Plain-English version of what happened. New York has a part-time state legislature that adjourns in mid-June; in the last 72 hours of the 2026 session, both the Senate and Assembly passed S.10642/A.11560, the 'Responsible Data Center Development Act,' authored by Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D-Queens), who chairs the Senate Internet & Technology Committee. The bill is more ambitious than every existing data-center statute in any other state — it bundles five separate operative provisions into a single omnibus law, not just a moratorium clause. The bill now sits on Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk; under New York law, she has 10 days from formal delivery to sign it, veto it, or sign it 'contingent on a chapter amendment' (meaning she negotiates with the legislature to amend specific provisions before signing). Hochul has not announced a position. As of June 10 she said publicly that data-center siting 'should be left up to municipalities,' which reads as a soft signal she may veto or negotiate a chapter amendment — but she is also up for re-election in November 2026, and the Food & Water Watch / Sierra Club coalition that drove the bill has the constituency she needs. The five operative provisions, all in a single statute (this matters because, like FL SB 484, every provision is on the surface — no hidden language in revenue bills): 1. **One-year moratorium on any new data center permit for hyperscale facilities with peak load >20 MW.** Existing facilities and projects already under permit are grandfathered. The bill defines 'data center' broadly enough to capture not just AI training campuses but also general-purpose cloud, hyperscaler colo, and crypto-mining facilities at the >20 MW threshold. 2. **Mandatory 18-month statewide environmental impact assessment.** The NY Department of Environmental Conservation, in consultation with the PSC and other agencies, must finalize a statewide report within 18 months covering: average and peak electric load, electricity generation sourcing, discounted/subsidized electricity received, water consumption and discharge, land use, GHG and other pollution, electronic waste, and public funds / tax incentives received. This is the most exhaustive structured-data demand any data-center statute has yet imposed — essentially a state-mandated dataset of exactly the variables Cliff's diligence product produces. 3. **Separate electric AND water rate classes.** The bill directs the PSC to create distinct rate classes for large data centers in BOTH electric and water tariffs — making it the first US statute to apply ratepayer-protection logic to water as well as power. This is structurally important in NY where municipal water rates are politically contested in NYC and Long Island. 4. **Renewable-energy mandate, starting at 33% in 2030.** Existing data centers must source increasing fractions of their electricity from renewable sources, beginning at one-third by 2030 and ramping (the bill text directs the PSC to set the ramp schedule). This effectively imposes Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA, 2019) targets specifically on data centers, ahead of the broader CLCPA schedule. 5. **Mandatory local public hearing for any future data-center permit.** Once the moratorium lifts, every new permit application requires a public hearing with public comment in the local community. This is the same provision FL SB 484 added. The scale of impact: per state regulators, there were 51 large-load projects (mostly data centers, some advanced manufacturing) seeking to connect to the New York electric system by 2030 as of May 2026. Most of those are in the NYISO interconnection queue. A 12-month moratorium would push every one of them back at least a year, and combined with provisions 3+4 (rate-class and renewable mandate) would change the economics of returning to the queue post-moratorium.
Primary source · NY State Senate / Sen. Kristen Gonzalez press release — Passes Data Center Moratorium, First in the Nation If Signed (Jun 23 2026) ↗
Why it matters
Four implications. (1) This is the first moratorium signal to land INSIDE an RTO. Every prior moratorium of the last 3 months (Duke Carolinas, TVA, FRCC, MISO-Wisconsin minus the Madison/Manitowoc/La Crosse fragments) has been in non-RTO or partial-RTO territory. NY is fully inside NYISO, which is one of the six RTOs that received FERC's June 18 show-cause order. So if Hochul signs, the corpus has to add a new category: 'state-level moratorium inside an RTO,' where BOTH the FERC RTO cost-allocation framework AND the state moratorium are simultaneously operative on the same site. That's a regulatory regime no other US site currently sits in. (2) The 20 MW threshold is the most important number on the desk today. If Hochul signs at 20 MW, that becomes the de facto reference threshold for every future state-level moratorium bill — meaning the next 5–10 states copying NY's template will probably also use 20 MW. For Cliff, this means the 'hyperscale' category for diligence purposes should be defined at 20 MW peak load, not 100 MW+, because that's where the regulatory boundary actually sits. (3) Provision 2 (the 18-month statewide EIS) is structurally what Cliff is building. The NY DEC will be required to assemble exactly the structured dataset — load, generation sourcing, water consumption, GHG, land use, e-waste, public funds received — that Cliff's diligence product produces. If Hochul signs, NY DEC will spend 18 months building a single state-level version of what Cliff sells across 50 states. There's an obvious GTM read here: become the contractor / data-vendor for that DEC build. (4) Provision 3 (separate WATER rate class) is the first US statute to add a water-rate carveout for data centers. Florida SB 484 mandated water hearings; NY S.10642 mandates a separate water tariff class. This is the start of water becoming a peer regulatory variable to power for diligence purposes — and water utilities are typically municipal (NYC DEP, Suffolk County Water Authority, etc.), so the diligence stack expands beyond IOU + RTO to include city/county water authorities.
Related filings
FERC show cause orders Jun 18 / Section 206 / PJM MISO SPP CAISO ISO-NE NYISO / 30-day informational report Jul 20 / 60-day tariff response Aug 17 / 90-day abeyance request Aug 3 / five reform categories / cost-shift prevention is the big one / colocation + BTMG rules / flexible-load transmission services
Plain-English version. On June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, the federal regulator with jurisdiction over the interstate transmission grid) used Section 206 of the Federal Power Act to issue what are called 'show-cause orders'...
FL moratorium wave / Clay final + Hernando, Lake first reading Jun 23 / Santa Rosa 3-1 to draft / Zephyrhills final / 5-8 FL jurisdictions in 5 weeks / SB 484 backdrop / water-first concern
Plain-English version of what happened. Tuesday, June 23 was the single most active moratorium day Florida has had — three county boards moved separate ordinances forward in a coordinated wave. Clay County (just south of Jacksonville, ~220,000 residents) gave...
T-7 ERCOT ILLE Form W Jul 10 / T-21 Form W step 2 Jul 24 / PJM 2028-29 auction closes Jul 7 / results Jul 14 / price band $175-325 MW-day / 13-state governor pre-negotiated band / MD FERC ratepayer complaint comment deadline Jul 27 extended / NY A11560 not delivered to Hochul / 10-day clock not started / passive enactment plausible / 4 deadline-anchored windows next 24 days
Plain-English background on why the four operational-track deadlines all matter this month. Each of these deadlines drives a specific action by developers, hyperscalers, or state parties, and each represents a concrete moment where Cliff can produce a...
Minneapolis 5-month moratorium / passed Jun 25 / 350k sqft + downtown geographic exemption (I-35W / I-94 / Plymouth Ave / Mississippi River) / first size+geo combined exemption mechanic / Inver Grove Heights 1-year moratorium / passed 3-2 Jun 26 / QLevr 54k sqft Carmen Ave / $150M damages letter Iverson Rivers Law Firm / EAW petition filed Jun 25 / second large-damages-threat moratorium-still-passed / MN becomes 4th state cluster / MISO show-cause territory
Plain-English background. Minnesota sits in MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) — the same RTO that just received FERC's June 18 show-cause order on large-load tariff design. Minnesota's data center growth had been more measured than...