Governor Hochul Should Veto New York's Proposed Data Center Moratorium

The Responsible Data Center Development Act (S10642/A11560), which passed both houses of the New York State Legislature on June 4, 2026, stands in contrast to Governor Kathy Hochul's forward-looking approach to energy infrastructure and economic development and should be vetoed accordingly. This legislation would impose a one-year moratorium on new data center permitting while state agencies study the industry's impacts on electricity demand, water use, and local communities. While those are important issues, a statewide permitting pause is the wrong solution.

Holtec's SMR-300 represents a new generation of nuclear technology designed to support growing electricity demand from AI, advanced manufacturing, and economic development.

Data centers have become essential infrastructure for the modern economy. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, advanced manufacturing, scientific research, and national security applications all depend on reliable computing capacity. States across the country are competing aggressively for these investments because they bring jobs, tax revenue, and long-term economic growth, and New York is already at risk of falling behind.

In fact, Governor Hochul's own policies increasingly recognize the need for more infrastructure, not less Earlier this year, she announced plans to pursue at least one gigawatt of new nuclear generation capacity to help meet New York's growing electricity needs and support future economic growth. Her administration has also advanced efforts to modernize interconnection processes and ensure that large electricity users pay their fair share of system costs.

TierPoint's Hawthorne data center in Westchester County reflects the growing role of AI, cloud computing, and data center development in New York's economy.

Those initiatives reflect an important reality: New York's challenge is not whether new electricity demand should exist. The challenge is how to build the generation and infrastructure needed to support it.

If policymakers are concerned about reliability, the answer is more reliable generation. If policymakers are concerned about transmission constraints, the answer is grid investment and interconnection reform. If policymakers are concerned about ratepayer impacts, the answer is ensuring that large-load customers bear the costs associated with serving their facilities.

Constellation Energy's Nine Mile Point and FitzPatrick nuclear facilities in Oswego County help provide the reliable carbon-free electricity needed to support New York's growing economy and future AI-driven power demand.

None of those objectives require a statewide moratorium.

At a time when New York is seeking to expand its role in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and technology development, a permitting pause sends the wrong signal to investors deciding where to build the infrastructure of the future.

Governor Hochul has correctly recognized the need for new generation, improved reliability, and long-term planning. Vetoing S10642/A11560 would be consistent with that vision and would reaffirm that New York intends to compete for the industries that will define America's economic future.

About the Author: John R. Gordon has more than 20 years of experience working at the intersection of energy policy, government affairs, and infrastructure development, including extensive work on issues related to electric reliability, generation policy, wholesale power markets, and energy infrastructure in New York, New England, and across the United States.