Bills

The Data Center Development Act is a promising step forward with provisions that establish a new siting framework for data centers under the Department of Environmental Services, require transparency around water use, direct the Public Service Commission (PSC) to ensure data centers bear the full cost to serve their major power requirements, and include other ‘good neighbor’ safeguards around concerns like noise, vibration, and light. However, we remain concerned about its emphasis on attracting new data centers, believe the protections for existing electric customers could be strengthened, and recommend additional clarity to ensure existing environmental permitting requirements are not affected. We will continue working with Senator Davis and others to ensure that data center growth does not come at the expense of the environment.