New York became the first US state to enact a blanket moratorium on large data-centre construction on Tuesday, when Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order pausing all new projects exceeding 50 megawatts of power demand. The freeze, effective immediately and lasting up to one year, applies to both new builds and those still awaiting permits, though it exempts hospitals, universities and smaller facilities. The move pre-empts legislation passed by state lawmakers last month and marks a sharp escalation in the regulatory response to the artificial-intelligence infrastructure boom.

The order instructs state agencies to develop environmental and grid-impact rules for hyperscale data centres, while also examining their effect on utility bills. Viewed from Albany, the pause is designed to strengthen the negotiating hand of local governments, which will be able to demand infrastructure investments in return for future approvals. The governor’s office indicated it will also pursue legislation to repeal sales-tax exemptions for large data centres, a signal that the state intends to reshape the economics of an industry that has enjoyed rapid, largely unchecked expansion.

New York’s action crystallises a broader backlash visible across North America. In Ontario, Hamilton’s city council is expected to vote on Wednesday on a one-year moratorium that could be renewed for a second year, a proposal that has drawn attention from at least ten other Canadian municipalities. Burlington, Mississauga and Vancouver are all set to debate similar measures this month. The political calculus is shifting: a Gallup survey published in May found that 71% of Americans oppose data centres in their own communities, a higher share than those who oppose nuclear plants. In Maine, a bipartisan bill banning new data centres until late 2027 was vetoed by the Democratic governor in April, but only because it lacked an exemption for a single project at a shuttered mill.

The industry argues that impacts can be mitigated through closed-loop water cooling and waste-heat capture, yet residents and local officials are demanding binding guarantees rather than voluntary commitments. The next factual milestones are the Hamilton council vote on Wednesday and the development of New York’s regulatory framework, which could end the moratorium early if completed ahead of schedule. The outcome will test whether a temporary pause becomes a template for other jurisdictions wrestling with the resource demands of AI infrastructure.