Bill > A11560

This bill, known as the "Responsible Data Center Development Act," establishes a one-year moratorium on issuing permits for new large data centers (defined as those with a peak demand of 20 megawatts or more) to allow for a comprehensive environmental impact report on data center development, which will examine electricity and water usage, land use, pollution, and electronic waste, and recommend future regulations. It also requires utilities to create separate service classifications and rates for large data centers to ensure their costs are not passed on to other customers, mandates energy efficiency goals for data centers, and requires them to use a greater percentage of renewable energy over time. Furthermore, the bill provides benefits for host communities by requiring new or significantly expanded large data centers to fund programs for installing eligible residential technologies like heat pumps and solar panels, developing community infrastructure such as broadband and water systems, and implementing measures to mitigate environmental impacts like water pollution and noise. Finally, it sets labor standards for data center construction, requiring prevailing wages and the use of apprenticeships, and mandates that iron and steel used in construction be produced in the United States.