Communities Fear the Toll of Data Centers Built to Handle Astronomical Growth of Artificial Intelligence
7.30.2026
Activists and residents are questioning whether the construction of data centers to power artificial intelligence will make the cost of utilities spiral out of control.
The New York State Bar Association hosted a seminar to discuss these concerns and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive order placing a one-year moratorium on new data centers.
The panelists were:
- Amanda Garcia, senior attorney and data center project leader at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
- Raya Salter, adjunct professor at Cardozo School of Law and founder and director of the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center.
- Nayyirah Shariff, director of Flint Rising, a coalition of Flint, Michigan, residents that formed in response to the city’s water crisis.
Chandra Taylor-Sawyer, senior attorney and environmental justice initiative leader at the Southern Environmental Law Center, led the discussion.
“So, the first concern that I hear about every day is transparency,” Garcia said. “Just knowing the scale of the data center project, how much water and power it is going to use, where those resources are going to come from, and what potential effects they may have on the community that lives nearby… The biggest concerns we hear about are energy affordability – how is the data center’s power usage going to affect our power bills [and] water bills.”
The panelists explained that data centers use a lot of electricity to power their systems and a lot of water to cool them down.
“If you have a lot of data centers in a particular area, like in our region in the Southeast – Northern Virginia and the Atlanta area in particular – what happens when it’s a hot summer day, the grid power gives out, and all of those generators fire up at once?” said Garcia. “That could potentially exacerbate air pollution issues significantly.”
People who live near data centers have also said they create air, water, and noise pollution.
“There’s a constant hum, and the biggest concern is that the noise is constant,” Garcia said. “So even if it’s at a lower level than the local noise ordinance, most of those ordinances are not designed with 24/7 noise in mind. It’s also the quality of the noise – not just the actual loudness of it – that is a concern to communities.”
The panelists also discussed Gov. Hochul’s recent executive order.
“The executive order puts a pause on Department of Environmental Conservation permits for data centers of 50 megawatts or more, pending a generic environmental impact statement,” Salter said. “But what is really important to note is that this is not a construction moratorium, and the enforcement authority really limits the scale of its impact.”
Panelists said that the statewide moratorium did not go as far as New Jersey’s laws about data centers. In New Jersey, data centers have a separate energy rate class and are required to pay for 85% of energy costs for 10 years – even if construction is not completed. The New York Legislature has passed a similar bill but it has not reached the governor’s desk.
“The important thing about this is it’s moving the risk of the build – and the cost associated with the build – more towards the developer as opposed to the ratepayers or the system as a whole,” Salter said. “This is really important to remember that the demand and the projection of this infrastructure is what folks think they’re going to need to build – and the costs that come along with it – that end up creating that cost pressure on our bills.”
The webinar was sponsored by the association’s Women in Law Section, Environmental and Energy Law Section, Real Property Law Section, Local and State Government Law Section, and Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies. View the full program here.
