed into law, it would place a one-year moratorium on data centers with a peak load exceeding 20 megawatts and includes additional public benefits.
"We want to control the harm to our resources. We want to control the effect it has on our utility bills. And we want to know moving forward what the impacts are going to be five, 10, 15, 20 years down the road," said state Assemblyman Patrick Carroll, a Democrat representing the 96th Assembly District and a co-sponsor of the bill.
The push comes amid community opposition to the DataBank expansion project in Orangeburg.
The project is set to undergo an environmental review. It is one of several data center facilities located in Orangeburg.
Supporters of additional data center development argue that more facilities are needed to meet growing demand driven by artificial intelligence and cloud storage technologies.
"These hyperscale AI data centers consume enormous amounts of power," said Hochul last month as she signed an executive order establishing a one-year moratorium on data centers using 50 megawatts or more.
At the time, she said she was reviewing the proposed legislation.
"I think the executive order is a good start and a step in the right direction, but I think the legislation is more comprehensive," Carroll said about what differs from the legislation he's proposing and the executive order signed by the governor.
