‘We should not have to sacrifice’: New York could become first state to temporarily ban large datacenters

Kristen Gonzalez, a state senator who authored the bill, said moratorium would target ‘hyperscale’ datacenters over 20MW New York moved closer toward becoming the first US state to enact a moratorium on large datacenters this week. On Thursday, the state legislature approved a one-year ban on the facilities powering the AI boom. The measure now heads to Kathy Hochul, the governor, who will decide whether to sign it into law. The Guardian spoke to a state senator in the wake of the historic vote about authoring the bill and the wider US backlash against datacenters. Thursday’s vote comes as anger toward datacenters, and AI, sweeps the nation. Almost three-quarters of Americans oppose a datacenter project being built near their homes, according to a new Heatmap poll. Many local communities across the country, including in New York, have already enacted a patchwork of moratoriums on datacenters. But some residents are feeling overwhelmed by the pace and secrecy of development – and they’re calling on state governments for help. Kristen Gonzalez, a New York state senator, wanted to buy her state some time. She co-authored a bill that would temporarily ban “hyperscale” dat