At least six US states have introduced legislation to pause new data center construction, marking a rare moment of bipartisan pushback against the artificial intelligence industry’s infrastructure expansion.
New York lawmakers introduced a bill on February 6 that would impose a minimum three-year moratorium on permits for new data centers. State Senator Liz Krueger said New York remains “completely unprepared” for massive data centers seeking to establish facilities in the state.
The legislation requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to complete environmental impact assessments and the Public Service Commission to analyze rate impacts before lifting the moratorium. Similar measures have emerged in Virginia, Georgia, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Maryland.
Democrats sponsored the bills in New York, Virginia, Georgia, and Vermont, while Republicans introduced versions in Maryland and Oklahoma. The political divide reflects growing constituent anger over rising electricity costs and grid reliability concerns.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has publicly opposed data center expansion, telling lawmakers that residents do not want “higher energy bills just so some chatbot can try to corrupt some 13-year-old kid online.” Senator Bernie Sanders called for a national moratorium in December 2025, arguing that democracy needs time to address the technology’s social and economic impacts.
Goldman Sachs projects hyperscale technology companies will spend approximately $527 billion on infrastructure in 2026, with roughly 75% targeting AI-related construction. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Oracle each plan capital expenditures exceeding $100 billion.
Residential power costs nationwide rose 13% in 2025, with data centers contributing significantly to the increase, according to the New York legislation. Legislative findings estimate that tripling current data center capacity would consume annual water volumes matching the usage of 18.5 million homes for cooling operations alone.
New York’s power grid interconnection queue jumped from 6,800 megawatts of large load projects in September 2025 to 12,000 megawatts in January 2026. Currently, 2,000 megawatts of the state’s baseline load forecasts stem from data centers.
More than 230 environmental organizations signed an open letter to Congress in early February calling for a full national moratorium on data center construction. Food & Water Watch coordinated the effort, which includes 50 New York state groups.
Local governments in at least 14 states had enacted data center moratoriums at the county or municipal level by the end of December 2025. Virginia’s Loudoun County, which hosts 70% of global internet traffic, modified zoning rules to require public hearings for all data center applications after years of by-right approvals.
The bills face uncertain prospects in state legislatures. New York’s measure currently sits in the Environmental Conservation Committee and requires approval from both legislative chambers before reaching the governor.
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