New York lawmakers are considering a three-year moratorium on new data centers

New Yorker lawmakers say so he presented the bill which would result in a suspension of at least three years on building permits for the construction and use of new data centers. Although the prospects for the bill are unclear, Wire reports that New York is the sixth state to consider pausing construction of new data centers.

As the technology industry prepares they spend more and more money to build an AI infrastructure, Democrats and Republicans have expressed concern about the impact these data centers could have on the surrounding communities. Research also linked the data center to the amount of household electricity.

Opponents include progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, who has said called for a national shutdownand incumbent Florida Governor Ron De Santis, who he said data centers will lead the way “bills too high for some chatbots to harm 13-year-olds online.”

Over 230 environmental groups including Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace recently signed an open letter to Congress calling for a nationwide moratorium on the construction of new data centers.

Eric Weltman of Food & Water Watch told Wired that the New York bill — sponsored by state senator Liz Krueger and assembly member Anna Kelles, both Democrats — was “our idea.” Data center freezes have also been proposed by Democrats in Georgia, Vermont, and Virginia, while Republicans supported similar bills in Maryland and Oklahoma.

According to PoliticoKrueger described his country as “not at all prepared” for the “data centers” that are “shooting guns in New York.”

“It’s time to take a break, give ourselves some breathing room to implement strong data center policies, and avoid getting caught in a bubble that will burst and leave New York customers with a lot of money,” he said.

Last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new strategy called Energize NY Development, whose office said it will all change how large energy users (ie, data centers) can be connected to the group and require them to “pay their fair share.”