纽约州成为首个暂停数据中心建设的州,州长凯西·霍楚尔今日签署行政令,暂时禁止该州批准大型项目的新建许可。
霍楚尔的行政令适用于50兆瓦及以上的数据中心,可能影响十多个项目。该州环境保护部将不再签发任何尚未完成的许可证。
“进步不应伴随着更高的水电费、枯竭的水资源或噪音污染,”她在布鲁克林的一场新闻发布会上表示。“这些数据中心只能在需要它们的地方建设,也只应在这些地方建设。因此,它们永远不能豁免于地方的分区规划和审批程序。”
一旦该州完成针对数据中心的环境审查流程——霍楚尔预计这将耗时约一年——暂停令将解除。霍楚尔的办公室还在考虑要求数据中心向支持该州电网的基金注资,并且她希望阻止超大规模数据中心享受税收优惠。
霍楚尔签署行政令之际,纽约州立法机构正在推进更严格的措施。上个月,立法机构推进了一项法案,拟暂停建设超过20兆瓦的数据中心一年;另一项仍在委员会审议中的法案则提议实施为期三年的暂停令。
过去几年建造的数据中心平均规模小于100兆瓦,但正在开发中的数据中心预计将大得多。根据彭博新能源财经的数据,到2030年,受人工智能投资增长的推动,近四分之一的新数据中心将超过500兆瓦。
暂停数据中心建设的想法在州和联邦层面都曾引发讨论,但纽约州是首个付诸实践的州。去年12月,超过230个组织呼吁在全国范围内暂停新建数据中心。佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯也曾提议全国性暂停,但未获得太多支持。最近,缅因州立法机构通过了一项法案,拟将新建数据中心暂停至2027年11月1日,但州长珍妮特·米尔斯否决了该法案。
就在几年前,数据中心还是各州争相争取的建设项目,但近年来,随着新项目规模不断扩大,公众对数据中心的态度已转为负面。这些设施的建造规模和速度开始给电网以及水资源、农田等区域资源带来压力。近期一项民调中,三分之二的受访者表示担心数据中心推高电价。另一项调查则发现,人们宁愿自家后院建的是亚马逊仓库,也不愿是数据中心。
霍楚尔的行政令可能会与特朗普政府产生冲突,后者迄今为止一直支持数据中心建设。上个月,由特朗普任命官员领导的联邦能源监管委员会要求电网运营商设立专用快速通道,以加快数据中心的并网速度。
New York became the first state to halt data center construction after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order today that temporarily bars the state from approving new permits for large projects.
Hochul’s order applies to data centers 50 megawatts or larger, potentially affecting more than a dozen projects. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation will not issue any permits that haven’t already been completed.
“Progress shouldn’t arrive with a higher utility bill, deleted water supply, or noise pollution,” she said at a press conference in Brooklyn. “These data centers can only be built, should only be built in places that want them. So they will never be exempt from local zoning, local approvals.”
The moratorium will be lifted once the state finalizes an environmental review process for data centers, which Hochul expects will take about a year. Hochul’s office is also considering requiring data centers to pay into a fund that would support the state’s electrical grid, and she would like to prevent hyperscale data centers from receiving tax benefits.
Hochul’s executive order arrives as more stringent measures are moving through New York’s legislature. Last month, the legislature advanced a bill that would pause construction of data centers larger than 20 megawatts for one year, while another still in committee would institute a three-year moratorium.
The average data center built in the last few years has been smaller than 100 megawatts, but those in development are expected to be much larger. Through 2030, nearly a quarter of new data centers will exceed 500 megawatts, according to BloombergNEF, driven by increasing AI investment.
The idea of a data center moratorium has been debated at the state and federal levels, but New York is the first to put one into practice. In December, more than 230 organizations called for a nationwide pause on new data centers. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has also proposed a nationwide moratorium, though it hasn’t received much traction. More recently, Maine’s legislature passed a bill that would have paused construction on new data centers until November 1, 2027, but Gov. Janet Mills vetoed it.
Just years ago, data centers were sought after by states eager to secure new development projects, but recently, public sentiment on data centers has soured as new projects have grown in size. The scale and pace at which they’re being constructed has started to strain the electrical grid in addition to regional resources like water and farmland. Two-thirds of respondents to a recent poll said they were concerned about data centers driving up electricity prices. Another survey found that people would rather have an Amazon warehouse in their backyard than a data center.
Hochul’s order could be setting up for a clash with the Trump administration, which thus far has supported data center development. Last month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is led by a Trump appointee, told grid operators to develop special fast lanes to speed data centers’ interconnections.