New Delhi, July 25 -- NEW YORK - Kathy Hochul signed the country's first statewide moratorium on data centers last month. This week she explained the exit. Companies that want to build AI infrastructure in New York will need to arrive with their own power supply or agree to pay a premium into the state electricity grid to cover the load they would add. Those are the conditions under which the freeze ends.

The moratorium, which Hochul announced in a July 14 executive order, pauses state permitting for new facilities exceeding 50 megawatts for up to one year while regulators establish standards for the sector. Hochul told NBC News that the decision came in direct response to requests from local governments that were being overwhelmed by ap...