Your Turn: Data centers require regulation

By Jonathan Kornreich Across the country, communities are asking the same basic questions about data centers: how much electricity will these facilities require, how much water will they use for cooling, who pays for grid upgrades, and do local governments have the right rules in place to regulate them properly? These questions are particularly important to us here in Brookhaven because of the inherently fragile nature of living on an island. On Long Island, our drinking water comes from the aquifer beneath our feet. We do not have a reservoir system to fall back on. That means decisions about major new water users have to be treated thoughtfully. If a data center uses our drinking water for cooling, it can have real impacts on our future, both by drawing from the aquifer and by using the limited supply capacity that our residents and businesses also depend on. This is already a real problem. In recent summers we received several warnings from the Suffolk County Water Authority to temporarily reduce our usage. The electric side matters too. Our electrical generation and distribution system is a finite resource. If a large private user requires major electric upgrades, ordinary ratepayers should not be stuck paying those costs. Large users may go through utility and grid review processes, and those processes are supposed to help determine what upgrades are needed and who should pay for them. But from the Town’s perspective, we should not be passive. Before a project is approved locally, we should understand its power demand, its impact on the grid, and whether the costs it creates are being assigned fairly. That is why I advocated for an 18-month moratorium in Brookhaven, and I am grateful that the Supervisor and Town Board have agreed to take that step. The goal is not to delay just for delay’s sake. It is to give us time to study the issue carefully so that when we press “unpause,” we have a solid framework to protect residents, electric ratepayers, and the aquifer. This is not about banning technology. Data centers support many parts of modern life: online shopping, banking, medical records, streaming, cybersecurity, business software, cloud storage, and much more. The growth of artificial intelligence is also driving new demand for computing power. But modern infrastructure needs modern rules. If these facilities are proposed here, we should know how much power and water they need, how they plan to cool, whether they can use reclaimed or non-potable water, how backup generators will be handled, what noise impacts may occur, and who pays for infrastructure upgrades. We should also be clear about what kinds of cooling systems are acceptable on Long Island. Our drinking water should not be used once for cooling and then sent down a drain. Where feasible and properly permitted, large facilities should use reclaimed water, non-potable sources, or low-water cooling systems. Drawing on our limited water resources for this use should not be an option. The same goes for electricity. If a facility will require major upgrades, the public should know that before approvals are granted. Middle-class ratepayers should not be asked to subsidize a largely private use without a clear public benefit. The community bears the costs, while private interests take the profits. That is exactly the kind of outcome good planning is supposed to prevent. As Town Supervisor Dan Panico has noted, this issue is bigger than Brookhaven. The aquifer and the electric grid are both regional resources. We do not want our moratorium to simply push data centers into other parts of Suffolk County, because that would not solve the problem. We all rely on the same aquifer system and the same electric grid, so we need a broader regional approach. Supervisor Panico has already brought this message to his colleagues in the Suffolk County Supervisors Association, and I appreciate his active engagement and regional leadership on this issue from the beginning. I also appreciate the trust he places in me to help work through these policy issues in a bipartisan and practical way. I am also grateful to Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay for helping carry these concerns to Albany and for her role in helping to pass the State’s similar moratorium bill, now awaiting the Governor’s action. The State’s action confirms that these are not isolated concerns. Water use, electric demand, ratepayer protection, and environmental impacts must be taken seriously at every level of government. This is the kind of planning and leadership the Brookhaven Town Board should demonstrate whenever a major new use comes before us: study the impacts, bring the right people into the conversation, and set rules that protect the community over the long term. Good planning is not just reacting to what is already in front of us. It is understanding what is coming, asking hard questions early, and making sure the choices we make today still serve residents years from now. Author Jonathan Kornreich was elected to Brookhaven Town Council in 2021. He represents the 1st district, which consists of Stony Brook, Old Field, Poquott, Setauket, East Setauket, Belle Terre, Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station and Terryville.