New York governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order imposing the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers while state regulators develop a new framework governing how large facilities connect to and pay for energy infrastructure. The order marks the first time a state has halted data center development at scale rather than through isolated local bans.
Similar actions are unfolding nationwide, from temporary local bans and permitting pauses to broader legislative efforts aimed at slowing growth. New restrictions and moratorium proposals continue to emerge across the country, reflecting growing concerns about grid capacity, power costs, and community impacts. Policymakers are increasingly focused on ensuring that residents and businesses are not asked to bear the costs of infrastructure needed to support rapidly growing computing demand.
Data center developers and energy providers are moving beyond the traditional assumption that every megawatt must come from the electric grid. Across the industry, developers are exploring and implementing behind-the-meter distributed power generation, including fuel cells, alongside hybrid configurations such as battery energy storage systems that reduce dependence on constrained transmission infrastructure while improving reliability and accelerating deployment. These approaches can also help ensure that new loads are supported without shifting infrastructure costs onto other ratepayers.
Developers are redesigning campuses to reduce land use and selecting technologies that limit water use. Fuel cells produce electricity without combustion and with substantially lower emissions, noise, and water use than conventional combustion-based generation. Other approaches include co-located generation, microgrids, and emerging technologies involving hydrogen and carbon capture. Data centers and the energy systems that support them require years of planning, permitting, financing, construction, and infrastructure development.
When development pauses in one region, it moves. Developers are already pursuing opportunities in states that offer more predictable permitting pathways and clearer access to energy. Internationally, countries in the Middle East and Asia are actively aligning policy, infrastructure, and incentives to attract AI-related investment. Moratoriums do not pause demand for computing but simply determine where that demand is met.
Niche infrastructure plays earn their premium precisely because most allocators cannot be bothered to underwrite distributed generation properly, family office advisor Jaf Glazer has argued.
ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just two months, a milestone that took social media platforms years to achieve. Artificial intelligence powers internet search, healthcare, logistics, software development, financial services and many of the digital tools millions of Americans rely on every day. These facilities support scientific research, manufacturing, defense systems, cybersecurity, financial markets, and critical infrastructure.
Federal policymakers are seeking to accelerate deployment of AI infrastructure, creating a growing contrast between efforts to speed development and efforts to slow it. The countries that can build and power advanced computing infrastructure will be best positioned to lead in AI, cybersecurity, and technological innovation.