NY state became the first to enact a ban on data center construction, Google bought all of a major solar farm's output, and the LAPD will stop using Flock cameras

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New York became the first state to enact a ban on data center construction.
Google bought all of a major solar farms output to offset its dirty data center emissions.
And Los Angeles law enforcement will stop using Flock cameras. It's Tuesday, July 14th, and here's a quick look at some of the news happening in the sphere of tech this morning from Engadget.
New York has become the first US state to place a moratorium on the construction of data centers, the Washington Post reported. Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order pausing environmental permits for large data centers consuming more than 50 megawatts for up to a year. Now, that would give state officials the required time to create rules protecting the electrical grid, environment and local communities. The executive order is separate from New York's Responsible Data Center Development Act recently passed by the state legislature last month. That bill would have also banned data center permits for a year, while also requiring energy efficiency goals for data centers and specific benefits for host communities. Governor Hochul has yet to sign that bill, but is considering it. She has previously expressed support for AI as a potential research tool and economic booster. In the face of public opposition to data centers, multiple states are attempting to enact bans. A moratorium was recently passed by Maine's state legislature, but was vetoed by Democrat Governor Janet Mills. Other states with legislation advancing include Washington, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and South Carolina. Local bans have also been enacted in cities like Seattle. Hochul, a pro-business moderate, initially said that data center bans should be left to cities and communities. Ahead of local elections, however, she decided to follow through on the moratorium. Hochul said, as data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it's my responsibility to take action and lead.
Google has struck a deal to purchase a major solar project's entire electrical output to offset its fossil fuel emissions, that's according to a report by the Financial Times. The search giant will take 100% of the initial output from Steel River Energy Center in Arkansas once it comes online in 2029, amounting to 1.6 gigawatts of solar power and 2 gigawatts of battery storage, enough to power 315,000 homes. Google will pay a fixed cost for the electricity from the solar plant, but will not use it directly. Instead, it will draw from the grid powered by a mix of coal, nuclear, renewables, and natural gas, along with its own on-site power. Energy from the Steel River Energy Center solar project will form part of that grid mix. Once completed, the project will supply 2.45 gigawatts of solar power and 2.9 gigawatts per hour of battery energy storage. The first two phases received $3.5 billion in financing and prioritized US manufactured steel and solar panels. Google's electricity use rose 37% last year, which pushed up its grid-based emissions by the same amount. Other tech giants like Meta and Amazon also saw massive leaps in energy consumption due to data centers powering AI.
Much of that has been powered by fossil fuel sources that have further pushed up CO2 emissions in a rapidly warming planet. The recent heat waves across Europe would have been virtually impossible without climate change, scientists said last month. Tech giants have looked at clean energy projects to offset that fossil fuel power, a controversial practice that some experts say is not effective. Metta recently purchased the entire electricity output of another solar plant in Texas, while Amazon recently agrees to buy out the troubled 1.2 gigawatt Sunstone Solar and Battery Project in Oregon.
The Los Angeles Police Department has suspended its use of controversial surveillance tech from Flock Safety. The city's law enforcement had signed a three-year deal with Flock in 2023 that expired over the weekend. Flock operates 138 cameras in LA, and they are ostensibly used to check vehicle license plates. While that information could help law enforcement to find cars that are stolen or registered to fugitives, city leaders questioned the privacy controls for the data collected by the company. Flock has reportedly shared its data with state and federal authorities, including the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, even though California has legislation to restrict what details companies can share with government officials. An LAPD spokesperson said that the sticking point is around having very clear terms about who owns the data and what happens with the data once it is collected. The department will stop using Flock until the LAPD can get those data, privacy, security and sharing concerns ironed out through a contractual relationship. In addition to the privacy issues around Flock sharing data with immigration authorities, the company's cameras have also been exposed as having multiple cyber security flaws.