Climate Leadership. Gonzalez is putting environmental protection first by pausing data centers that could strain New York's aging energy grid and harm local communities.

New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez wrote legislation creating a one-year pause on building large data centers to look into energy grid strain and environmental concerns. The bill passed both the state Assembly and Senate, waiting for Governor Hochul's signature.
New York could become the first state to ban large data centers, temporarily. The legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act targeting facilities over 20MW, with 28 projects currently awaiting approval that would add 9,682MW to the grid. Gonzalez, chair of both the Internet and Technology and Elections committees, said the state's grid doesn't have the energy to power these centers as AI use increases.