New York governor recommends community investments from data centers
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recommended that local authorities require developers of new data centers to invest in communities at least $1 million for each megawatt of electricity demand. This was reported by Channel NewsAsia, citing a document released on September 15.
Recommendations for local authorities
According to the document, such investments should help communities where data centers will be built fairly receive a share of the long-term economic value created by these projects. The recommendations came several months after New York became the first U.S. state to introduce a moratorium on large new data centers.
Empire State Development President Hope Knight said that the innovative economy’s growing demand for data centers must be accompanied by shared standards that ensure benefits for communities. According to her, data centers do not create a significant number of jobs at the local level, so their economic development profile differs from traditional manufacturing.
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Electricity demand
The expansion of data centers in the United States is increasing electricity demand and power bills across large parts of the country, triggering resistance at the local level and among politicians from both parties. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, only one in three Americans approves of the rapid pace of data center construction, while a majority would oppose building such a facility in their community.
Representatives of Amazon, Meta and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Microsoft declined to comment. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives plan to advance a legislative initiative aimed at curbing rising electricity bills linked to data center expansion.
