NY S.10642 Hochul desk / no announcement as of Jun 26 / 10-day clock from formal delivery / outcomes: clean sign / chapter amendment / veto / chapter amendment is most likely per legal commentary / re-election dynamics with Stefanik on Republican side

Plain-English status update. Per yesterday's edition, the New York State legislature passed the 'Responsible Data Center Development Act' (S.10642 / A.11560) — a 1-year moratorium on new permits for hyperscale (>20 MW) data centers, plus an 18-month statewide environmental impact assessment, plus separate electric and water rate classes, plus a renewable-energy mandate starting at 33% by 2030. The bill sits on Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk with a 10-day signing window once it is formally delivered (the Senate Majority Leader controls the delivery date, so the clock often starts days-to-weeks after passage). As of midday Pacific on June 26, 2026, there is no public announcement from the Governor's office on her position. Her last public signal, from a May 28 press availability, was 'this is a local decision for municipalities. It's land use, which is the purview of local governments' — read as a soft lean toward chapter amendment or veto rather than a clean sign. But the Food & Water Watch / Sierra Club coalition that drove the bill is a constituency Hochul needs for her November 2026 re-election against (likely) Rep. Elise Stefanik on the Republican side, which complicates a clean veto. What to watch for. The three plausible outcomes are: (1) clean sign at 20 MW, in which case the corpus has to add the first state-level moratorium inside an RTO (NYISO); (2) chapter amendment narrowing one or more of the five operative provisions (most likely target: provision 4, the renewable-energy mandate, since it accelerates CLCPA targets); (3) veto, in which case the bill goes back to the legislature for a 2027 session re-pass attempt. Most legal commentators (Mintz, Greenberg Traurig, Harris Beach Murtha) lean toward outcome (2) — a chapter amendment that preserves the 1-year pause but softens the longer-term provisions. A chapter amendment is a New York-specific procedural mechanism: the Governor signs the bill 'on the condition' that the legislature passes a follow-on bill making specific changes. It's a negotiated middle path that lets the Governor avoid a veto while still narrowing the bill. The chapter amendment would then have to pass the legislature in a special session or at the start of the 2027 session.

Primary source · Status check via NY Senate bill tracker + Gov. Hochul press office (no statement issued Jun 25 or AM Jun 26) + Mintz / Greenberg Traurig / Harris Beach Murtha analyses cited in yesterday's edition ↗