Fredonia Mayor Among WNY Leaders in Data Center Roundtable

Several local leaders from across Western New York were in Buffalo on Monday for a roundtable on the state's recently enacted moratorium on permits for large-scale data centers. Governor Kathy Hochul, who convened the group, says there's a need to examine what kind of impact data centers will have on communities. She added that she wants to make sure there's a "robust" community investment framework in place before allowing these projects...

Kathy Hochul: seen what's done in other states

One of the local leaders in attendance was Fredonia Mayor Mike Ferguson. He says area residents want to know what environmental impacts a hyperscale data center would have. Ferguson mentioned the village's transition towards the North County Water District...

Mike Ferguson: discussion about potential projects near Lake Erie

Other questions Ferguson says he would like to see answered concern how these facilities would affect infrastructure...

Mike Ferguson: questions on infrastructure and electric grid impacts

He says having statewide guidelines in place would allow local governments to advance potential data center projects more quickly. The state's year-long moratorium on large-scale data centers was imposed last Tuesday by executive order.