{"id":11012,"date":"2026-07-20T00:48:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11012"},"modified":"2026-07-20T00:48:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:48:37","slug":"new-york-offers-democrats-a-roadmap-for-data-center-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11012","title":{"rendered":"New York offers Democrats a roadmap for data center fight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/3OKbbCYM-iawu6r2yllX6nhj8no=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1920x1080\/2026\/04\/17\/1776442458772.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p>New York Gov. Kathy Hochul&#8217;s first-in-the-nation data center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/14\/ny-gov-kathy-hochul-data-center-moratorium-executive-order\" target=\"_blank\">moratorium<\/a> could provide a playbook for other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/29\/inside-democratic-resistance-ai\" target=\"_blank\">Democrats<\/a> confronting one of the midterms&#8217; most heated issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>Voters across the country are protesting data centers and looking for politicians to take decisive action to address concerns over the industry&#8217;s rapid expansion.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>Until now, no governor had imposed a statewide data center moratorium. <\/li>\n<li>Hochul&#8217;s approach \u2014 using executive authority while continuing to negotiate over broader legislation \u2014 could become a playbook for other governors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in: <\/strong>Hochul went the executive order route in order to move as quickly as possible, her staffers say, while continuing to work with the New York legislature.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez recently pushed a data center moratorium <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2026\/kristen-gonzalez\/ny-state-senator-kristen-gonzalez-passes-data-center\" target=\"_blank\">bill<\/a> through the New York legislature, but instead of signing that, Hochul took executive action.<\/li>\n<li>Hochul&#8217;s staffers said that Gonzalez&#8217;s legislation raised more complicated policy questions that require further negotiation.<\/li>\n<li>For example, Gonzalez said, negotiations will likely include clearer guidelines for public hearings.<\/li>\n<li>Gonzalez told Axios that she&#8217;s &#8220;really supportive&#8221; of Hochul&#8217;s approach and worked with the governor&#8217;s office because she agreed the state needed to act quickly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The fine print: <\/strong>Gonzalez&#8217;s bill goes further than Hochul&#8217;s order. It would impact projects above the 20 megawatt level instead of 50, create new electric and water rate classes and require public hearings before future permits are approved.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hochul&#8217;s staffers say the governor wants to pair her executive order with legislation to ensure hyperscalers don&#8217;t get tax benefits, while continuing to negotiate with Gonzalez on her bill.<\/li>\n<li>Moratorium bills are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/04\/05\/data-centers-midterms-state-bans-bills-ai\" target=\"_blank\">cropping up<\/a> across the country. Gonzalez said this will &#8220;certainly support&#8221; other governors considering proposals that are likely to make it to their desks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out: <\/strong>The backlash isn&#8217;t limited to blue states.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/06\/30\/texas-abbott-data-center-development-ban-rural-communities\/\" target=\"_blank\">called<\/a> for banning new AI data centers in rural neighborhoods and to require the industry to shoulder more of its infrastructure costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines: <\/strong>Hochul is toeing the line between companies and voters, and acting fast without shying away from language <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/03\/25\/warner-ai-data-center-moratorium-aoc-idiocy\" target=\"_blank\">viewed by some other Democrats <\/a>as too politically charged.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Now, no one can accuse New York of fearing innovation,&#8221; Hochul said at a signing ceremony on Tuesday. <\/li>\n<li>&#8220;But that said, a lot of Americans \u2014 for a lot of them, the specter of unchecked AI brings up fear, anxiety, a lot of worry.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Hochul and President Trump have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/01\/16\/ai-data-center-fight-blurs-political-lines\" target=\"_blank\">aligned<\/a> around efforts to have companies pay for the energy they demand. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The intrigue: <\/strong>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) thrust the idea of a data center moratorium into the national spotlight earlier this year with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/03\/25\/sanders-aoc-data-center-moratorium-bill\" target=\"_blank\">legislation<\/a> that would have paused new projects nationwide.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sanders on Tuesday <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenSanders\/status\/2077032124159271158\" target=\"_blank\">noted<\/a> the idea, once &#8220;radical,&#8221; is becoming a reality in places like New York.  <\/li>\n<li>The Sanders-AOC proposal went even further than Gonzalez&#8217;s bill, and would lift the ban only after Congress passed sweeping AI safety legislation covering issues from civil rights to consumer protection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The bottom line: <\/strong>Whether New York proves to be an outlier or becomes a model, Hochul has given governors a new playbook for responding to the data center backlash.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York Gov. Kathy Hochul&#8217;s first-in-the-nation data center moratorium could provide a playbook for other Democrats confronting one of the midterms&#8217; most heated issues. Why it matters: Voters across the country are protesting data centers and looking for politicians to take decisive action to address concerns over the industry&#8217;s rapid expansion. Until now, no governor&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/3OKbbCYM-iawu6r2yllX6nhj8no=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1920x1080\/2026\/04\/17\/1776442458772.gif","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}