To the Editor:

We have to keep talking about data centers.

I am concerned that, while we have proposals to build ten of them in our county alone, NY is devoid of any regulation protecting our communities from the adverse impacts they could bring. 

There is a bill on Governor Hochul’s desk that would place a one year moratorium on data center construction, but it’s become controversial. I can’t see why.

Assemblyman Scott Gray wrote in a recent NorthCountryNow article that Governor Hochul should veto the bill. Why?  A moratorium would give the state time to look at the issues surrounding these projects and the effect they have on our communities.  What’s wrong about that?  He also writes that municipalities should have the final say.  On that point, I agree.

We absolutely should have the final say on whether these centers, which use enormous amounts of electricity and water, are allowed in our communities. No matter where they are built, they will impact all of us.  Impacts to our environment and our electrical bills will not be limited to the immediate area around a data center. We’re all in this together.

It would be ideal if we could depend on our representatives to vote in our best interests.  But I have no faith in that. At a recent St. Lawrence County Legislature meeting, a measure was approved 12-3 that affirmed municipalities’ local siting authority over such projects.  

While this seems like common sense to me, it apparently wasn’t to my own legislator, Joe Lightfoot. He, along with Jim Reagen and Bill Sheridan, voted no.  Why? What is the harm in voting to affirm municipal authority, especially when such a vote would make your constituents feel like you’ve listened to them?

We struggle enough in the North Country without data centers driving our electric bills sky high.  We have community members that struggle to feed their families.  But some elected officials shrug that off like it has nothing to do with them.  

We need representatives that actually listen to us.  When over 70% of people polled state they do not want data centers, why are we allowing our representatives to ignore us and support data centers anyway?

When you go to the polls this November, please don’t focus on party affiliation. Vote for candidates that you believe will listen to you, regardless of the letter next to their name.

Michele Whalen

Morristown