New York agencies have provided at least $321 million to corporations building data centers in Rockland County since 2013, according to a new report by government watchdog group Reinvent Albany.
The Rockland County Development Agency and the New York Power Authority offered the corporations — including JPMorgan Chase, Bloomberg and DataBank Holdings and Tenants — state and local sales tax exemptions and power subsidies to build 11 data centers in the county.
Meanwhile, the New York Power Authority supplied the data centers with “ultra-low-cost power,” according to the report.
Using New York State Energy Research and Development Authority data, the report found that while the average New York household pays $244 per megawatt-hour for electricity services, data centers in Rockland County, located about 40 miles north of New York City, paid a fraction of that, or $12.88 per megawatt-hour.
In addition, the building and operation of the data centers created 298 “full-time equivalent jobs,” costing taxpayers $1.078 million per job, the report found.
The report comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul instituted the first-in-the-nation statewide moratorium on data centers, which temporarily bans the construction of the facilities for one year. Her administration said Hochul would work to build a regulatory framework that protects both the environment and ratepayers of electricity and gas. Hochul also committed to passing legislation in the next session that would end all sales tax abatements for data centers.
“Data centers are automated, employ by far the fewest people of any industry, consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, and get the biggest taxpayer handout per full-time job,” the report said.
In a statement to Gothamist, NYPA said its ReCharge NY program provides low-cost power allocations to businesses and nonprofits throughout the state, and that current data center usage only accounts for about 2% of the low-cost power it can provide. It said those allocations are not subsidized by the public, and are legislatively earmarked to align with economic development goals for the state.
The NYPA also said the program supports relatively small data centers, not "hyperscalers" — or massive technology companies. And it said the NYPA reviews whether firms being awarded low-cost power are meeting job-creation and capital investment goals before firms use their allocations.
The Rockland County Development Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Of all the major subsidy deals the government funded for various industries in New York state between 2014 and 2018, the per-job subsidy for data centers was 34 times higher than the average.
The total subsidies issued by Rockland County during this period are commitments and not all of the money has been claimed yet by the corporations behind the data centers.
The data center site owned and operated by JPMorgan Chase ranked the highest in total government subsidies offered, leaving taxpayers on the hook for over $112 million during the 13-year period analyzed in the report.
Bloomberg received the highest subsidy from the New York Power Authority for low-cost energy during the same period, totaling over $68 million.
The advocacy group is urging the governor to cut sales tax subsidies and slash low-cost electricity to data centers.
