New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul issued Executive Order No. 62, creating the nation’s first statewide, one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data centers while the state develops rules addressing impacts on the electric grid, water resources, the environment and local communities.
The order pauses new environmental permits for qualifying projects and directs agencies to establish standards for future development. Although temporary, the moratorium reflects increased state attention to the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and could influence other states, with lawmakers in more than a dozen states already considering similar restrictions or additional oversight of large-scale data centers.
