Hochul Enacts New York's First Statewide Data Center Moratorium as 50 Ballot Measures Spread Across 13 States
Updated
Updated · Columbia Journalism Review · Nov 4
Hochul Enacts New York's First Statewide Data Center Moratorium as 50 Ballot Measures Spread Across 13 States
3 articles · Updated · Columbia Journalism Review · Nov 4
Summary
Kathy Hochul this year imposed the nation’s first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data center construction in New York, elevating the issue into a central plank of her midterm campaign.
Planned and operating data center projects nearly tripled between March and August, fueling concerns over power use, water, pollution and housing pressure that turned local fights into a broader political backlash.
About two-thirds of Democrats and roughly half of Republicans told Pew they were uncomfortable with a new local data center, while Politico polling found voters had become more likely to oppose pro-data-center candidates.
By Election Day, about 50 ballot measures in 13 states targeted data center development, underscoring how a once-local land-use issue had become a bipartisan national flashpoint tied to AI infrastructure.