> What’s the latest on data centers in ny?

INTEL BRIEF: Data Centers in New York — May 2026

Battlefield

New York has become the most legislatively active state in the country on data center regulation. At least 10 active bills are moving through Albany in the 2025 session, spanning energy rates, tax subsidies, water use, permitting moratoriums, and community benefits. The fight is fundamentally about who pays for the grid strain Big Tech imposes — and whether NY should be subsidizing the industry at all.

The active NY legislative vehicles:

Federal overlay: Data Center Transparency Act (Data Center Transparency Act, sponsored by Menendez, Robert Rep. Robert Menendez D-NJ, introduced 1/8/26, referred to House Energy & Commerce) and Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026 (Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026, Senate, introduced 3/25/26, referred to Senate Energy & Natural Resources) are the federal counterparts — both stalled in committee.

Industry lobby: DATA CENTER COALITION (DATA CENTER COALITION, the lobbying firm arm) is registered to lobby for DATA CENTER COALITION (DATA CENTER COALITION, the client). In Q1 2026 alone, the coalition's lobbying activity totaled $620,000 across three filings — targeting DOE, EOP, OMB, House, Senate, BIS, Treasury, and USTR. Their issue portfolio: energy tax credits, transmission permitting, nuclear incentives, tariff policy, and supply chain onshoring. Lobbyists on file include Cyril Paul Mcneill (Cyril Paul McNeill) and Patrick Konrath (Patrick Konrath).

Threats (to data center industry / pro-growth position)

The legislative tide in Albany is strongly anti-subsidy and pro-regulation. The most dangerous bills for the industry:

• [Provides a host community benefit for customers in a host community where data centers are](@bill-ny-2025-a9297) is the most advanced — it reached the Assembly floor on 4/30/26. It requires hyperscale data centers to fund household electrification in host communities, a direct cost imposition.
• [Enacts the stop subsidizing data centers act](@bill-ny-2025-s9182) / [Enacts the stop subsidizing data centers act](@bill-ny-2025-a10852) (Stop Subsidizing Data Centers Act) was just amended on 5/13/26 — active momentum, bipartisan sponsorship pattern, 9 combined cosponsors. It would strip economic development power allocations, cap IDA financial assistance, and make DEC the mandatory lead agency for any project over 50 MW.
• [Imposes a moratorium on data center permit issuance; and relates to data center rate impac](@bill-ny-2025-s9144) / [Imposes a moratorium on data center permit issuance; and relates to data center rate impac](@bill-ny-2025-a10141) (Moratorium) would freeze new permits entirely while the PSC studies rate impacts — a full stop on new construction.
• [Repeals paragraph 37 of subdivision a of section 1115 of the tax law and subdivision y](@bill-ny-2025-s9288) / [Repeals paragraph 37 of subdivision a of section 1115 of the tax law and subdivision y](@bill-ny-2025-a10216) would repeal the sales tax exemption that has been a core industry incentive in NY.
• The media environment is hostile: a 5/18/26 WWNYTV story ("Should you be paying for Big Tech data centers? This group says no") and a 5/19/26 TechStory piece on Sen. Schiff's federal bill forcing DCs to pay for their own power infrastructure signal a national narrative shift against industry subsidies.

Opportunities (for reform advocates / community groups)

• [Provides a host community benefit for customers in a host community where data centers are](@bill-ny-2025-a9297) is on the Assembly floor — the single most actionable vehicle right now. It needs Senate companion momentum; Rachel May (already sponsoring two other DC bills) is the natural Senate champion to push.
• [Anna Kelles](@member-NY-LEG-A125-KELLES) is the Assembly's most prolific data center legislator — sponsoring or co-sponsoring at least 4 bills (Enacts the stop subsidizing data centers act, Imposes a moratorium on data center permit issuance; and relates to data center rate impac, Relates to the regulation of energy consumption by data centers). She is the organizing node for the reform coalition.
• The water angle is newly opened: Enacts the "data center water stewardship and reuse act" (Water Stewardship Act, introduced 5/15/26) is brand new and uncontested — an opportunity to build a coalition with environmental groups before industry mobilizes against it.
• Federal Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026 (Water and Energy Transparency Act) has 2 LDA lobbying filings already — including Ocean Conservancy as a self-lobbying client — suggesting environmental groups are already engaged at the federal level and could be coordinated with Albany advocates.

Surprising Connections

The Data Center Coalition is lobbying nuclear energy incentives — their Q1 2026 filings explicitly name S.5421 (ARC Act, nuclear energy policy) and the GRID Power Act. This is the industry's long game: if they can't stop rate regulation, they want to lock in nuclear as their preferred power source, which would give them a new subsidy vector through energy tax credits and bypass the grid congestion problem entirely.

[Data Center Coalition](@org-b5b42846-a3c7-4a5b-a6f4-c1266efd1cd6) (Data Center Coalition, nonprofit) is a separate IRS-registered entity from the lobbying firm — the nonprofit/lobbying firm split is a classic structure for maximizing political reach while maintaining tax advantages. Worth pulling their 990s.

The moratorium bills and the "Stop Subsidizing" bills are moving in parallel — this is a pincer strategy. Even if the moratorium fails, the subsidy repeal and rate reclassification bills create enough regulatory uncertainty to slow investment. The industry's failure to name any specific NY bills in their LDA filings (0 mentions of any Albany bill) suggests they may be underestimating Albany's momentum.

Recommended Next Moves

1. Pull [Anna Kelles](@member-NY-LEG-A125-KELLES)'s full bill portfolio — she is the legislative architect of the reform push and the most important person to understand or engage.
2. Track [Provides a host community benefit for customers in a host community where data centers are](@bill-ny-2025-a9297) on the Assembly floor — this is the live vehicle. Check for a Senate companion and whether Rachel May will carry it.
3. Dig into [Data Center Coalition](@org-b5b42846-a3c7-4a5b-a6f4-c1266efd1cd6) (Data Center Coalition nonprofit) via node_graph — their 990 filings will show member companies (likely Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta) funding the lobbying operation.
4. Run `who_influences_member` on [Liz Krueger](@member-NY-LEG-S28-KRUEGER) — she's sponsoring both the moratorium and the tax repeal; knowing who funds her tells you who's already aligned with the reform coalition.
5. Monitor [Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act of 2026](@bill-s4213-119) (federal Water & Energy Transparency Act) — 2 lobbying filings in its first 2 months is fast. The Ocean Conservancy self-filing is a signal that environmental groups are building a federal coalition that could amplify Albany pressure.