Relates to the regulation of energy consumption by data centers

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic12

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Kristen Gonzalez says this is needed

IN 2021, DATA CENTER OPERATIONS ACCOUNTED FOR AROUND 1.8% OF ELECTRICITY USE IN THE UNITED STATES, ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT TO THE ELECTRICITY CONSUMP- TION OF THE ENTIRETY OF NEW JERSEY. THE EXPANSION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLI- GENCE HAS CAUSED AND WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE INCREASED DEMAND FOR THE ALREADY RAPIDLY GROWING USE OF DATA CENTERS. IN THE AGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXACERBATES OUR NEED FOR ENERGY AS IT IS MUCH MORE ENERGY-INTENSIVE THAN TYPICAL CLOUD-BASED APPLICATIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, A CHATGPT QUERY NEEDS ALMOST 10 TIMES AS MUCH ELECTRICITY AS A GOOGLE SEARCH. ADDITIONALLY, APPROXIMATELY 0.5% OF TOTAL U.S. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO DATA CENTERS IN 2021, AND THIS NUMBER IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE TENFOLD BY 2040. HOWEVER, RECENT OUTSIDE REPORTS HAVE ESTIMATED THAT BIG TECH COMPANIES HAVE UNDERREPORTED THEIR EMISSIONS AND THAT THE REAL EMISSIONS ARE ABOUT 7.6 TIMES HIGHER THAN REPORTED. THIS UNDERREPORTING IS PARTIALLY DUE TO BIG TECH COMPANIES' USE OF THIRD-PARTY DATA CENTERS FROM WHOM THEY RENT DATA CAPACITY, AS BIG TECH COMPANIES DO NOT ATTRIBUTE THE EMISSIONS CAUSED BY THIRD-PARTY DATA CENTERS TO THEMSELVES. THIS INCREASING PREVALENCE OF DATA CENTERS AND THE LACK OF DISCLOSURE FROM DATA CENTER OPERATORS POSE AN EXTREME THREAT TO THE CLIMATE GOALS IN THE CLIMATE LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY PROTECTION ACT. NEW YORK STATE HAS SET A TARGET OF REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM 1990 LEVELS BY 40% BY 2030. NOT ONLY WILL THE CREATION OF MORE DATA CENTERS CAUSE ADDITIONAL ENERGY USAGE AND EMISSIONS, BUT THEIR LACK OF TRANSPARENCY SURROUNDING SUCH EMISSIONS WILL DIRECTLY INTERFERE WITH NEW YORK STATE'S ATTEMPTS TO COUNTERACT THOSE EMISSIONS AND MEET ITS CLIMATE GOALS. THIS BILL FURTHER AIMS TO ENCOURAGE DATA CENTER OPERATORS TO USE RENEWA- BLE ENERGY TO OPERATE DATA CENTERS. BIG TECH DATA CENTER OPERATORS CURRENTLY CLAIM TO BE CARBON NEUTRAL, PARTIALLY THROUGH PURCHASING RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES. THESE CERTIFICATES PROVE THAT BIG TECH COMPANIES ARE BUYING RENEWABLE ENERGY-GENERATED ELECTRICITY, BUT THEY DO NOT REQUIRE THE COMPANIES TO USE THAT ELECTRICITY TO POWER THEIR FACILI- TIES. BIG TECH COMPANIES USE THIS LOOPHOLE TO USE VAST AMOUNTS OF FOSSIL FUEL. THIS BILL REQUIRES EACH OPERATOR TO DIRECTLY POWER ITS DATA CENTERS WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY IN AMOUNTS THAT ALIGN WITH NEW YORK STATE'S CLIMATE GOALS. LASTLY, BECAUSE OF DATA CENTER GROWTH, NEW YORK UTILITIES MAY NEED TO INCREASE ANNUAL ENERGY GENERATION BETWEEN 7% TO 26% ABOVE 2023 LEVELS TO MEET DEMAND. THIS DEMAND INCREASE WILL DIRECTLY AFFECT THE AVERAGE CONSUMER, CAUSING CUSTOMER BILLS TO INCREASE INCREMENTALLY EACH YEAR THROUGH 2032. WITHOUT CONSIDERING DATA CENTERS, CUSTOMER ELECTRICITY BILLS INCREASE ANNUALLY BY 79%, AND DATA CENTER OPERATION WILL CAUSE AN ADDITIONAL 1-2% INCREASE YEARLY. SIMILAR ENERGY HIKES HAVE BEEN SEEN ACROSS THE U.S., WITH DATA CENTERS NOT PAYING FOR THEIR FAIR SHARE OF ENERGY USAGE IN STATES SUCH AS CALIFORNIA. IN SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, DATA CENTER OPERATION ACCOUNTED FOR 82% OF THE CITY'S ELECTRICAL BILLS IN 2023, BUT THE BURDEN OF THAT ELECTRICITY USAGE FELL UPON SANTA CLARA RESIDENTS AND SMALL BUSINESSES. THIS BILL AIMS TO PROTECT NEW YORK STATE CUSTOMERS FROM THESE BILL HIKES BY PROVIDING UTILITY DISCOUNTS TO COMMU- NITIES WITHIN WHICH NEW DATA CENTERS ARE CREATED.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.