As Submitted to the TImes Union + Mountain Eagle
Governor Hochul recently signed an executive order establishing a one-year moratorium on AI data centers. While this is a good first step, it is not enough to protect our communities and natural resources. I urge Governor Hochul to sign the much-stronger Responsible Data Center Development Act passed by the legislature. And I urge state leaders to work at top speed over the next year to enact regulations that empower consumers and communities being faced with AI content and data centers that they may not want – including one proposed in south Albany.
Tech companies spent over $300 billion on AI just in 2025. A typical AI data center consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households, and data centers are partially responsible for the spike in electricity costs that so many of us are struggling with (the federal administration’s illegal tariffs and war on Iran also drove up energy costs and inflation).
I am not anti-technology. AI can be incredibly beneficial, especially when used for medical and scientific research. In the healthcare field, AI helps reduce the documentation burden on direct-care providers like me, and it is assisting researchers in discovering hidden disease patterns and speeding identification of new pharmaceuticals. But, as we all know, there is plenty of AI-generated content that provides little value, or is actively harmful.
As I’ve talked with neighbors across the state, I’ve learned that large majorities – of every political stripe – are concerned about AI and want stronger laws reining it in. Here’s what I propose:
1. Governor Hochul should sign the AI moratorium law authorized by the legislature. Not only are executive orders less democratic, they are also less enforceable. The Governor’s executive order only restricts building of new data centers of 50 megawatts or higher. There are currently no data centers operating in New York bigger than this capacity – the executive order would not stop any new project of the kind New Yorkers are already seeing and objecting to.
Further, the legislature’s bill requires AI companies to pay to upgrade the electrical grid in any community where they site a data center. The governor’s executive order only “recommends” this common-sense measure.
The executive order also prohibits communities from passing moratoriums more strict than the governor’s order. Many municipalities, upstate in particular, are already stinging from state overreach in local siting decisions when it comes to large-scale renewable energy. This provision rubs salt in that wound.
2. The legislature must move quickly to establish regulations protecting consumers and communities. This must take many forms, including: requiring a clear label of “AI-generated” on such content; banning use of AI for creation of child pornography and other criminal activities; ensuring that individuals retain the sole right to control AI content that represents their face, body, and voice; providing guidance on use of AI in schools; and giving consumers the choice to turn off AI functions in their tech.
Tech companies have added AI features to our email, internet searches and social media – whether we want them or not. If elected, I would sponsor first-in-the-nation legislation requiring tech companies to give consumers the choice to opt out of AI in their tech experience.
We must also protect the state’s municipalities and natural resources. This includes permanently codifying the requirement that any company seeking to site an AI data center must pay to upgrade the electrical grid (from renewable sources), water and sewer infrastructure, and other municipal services they require. And finally, no data center should be receiving tax breaks. These burdens should not fall on communities. The tech industry needs to pay its fair share.
Janet Tweed is a Delhi village trustee, physical therapist, and candidate for NYS Assembly District 102 (which includes all of Schoharie and Greene counties and parts of Albany, Delaware, and Otsego counties).
