East Fishkill officials may bar large-scale data centers for three years after the USA TODAY Network revealed plans for one in the Dutchess County town that would use as much electricity as an entire city.
Following a public outcry against that proposal, the town board is scheduled to vote Thursday, June 25, on a moratorium that would prohibit such projects until 2029. East Fishkill is the latest in a wave of localities and states across the U.S. to consider blocking new data centers due to mounting worries about their vast power use and water demand.
Town Supervisor Nick D’Alessandro told the USA TODAY Network he expects the moratorium to be approved and views it as a tool for the town to study the issue further and consider new regulations.
“This gives us a ‘time out’ to review what’s going on and make a decision from there,” he said.
Across the Hudson River in Rockland County, Orangetown officials are considering a data center moratorium and are being pressed to include in it a project that is already under review and has set off strong opposition from neighbors and activists. The town has a cluster of at least four data centers.
Two other New York towns have reportedly gone even further than a temporary halt by permanently banning data centers and crypto-mining facilities. Dryden, located near Ithaca in Tompkins County, did so in February; Allegany in western New York followed suit a few weeks ago.
How data center bans gained momentum in NY
In the meantime, a bill passed earlier this month by state lawmakers poses the possibility that data center projects throughout New York could be held up for a year. The moratorium proposal would prevent the state Department of Environmental Conservation from issuing any permits for data centers using at least 20 megawatts of electricity. Gov. Kathy Hochul hasn’t said if she’ll sign or veto it.
Like the statewide proposal awaiting Hochul’s decision, East Fishkill’s three-year moratorium would apply to proposed data centers of 20 megawatts or more.
The USA TODAY Network reported in May that a New Jersey developer with pending plans for a pair of warehouses in a wooded expanse had shifted its interest to a 1,000-megawatt data center — far larger than any other facilities currently operating in New York. No formal plans had been submitted yet to the town, but the operator of the state’s power grid was already set to test the project’s feasibility.
It turned out that same study was looking at another previously undisclosed project in East Fishkill: a 150-megawatts data center at iPark 84, the former IBM campus.
The warehouse proposal had already generated local opposition. The revelation that the developer may try to build a massive data center instead has intensified resistance and drawn in new opponents. The environmental group Food & Water Watch and other activist groups plan to hold a press conference in East Fishkill in support of the three-year moratorium shortly before the board votes on it.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA TODAY Network. Reach him at CMcKenna@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Push for data center bans mounting after USA TODAY Network exclusive
Reporting by Chris McKenna, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris McKenna, New York State Team | USA TODAY Network
