Community Investment Framework
Empire State Development policy tying data-centre permits to New York local investment.
On 15 September, Empire State Development published the Community Investment Framework, offering New York host towns a voluntary $1m-per-megawatt benchmark for data-centre investment talks.
Last refreshed: 24 September 2026
Timeline for Community Investment Framework
Mentioned in: New York asks $1m per MW for host towns
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashBackground
The Community Investment Framework is an Empire State Development policy for proposed data centres in New York. It links the state's permit setting to investment discussions between developers and the communities expected to host facilities.
Its voluntary benchmark is $1m per megawatt of demand, alongside a template agreement for developers and host towns. The framework does not itself create an automatic payment duty or penalty.
Each municipality decides whether a negotiated agreement becomes binding. That makes the framework a common negotiating tool for local governments, rather than a permit rule.
Framework guides local negotiations
Empire State Development published the Community Investment Framework on 15 September for New York communities considering proposed data-centre campuses. The policy gives host towns a voluntary benchmark of $1m for each megawatt of demand when they negotiate local investment with developers.
The framework does not require a developer to make that payment, nor does it impose a penalty when no agreement is reached. Instead, it supplies a template agreement that municipalities can use when deciding whether a negotiated commitment should become binding. For the framework, its role is to set a common starting point for those talks.