Empire State Development
New York State's chief economic-development agency, promoting business growth, jobs and opportunity.
Empire State Development published New York’s Community Investment Framework on 15 September, setting a voluntary $1m-per-megawatt benchmark for spending in data-centre host towns.
Last refreshed: 24 September 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Empire State Development
Published a voluntary $1m-per-MW community investment benchmark
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Data Centres: Boom and BacklashBackground
Empire State Development is New York State’s economic development agency. It steers major investment projects and negotiates incentives and community terms connected to them. In July 2026, the agency received a specific assignment to publish a Community Investment Framework for hyperscale data centres.
The assignment fits the agency’s established role at the point where private investment meets state economic policy. Its work concerns the commercial and community terms around projects, rather than environmental permitting itself. Governor Kathy Hochul’s executive order made that division clear by directing the agency to prepare the framework while separately freezing discretionary environmental permits.
The framework gives Empire State Development a continuing role in shaping what data-centre developers offer host communities. Its published benchmark is voluntary, so the agency’s practical weight depends on whether operators accept its terms during investment negotiations.
Empire State Development sets host-town benchmark
On 15 September, Empire State Development published New York’s Community Investment Framework for hyperscale data centres. It set a voluntary benchmark of $1m per megawatt for community spending in towns that host new campuses. The framework does not compel developers to make those payments or impose a penalty for missing the benchmark.
The agency issued the framework after Governor Kathy Hochul’s 14 July executive order gave it 60 days to set community-investment terms. Hochul, not Empire State Development, froze discretionary environmental permits for new hyperscale facilities for one year. The agency’s role is to define the proposed local return from projects while that separate permitting policy operates.
