When Public Citizen asked TerraWolf to meet publicly with communities near its Maryland facilities, the company declined, arguing that it was not legally required to do so.
“They told us, on the record, that FERC—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—does not require the company to meet with local residents in person. Therefore, they said, they would not do it,” Slocum said.
Residents in Somerset, New York, have encountered a similar lack of corporate accountability. These concerns extend throughout the data center industry, from facility operators and energy providers to the companies that build and supply the technology.
New York Data Center Regulations Face Delays
In early June, the New York State Legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act, a comprehensive bill addressing the energy use and environmental impact of large-scale data centers.
The proposed law would require the Department of Environmental Conservation to conduct environmental impact reviews, establish energy-efficiency standards, and implement prevailing-wage requirements for data center construction projects. It would also require data centers to transition to renewable energy by 2040, provide specific investments for host communities, and impose a one-year moratorium on new permits for facilities that consume at least 20 megawatts.
Three months after passing the Legislature, the bill still had not been signed into law. In July, Governor Kathy Hochul issued a narrower executive order creating a one-year pause on permits for certain hyperscale data centers, while leaving the Legislature’s broader regulatory framework unresolved.
Neither measure is expected to affect the Lake Mariner project. Hochul’s executive order applies to new facilities larger than 50 megawatts, but the project’s proposed 500-megawatt expansion had already received approval before the order took effect.
“I think the executive order is a good start and a step in the right direction, but I think the bill is more comprehensive,” Councilor Patrick Carroll said. Carroll, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, urged Hochul to sign the legislation during a rally in Rockland County.
Two months after the fires, Somerset continues to face water-supply problems, forcing firefighters to travel with tanker water. Despite the ongoing infrastructure concerns, construction at the data center project has not been delayed.
“If we didn’t have a hydrant, the fire would burn out right under their butts,” Mathis said.
Source: arstechnica.com