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Clifton Park holds hearing on proposed 12-month moratorium on data-storage center applications
Summary
The town board read a legal notice for a public hearing on a proposed 12-month moratorium on acceptance, review and approval of data storage center applications. Public commenters warned about large AI-focused data centers’ water and power demands and urged caution or a longer moratorium.
The Town of Clifton Park board opened a public hearing on a proposed local law to establish a 12-month moratorium on acceptance, review and approval of data storage center applications.
The legal notice read at the meeting described a proposed local law and directed residents to copies posted on cliftonparkny.gov and available at the town clerk’s office during normal business hours.
During public comment, a resident (speaker 7) raised multiple environmental and infrastructure concerns about large AI-focused hyperscale data centers, saying they can require "1 to 5,000,000 gallons of clean water per day" for on-site cooling and "100 megawatts or more of continuous electric power," and warned about indirect water footprints associated with thermoelectric power generation. The speaker said such a plant could consume water and power equivalent to a small town and urged stronger restrictions than a one-year moratorium.
Jacob Kearns (speaker 5) supported those remarks and added that recent local electrical issues underscore concerns about whether the town’s infrastructure could accommodate such facilities.
The notice specified the hearing date and location and identified that details and the proposed local law are posted on the town website and available at the town clerk’s office; no formal vote on the moratorium was recorded during the meeting excerpt.
