Data Centers
Sign up for our Data Center campaign by clicking here!
Clean Air has a two-tiered campaign to regulate data centers in Erie and Niagara counties, with goals of fJumighting for a renewable energy industrial use of the former Tonawanda Coke site (the Riverview Innovation Tech Campus, where a data center is now proposed, full 90MB application available for download here), as well as for regulations of data centers broadly in Erie and Niagara Counties, which will tie into statewide efforts.
To learn more or to join the campaign, or reach out to Bridge or fill out this form!
Check out the recording from our launch meeting on May 20, 2026 for an overview of our new campaign!
Current Actions
At this time, we strongly encourage contacting Governor Hochul and urge her to sign A11560/S10642 which would institute a 1-year moratorium statewide on any data center developments – from the date she signs it, any proposed projects that do not yet have necessary approved permits will be put on pause.
You can send a letter using Food and Water Watch’s online letter campaign here, and can find phone numbers and a contact form to get in touch with the Governor here – regardless of whether the Governor takes action or not, our local campaigns will continue, but enacting the moratorium will give us much more time to work with.
We also strongly encourage showing up for all local government meetings to voice your opposition to data centers in your community, to call for local level moratoriums, and to use the time during that moratorium to pass local zoning amendments to regulate data centers.
Local level moratoriums are especially wise moves to take by all municipalities at this time, as some data center developers may try to rapidly develop projects ahead of the possible statewide one.
Regarding zoning, Niagara Falls and Plattsburg NY (Local Law 6-2018) have passed zoning amendments you can look at as models to write one for your municipality, but each community will need to adapt these models for your specific community needs. Other local regulations like sound ordinances can also be used for local level regulations – North Tonawanda has an updated sound ordinance that was written in response to a data center used for cryptomining.
You can also ask your city, town, or village officials to write resolutions opposed to data centers in adjacent communities, and in favor of the statewide moratorium – they will not be able to stop a development outside of their jurisdiction, but they can voice how that data center will affect their municipality, and as peers send a message to fellow elected representatives that they think a proposed data center project is a bad idea.
In municipalities like Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda where some regulatory legislation regarding data centers have been passed locally, it is worth meeting with neighbors and municipal officials to discuss enforcement and where the legislation needs to be strengthened. The fight always continues!
Tonawanda Data Centers
Please note that the Town of Tonawanda, City of Tonawanda, and City of North Tonawanda are all separate and distinct municipalities. The Village of Kenmore shares some services with the Town of Tonawanda but also has separate planning and zoning.
In the Town of Tonawanda, we urge attending Town Board, Planning Board and SEQR Committee meetings, and in those spaces echo the following –
- Why you personally are opposed to a data center at the Tonawanda Coke campus or anywhere in the River Road industrial corridor such as at the former Sumitomo plant, and support for renewable energy generation and storage instead
- That the town institute a moratorium on data center developments and pass a local zoning amendment to regulate future projects
- That the town reconvene the Tonawanda Community Working Group to streamline community involvement and oversight of the ongoing clean-up at the Tonawanda Coke sites, and expand and make permanent this working group to also encompass other current and future clean-up and industrial development in the River Road corridor.
The schedule for upcoming Town of Tonawanda meetings is available here.
At this time the Riverview Innovation Tech Campus data center at the former Tonawanda Coke site is on a temporary hold – we expect this proposal will be brought back in the future, but for now it is not an active discussion by Town officials. You can review the application RITC submitted by clicking here.
When it is brought back, please be prepared to request the following from Town officials –
- That the Riverview Innovation Tech Campus proposal for the first phase of the data center project be split from the RITC proposal for the final phase of the clean-up
- That the data center proposal go through a full Environmental Impact Statement
While the proposal is on hold, we urge reaching out to the leadership of the site developer, Ontario Specialty Contracting and Riverview Innovation Tech Campus, to ask them to pivot their planned use of 3875 River Road and 3821 River Road from a hyperscale data center to renewable power generation and storage – click here to send an email now.
You can also sign up for a lawn sign!
We want to have at least 150 distributed by the end of the summer, mostly in the Town of Tonawanda. We are asking for a donation of ~$10 per sign to cover the printing costs, but this is sliding scale and optional – each sign costs about $7 to print, so you can base your optional donation around that cost point. Your donation also covers your membership fee. Please fill out the form so we can track where our signs are going up, and use this link to donate (also available on the landing page after filling out the form.)
Resources and Learn More
- The AI Now Institute produces diagnosis and policy research on artificial intelligence and develops policy strategies to redirect away from the current trajectory: unbridled commercial surveillance, consolidation of power in very few companies, and a lack of public accountability. They have been supporting organizing efforts all across the state and the nation, and have extensive resources all about every aspect of the data center bubble build-out: check out their website to learn more!
Check out our blog archive, as we have written numerous posts on this topic over the past ten years