Executive Order No. 62, "Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers in New York While the State Develops Higher Standards for Data Center Development and Benefits Blueprint to Support Localities," was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on July 14, 2026. It is the primary text behind what was reported as the first statewide data-center moratorium in the United States. See New York Data-Center Moratorium (2026) for the surrounding political and legislative record.
Recitals
The order's whereas clauses set out the factual basis the state asserts. The operative figure: as of May 2026, "nearly 12 gigawatts (12,000 megawatts) of data center load requests are in the New York Independent System Operator interconnection queue with more than eight gigawatts entering the queue in 2025 alone."
The stated concerns are grouped. On cost allocation, the order states "it is the policy of New York State that the cost of electric system upgrades required to provide electric utility service to large loads should not be paid for by every-day New Yorkers," and identifies stranded-asset risk where "infrastructure investments are made in anticipation of loads that may not fully materialize." On clean energy, statewide load growth from data centers "challenges the clean energy targets of the State." On environment, it lists energy use, water use, water quality, air quality, noise, lighting, and quality of life as areas of expressed public concern, and states that existing regulatory frameworks "are not yet prepared to address the large-scale water use and treatment from data centers which could strain aquifers, surface waters, and public infrastructure." On localities, it assigns responsibility for negotiating local benefits to the locality while offering state technical resources and best practices.
The order references Energize NY Development, announced in the 2026 State of the State, which directs the Public Service Commission to modernize how large energy consumers connect to the grid "while ensuring those consumers pay their fair share or supply their own power."
Operative provisions
1. Permitting moratorium and Generic Environmental Impact Statement. The Department of Public Service is directed to examine data-center interconnection impacts through its existing proceeding, Case 26-E-0045 (Interconnection Reforms for Large Loads), and in connection with it to initiate a formal public process — including public comment and a public hearing — to produce a Generic Environmental Impact Statement under SEQRA (Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law). The GEIS is to assess energy demand, water use and quality, air quality, disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged communities, and noise.
The moratorium itself is defined by reference to that deliverable: until DPS submits its report of the final GEIS and associated findings statement, the Department of Environmental Conservation is directed to hold in abeyance all applications for any discretionary permit, approval, license, or similar permission for constructing or expanding a data center that are pending or later filed before DEC and were not determined complete by DEC before the order's date. DEC may require applicants to state in writing whether an application relates to data-center construction or operation as a condition precedent to a completeness determination. The provision expressly does not apply to permissions from local governments.
2. Community Investment Framework. Empire State Development is directed, within 60 days, to create and post a Community Investment Framework covering four subjects: a community investment fund capitalized by developers or operators, usable for energy affordability and enhancements to public services such as child care, K-12 programming, or public infrastructure; investments in local infrastructure including energy distribution, broadband, irrigation, and wastewater treatment; frameworks giving organized labor "a seat at the table" and prioritizing prevailing-wage standards, project labor agreements, local hiring, apprenticeships, and workforce development; and transparency through reporting requirements on key economic metrics. Localities and Industrial Development Agencies may use the framework in negotiating terms with developers.
3. New York Grid Acceleration Fund. DPS is directed to consider a mechanism protecting all customers from significant costs and stranded-asset risk, potentially as part of the Energize NY proceeding. The contemplated fund may require upfront capital contributions from data centers to finance grid improvements, participation in demand-response programs, support for procurement of new clean energy supply including distributed energy resources, and an insurance pool. DPS is to consider contribution structures and allocation, a process with utilities to identify needed infrastructure improvements, measures protecting ratepayers from project delays, scope changes, or cancellations, and approaches requiring data centers to fund new clean generation or battery storage dedicated to their operations.
4. Interconnection, reliability, and cost allocation. DPS is directed within 60 days to form a Data Center Interconnection Working Group addressing interconnection of data centers and other large loads and "the faithful compliance of 'beneficiary pays' principles" for network upgrade and resource adequacy costs. DPS is separately to convene the state's transmission owners to review their system-impact study practices and methodologies and to report to the Commission within 90 days. The order notes data centers may be subject to service classifications developed by DPS and established by the Public Service Commission.
5. Water withdrawal review. DEC is to assess whether new or amended regulations, policies, reporting, or guidance are needed so that its water-withdrawal program under 6 NYCRR Parts 601 and 602 accurately reflects large-user water demand, and to deliver a report no later than twelve months after the order's date.
6. Definition. A covered "data center" is a facility or group of facilities on the same or contiguous sites housing computer servers or associated computing or telecommunications equipment for data storage, processing, distribution, or management, where the equipment: (1) sits in facilities with uninterruptible power supply systems, specialized cooling designed for high-density computing loads, or cybersecurity systems for secure digital infrastructure operations; (2) provides data storage, cloud computing, or content delivery to customers, internal operations, or affiliated business operations, "oftentimes on a continuous twenty-four-hour cycle"; and (3) "consume[s] or can consume 50 megawatts of energy or more."
Carve-outs: a facility primarily used for manufacturing, research (expressly including quantum computing research and biomedical research), education (expressly including accredited New York colleges and universities engaged in academic research, and the Empire AI consortium as defined in section 361 of the Economic Development Law), or the provision of medical care is not covered.
7. Agency consultation. DEC, DPS, and ESD are to consult one another and partner agencies including the Authorities Budget Office, Department of Health, NYSERDA, the Long Island Power Authority, the Department of State, and the New York Independent System Operator.
Points where the text differs from contemporaneous reporting
Three discrepancies between the order and the secondary coverage are worth recording.
Duration. The order contains no fixed term. The abeyance runs "until DPS submits its report of the final Generic Environmental Impact Statement and associated findings statement," with no deadline attached to that submission. The widely reported "one-year moratorium" framing does not appear in the text; the only twelve-month deadline in the order applies to DEC's water-withdrawal report. Hochul's statement on July 18, 2026 that she does not expect the moratorium to be permanent is consistent with the text, which sets a condition rather than a date.
Scope of the pause. The order does not suspend state environmental review generally; it directs DEC to hold in abeyance discretionary permit applications not already determined complete, and expressly leaves local-government permissions untouched.
Tax incentives. The order contains no tax provision. Hochul's stated intention to pursue repeal of the data-center sales-tax exemption was announced alongside the order but is not in it.
Relationships
- supports: New York Data-Center Moratorium (2026) — the primary text behind that page's account
- related: AI Data Centers — grid interconnection, water withdrawal, and cost-allocation provisions
- related: Data Center Siting / AI Power Politics, State-Level AI Regulation
- related: Kathy Hochul — issuing governor