Last week, New York became the first U.S. state to enact a statewide moratorium on major data center development. On July 14, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul issued an Executive Order (EO #62), which, effective immediately, imposes a one-year moratorium on discretionary environmental permits for data centers of 50-megawatts or more, in addition to other directives to New York State agencies to study and provide future guidelines for such “hyperscale” data center projects.
Author: Mark D. Jackson (jackson@clm.com)