PORTLAND, N.Y. (WKBW) — Amid a one-year moratorium for the state, Gov. Hochul's office has introduced their Community Investment Framework, providing suggestions for communities that could be housing these facilities in the future.
In July, Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday imposing the country's first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.
On Tuesday, Hochul's office announced the framework as "critical guidance for any future negotiations with major tech companies and developers," and, "a powerful tool to ensure communities are protected from exploitative data center projects and get the benefits they deserve."
“In the absence of federal leadership, someone has to write the rules and New York is leading the way,” Hochul said. "As artificial intelligence rapidly changes the world we know, I won’t allow New York’s communities and the families who live here to be taken advantage of and that’s why I’ll continue stepping up, putting New Yorkers first.”
A recent warning from researchers over concerns that AI could be harmful and destructive has prompted a reassessment of the technology's future.
President Donald Trump has pushed back on those concerns, arguing the federal government already has "tremendous criminal and regulatory power" over AI companies and that additional restrictions could jeopardize U.S. competitiveness, particularly against China.
"The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!" Trump wrote in a social media post Monday.
But leaders within the AI industry itself have signaled alarm. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have both recently called for additional safeguards, including government involvement and independent oversight.
"No amount of American competitive pressure should justify recklessness, or let capabilities get ahead of alignment and monitoring," Altman said in a post on X Sunday night.
WATCH: Gov. Hochul introduces 'Community Investment Framework' for AI data centers (DNP)
Under the Framework, a 50-megawatt data center, for example, would carry a recommended community investment level of $50 million. Communities and developers would negotiate the timing and structure of those investments, including contributions to a locally administered Community Investment Fund.
The Framework also provides localities with a range of potential community investments that can be tailored to local needs, including public infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer systems, parks and public transit; affordable and workforce housing; workforce training and apprenticeships; schools and educational programming; childcare; broadband access; public safety; community institutions and small business support; and revitalization of vacant or underutilized properties.
Since April, residents of the Portland/Brocton area have shared their concerns over a potential hyperscale data center project at the former Sugar Hills Golf Course.
In March, the Portland Town Board gave its "general approval" to the hyperscale data center project along Route 5. Following this meeting, residents formed the community group to advocate against the project and educate others in the community about data centers and the potential risks they pose.
While the Grape Belt Community Group considered the moratorium "a step in the right direction", the group expressed skepticism in a statement to WKBW:
While Governor Hochul’s new guidelines offer a helpful baseline for small municipalities navigating complex data center proposals, we should view this move with a healthy dose of skepticism. Essentially, these guidelines serve as a template for negotiating Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs). While a CBA can protect a town on paper, history shows that developers frequently exploit loop holes, side step provisions, or entirely ignore community requirements unless heavily enforced, which can be a tall order for small town governments. It is hard to ignore the political timing here. By issuing an executive order to temporarily pause development, the Governor appears to be trying to appease small town voters before election day.
Meanwhile, releasing these guidelines signals to data center developers that NY remains wide open for business. It feels like a strategic attempt to play both sides of the fence. Small towns deserve real protection and strict enforcement, not just pre-election lip service and a temporary pause that will likely be lifted as soon as the election is over.
