Lawler Attacks Conley on Data Centers

But tiptoes around the issue himself This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for its newsletter here. Rep. Mike Lawler is seizing a new wedge against his Democratic challenger Cait Conley in their closely watched race for the House seat that includes Philipstown: data centers. The GOP incumbent's new seven-figure ad campaign, launched last month, cites Conley's consulting work for two defense tech firms as an indication that she "wants to build data centers in the Hudson Valley." An accompanying press release asks, "Does she support Gov. [Kathy] Hochul's moratorium on new large data centers, yes or no?" There's just one catch: Conley has already said she backs Hochul's one-year pause on data center construction, while Lawler has criticized the pause as reflecting a broader anti-business climate in New York. "When you look at the situation, and Kathy Hochul implements a statewide moratorium, what she is saying is, 'Don't come here, go do your business elsewhere,' which is why New York state leads the nation in outmigration," Lawler told Fox Business in August. Conley, meanwhile, has championed Hochul's moratorium, saying in July that, if elected, she would "push at the federal level for similar responsible regulation and legislation to ensure that data center companies are not exploiting our communities." Lawler's new ad campaign disregards this record; the 30-second spot replays — three times — a clip of Conley saying, during an April candidate forum, "We need data centers." It leaves out what she said just beforehand: "Local officials who are approving these projects need to understand the harm that they are going to bring. … Communities [are] unwittingly agreeing to terms where these data centers are literally profiting off the backs of our communities." "We need data centers. We're not going to get rid of them," she continued, but added, "We can mandate things to make sure they are better going forward than what we are seeing play out." As of July, Conley still worked with one of the two firms at the center of Lawler's ad campaign, according to an interview with the Rockland County Business Journal. But she said that hasn't influenced her views on data centers. Lawler's campaign did not answer New York Focus's questions about his position on Hochul's moratorium or a number of controversial data center projects in the district. "Congressman Lawler believes local residents should decide what gets built in their community," wrote Lawler's campaign manager Ciro Riccardi in an emailed statement. "Municipalities should use every tool available to protect residents' quality of life and keep the cost off ratepayers, who already pay a third more for electricity than New Jersey and Pennsylvania because of Albany's energy policies." Lawler is cosponsoring a bill, called the Ratepayer Protection Act, aimed at making data centers pay the full cost of any infrastructure upgrades needed to meet their voracious energy demands. The bipartisan bill has drawn opposition from an industry trade group, the Data Center Coalition, which says it unfairly singles out the computing facilities. The bill passed the U.S. House on Sept. 16 with almost unanimous support. But Lawler has steered clear of local fights. He has not taken a position — either publicly or in response to New York Focus's questions — on the expansion of a Rockland County data center operated by the Texas-based company Databank. The project is one of several in the area that have received large tax breaks from local authorities, and it has generated significant local backlash over concerns that it could raise power bills and contaminate the local water supply. (Databank has said the facility will use a closed-loop water system that poses no risk to the adjacent reservoir.) Conley announced her opposition to the center in July. "Let's be clear — Cait Conley supports a data center moratorium. Mike Lawle...