Governor Hochul: Be Like Mikie!

ALBANY, NY (07/10/2026) (readMedia)-- Earlier this week, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed three bills (A796, A2757, and A5188) to protect ratepayers from rising energy bills caused by the rapid, unchecked expansion of AI data centers. Meanwhile, despite talking about protecting New Yorkers from the negative impacts of AI data centers since January, Governor Hochul has not yet taken real action.

"Governor Sherrill understands that everyday people who are already struggling to afford rising energy bills shouldn't be stuck paying big tech and the fossil fuel industries' checks. New Yorkers deserve the same from our Governor. Platitudes about protecting ratepayers and fighting climate change aren't enough - the legislature passed legislation that lays out a pathway for the state to pause and regulate AI data center development. Now it is up to the governor to take action," said Liz Moran, New York Policy Advocate at Earthjustice.

According to the New Jersey Monitor, the new laws will "create a separate rate-setting process specific to data centers, eliminate a bump to return on equity New Jersey's utilities get for joining the state's regional grid, and require utilities get new approvals from the state before building some types of transmission infrastructure whose costs are ultimately borne by ratepayers." As AI data centers drive an expansion of the energy system across the country, each of these laws will help to protect everyday people from subsidizing AI data centers. According to Sherrill, they will also help protect people from extreme weather.

Ample evidence shows that building new fossil fuel infrastructure to power data centers without adequate protections in place can drive up utility rates for ratepayers, in addition to accelerating climate change. In contrast, renewable energy paired with storage is faster, cheaper and far less polluting for host communities. According to a report from the think tank Energy Innovation, "Modeling shows meeting forecasted electricity demand growth with fossil fuels will add $29.7 billion annually to customer bills by 2030. But clean energy can reliably meet load growth and save $5 billion per year – keeping the lights on and AI growing for less money."

Here in New York, Governor Hochul can protect New York ratepayers and protect the climate by enacting a data center moratorium, which would pause new permits for AI data centers for one year while requiring a study to examine their impacts.

Without proactive legislative action, everyday New Yorkers will be left to pay not only for the massive energy consumption of AI data centers, but also for the fossil fuel infrastructure built to power proposed facilities that may never materialize. New Yorkers are already paying three times more for energy than they did in prior years. Meanwhile, utilities that will serve AI data centers are raking in record profits, and developers are pitching a massive new wave of data centers across the state.

States that previously welcomed and subsidized unchecked data center expansion are now adopting laws and policies to protect ratepayers and communities. Lawmakers should learn from these states and hold tech companies accountable for their energy use and environmental impacts, reject fossil fuel expansion, and protect working families from rising energy bills.