Health & Environment Active Updated Aug 28, 2026
The data center moratorium
Gov. Hochul signed a first-in-the-nation executive order pausing state permits for data centers using 50 or more megawatts, for up to a year, to shield New Yorkers from utility bill spikes while regulators write new rules on water and energy use. The fight now turns on a stricter 20-megawatt Legislature bill Hochul has not signed, and on whether she follows through on repealing data centers' sales-tax exemptions.
The story so far
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Aug 28, 2026 Latest
A Rockland County data center is advancing at 45 megawatts, just under the 50-megawatt threshold of Gov. Hochul's statewide permit moratorium, after the town of Orangetown exempted the project from its own local pause because it was already in the approval process, Spectrum News NY1 reported.
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Jul 20, 2026
The Partnership for New York City, the city's largest business lobby, came out against Gov. Hochul's one-year data center moratorium, warning the pause would push AI investment to other states, the Post reported.
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Jul 16, 2026
Republican gubernatorial challenger Bruce Blakeman called Gov. Hochul's data center moratorium crazy and vowed to scrap it if elected, and President Trump separately called the pause a terrible decision.
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Jul 15, 2026
The Assembly speaker's office said it remains hopeful Gov. Hochul will still sign the Legislature's own data center bill, which sets a stricter 20-megawatt threshold, despite her narrower 50-megawatt executive order. Hochul's order exempts hospital, school, and bank back-office data centers from the moratorium.
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Jul 14, 2026
Gov. Hochul signed an executive order pausing state environmental permits for data centers of 50 megawatts or more, for up to a year, the first statewide moratorium of its kind in the country, to let the Department of Public Service write rules on water and energy use while operators pay a premium or build their own power supply. Her order is narrower than a 20-megawatt threshold bill the Legislature already passed, which she has not signed, and she said she will push in January to repeal data centers' sales-tax exemptions.
Politics | Spectrum News NY1 
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