The Data Center Dilemma: Building Smart Policy for the AI Era
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is fueling an unprecedented boom in data center construction—but the costs are increasingly being borne by the public. From soaring electricity demand and water consumption to higher utility bills, strained infrastructure, and mounting pressure on climate goals, communities are grappling with the consequences of an industry growing faster than the policies designed to govern it.
This panel will examine how policymakers can respond to one of the defining infrastructure challenges of the AI era. Bringing together advocates, legal scholars, policymakers, and energy experts, the conversation will explore the policy tools available to ensure that data center development serves the public interest rather than undermining affordability, environmental protection, and grid reliability. Panelists will discuss emerging approaches to permitting, cost allocation, community engagement, environmental review, energy procurement, and state oversight.
Panelists:
Dr. Anna Kelles, NY Assemblymember
Dr. Anna Kelles has served as a member of the New York State Assembly, representing Tompkins and Cortland Counties since 2020. Since taking office, Assemblymember Kelles has sponsored and passed legislation to protect utility customers, public health, water and underrepresented communities. She brought international attention to the environmental concerns of consolidated cryptocurrency mining using proof-of-work validation methods and has championed initiatives to pause the development of large data centers across the state. Her legislative accomplishments also include securing state protection for thousands of acres of critical lakefront forestlands and park land, requiring monitoring and public reporting of PFAS discharge into water, expanding the ban on hydraulic fracking to include a ban on the use of C02, creating a statewide comprehensive database of water data to promote comprehensive water quality protection, increasing state investments in the use of native plant seeds on state owned land and establishing a New York native plants designation within the New York State Grown and Certified program.
Jon Binder, Executive Director of the Model Climate Laws Initiative and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Sabin Center.
The Model Climate Laws Initiative is a joint project of the Sabin Center and Environmental Advocates NY. As Executive Director, Jon leads the Initiative as it seeks to enhance legal capacity for climate action by state and local governments across the country.
Prior to becoming Executive Director of the Model Climate Laws Initiative, Jon was the Deputy Commissioner for Climate Change, Air Resources, and Energy at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). In that role, Jon oversaw NYSDEC’s Division of Air Resources and Office of Climate Change, and led NYSDEC’s implementation of the State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Before being appointed Deputy Commissioner, Jon served as an NYSDEC attorney for 15 years, most recently as the Chief of the Bureau of Climate, Air, and Energy.
Lucie Drummond, Senior Director of Market Policy at Voltus. She brings over 20 years of energy systems experience to her work modernizing US policy frameworks for grid flexibility. With a background spanning executive leadership, strategy, law, and corporate sustainability at organizations like Mercury NZ, Lucie advances market design initiatives that ensure large-scale load growth strengthens the grid. Her current focus centers on wholesale market reforms, including PJM interim resource adequacy service proposals and responses to FERC show cause orders. In both areas, she works to ensure that policies related to data centers unlock flexible, distributed capacity solutions.