New York Digital Investment Group and its affiliate North Country Collocation Services want to build a 1.5 million-square-foot, 635-megawatt data center on the former Alcoa East/Reynolds industrial site near the St. Lawrence River in Massena, a project that would draw roughly 70% of the output from the nearby Moses Saunders hydroelectric dam. Gov. Kathy Hochul's executive order restricts new hyperscale data centers exceeding 50 megawatts by barring the DEC from issuing new discretionary permits, but NCCS argues it applied for all necessary permits back in 2020 and requires no additional state approvals. Massena's Town Board voted 3-2 against a local moratorium, though the project still faces a SEQRA review and DEC environmental assessment. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe formally opposed the project, while some Massena residents support it based on the company's promise of 200 full-time jobs, roughly 2,000 construction jobs, and millions in community investments.
The Massena case tests whether permit grandfathering can exempt a 635-megawatt facility from a statewide moratorium, a precedent that could allow other large projects to bypass similar restrictions simply by having applied for permits before such orders take effect. At a scale representing 70% of a major hydroelectric dam's output, the outcome will shape how New York and other states structure future moratorium language to close such loopholes.
New York state action to pause large data center approvals is significant policy news, and the exemption angle for a massive Massena project adds a distinct local dimension not covered in prior published items about Texas or Chicago moratoriums.