GENEVA — Sign the bill, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Pass a moratorium, Torrey Town Board.
Those were the primary messages delivered during a rally Aug. 24 near the Finger Lakes Welcome Center at the north end of Seneca Lake.
The bill is the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which passed the State Senate and Assembly in June and sits on the governor’s desk, awaiting her signature. It was sponsored by State Sen. Kristin Gonzalez, D-59 of Queens.
The largest lake in the Finger Lakes served as a backdrop for the rally because Vulcan Infrastructure and Power, formerly known as Greenidge Generations, is about 13 miles south of the rally site on the west shore of the lake in the Yates County town of Torrey. The company, which bought the former New York State Electric & Gas plant in 2017, has used it for cryptomining since 2020, creating electricity for the state grid, although the amount contributed has declined steadily. The operation also requires Seneca Lake water be used to cool its computers, a portion of which is returned to the lake at a slightly higher temperature.
Speakers Monday afternoon also called on the Torrey Town Board to enact its own moratorium on data centers. Vulcan is proposing to switch from an electricity-generating and cryptocurrency-mining operation to an electricity and artificial intelligence data center. It is unclear whether state approvals are needed for the change.
“This data center would go from using 106 megawatts of electricity a day to 260 megawatts a day,” said Joseph Campbell, president and co-founder of Seneca Lake Guardian. “There is a question of whether this bill will cover Vulcan, but the need to pass it is urgent. And Torrey needs its own moratorium on data center expansion. We have to draw the line now.”
Campbell urged people to sign petitions asking for Hochul to sign the bill and for Torrey officials to pass a moratorium.
Gonzalez also spoke. She is visiting 14 locations statewide where data centers are being proposed to rally support for her bill.
“We are united in a fight against AI data centers from New York City to Buffalo,” Gonzalez said. “We realized the impacts of these large data centers two years ago, and I worked with Assemblywoman Anna Kelles (D-125 of Ithaca) to draft the proposed legislation now before the governor.
“These handful of technology oligarchs want to use a lot of our resources,” Gonzalez continued. “We just can’t do nothing. The environmental risks are too much.”
Gonzalez claimed some of the data centers are as large as a Manhattan borough.
“If they want them on our turf, they have to be on our terms,” Gonzalez said, noting that while data centers would create temporary construction jobs, few long-term jobs would result.
The senator said support for her bill has been bipartisan, and surveys show 71% of state residents oppose large-scale data centers.
“The governor issued an executive order for a one-year moratorium, the first in the nation. That’s a first step, but we need to do more,” Gonzalez said. “The local economy is built on tourism. The people should be first over profits. That is not a radical concept.”
Yvonne Taylor, vice president and co-founder of Seneca Lake Guardian, noted the lake has 4.2 trillion gallons of water and supplies drinking water and many other important functions to the municipalities surrounding it.
“The amount of water and energy they require is intensive and they are allowed to keep operating,” Taylor said. “We got left behind in the legal battles.”
Taylor criticized the Torrey Town Board for “cowering” in the face of Greenidge’s promises and money. “They would use three times the energy they use now, likely resulting in higher utility bills for everyone else. More water use, more noise, more lights and more greenhouse gas emissions.
“We are not anti-progress. We are pro-sustainable Finger Lakes,” Taylor added. “We are fed up and will not back down.”
Laura Schindel of the Food & Water Action echoed those criticisms and said at least a three-year moratorium is needed for the state to do a proper, in-depth analysis of the impacts of such centers on the communities in which they are targeted.
“A one-year moratorium is not enough. It’s a first step but we need to go further. The fight is just getting started,” she said.
Dr. Robert Howarth of Cornell University, a climate scientist, ridiculed data center oligarchs for saying they are not worried about climate change “because AI will tell us how to solve it. We have to stop using fossil fuels and fracked gas. If data centers are allowed, they should not be allowed to use fracked gas or nuclear power.”
Ellen Campbell, a resident of Torrey who lives less then a mile from Greenidge, said she and her husband have had a residence on the lake and a vacation rental next door for many years. She said the benefits of living on the lake are being threatened by Greenidge, and she’s worried that plans to have their property a “forever house” passed down to their children may be unlikely if the data center is approved.
“We need time to study the impacts of AI data centers,” said Campbell, also voicing support for a town moratorium to be adopted. “Greenidge does not meet the DEC’s air permit limits. They don’t provide much electricity to the grid, but consume most of themselves.”
Kelles said she and others have been trying to keep Greenidge officials “honest” for nearly a decade.
“They have been slippery, providing little information on the impacts of their operations. Once the infrastructure is in, it’s too late, so we have to act now to slow things down,” she said.
She warned that the energy consumed by an data center would be enormous. “They come to the Finger Lakes because of the water, which they get for free,” Kelles said. “They take 130 million gallons from the lake every day. We say, ‘No more.’”
She listed the reasons why Hochul, who is running for another term as governor, should sign the bill, saying she “should sign it before November. We will remember what happens on election day.”
Mark C. Pitifer of Waterloo Container, a wine bottle supplier, asked people to look at the lake behind them. “It’s at risk. Seneca Lake is the crown jewel of the Finger Lakes. It is invaluable and can’t be replaced,” Pitifer said. “Look at the long-term consequences of this AI project.”
Chief Sam George, a sachem of the Cayuga Nation, said opponents need to let the owners of Vulcan know they are not wanted “and don’t belong here. If we don’t protect the water, the trees and the air around the lake, we won’t be here much longer. Be of one mind and keep them out.”