New York has become known, of late, for a litany of catastrophic firsts.
New York is first in the nation for population loss, first in the nation when it comes to the worst business climate, first in the nation when it comes to the most unaffordable cost of living, and first in the nation for highest energy prices. It was not so long ago that we were the first in the nation who passed a moratorium on fracking and natural gas exploration. Now New York is the first in the nation to pass a moratorium on data centers. And New Yorkers will literally pay the price.
With a Governor beholden to increasingly radicalized single party policymakers in Albany, New York policies continue to crush families, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and innovation. This first moratorium on data centers means that hardworking New York families and workers will miss out on economic opportunities for higher wages, good paying jobs, and burgeoning tech hubs as we enter into the complex era of AI growth.
And let's be clear, it is the failed energy policies in New York that have caused residents of our state to pay the highest energy prices in the nation, not the potential of data centers. In fact, it is shocking to other parts of the country and to New Yorkers themselves when they realize that we are about to face a full ban on natural gas which will cause further skyrocketing energy prices and a full blown energy and affordability crisis in our state. That is why I have co-sponsored my colleague Representative Nick Langworthy's Energy Choice Act which must be passed by the full House immediately.
A recent analysis by Manhattan Institute on Substack outlines that recent studies and working papers effectively analyze data showing that dramatic increases in energy and utility prices are caused by the state's energy policies and not by data centers. The paper argues that "North Dakota, Nebraska, and New Mexico experienced some of the fastest electricity-demand growth, yet their residential retail electricity prices fell" while "the largest price increases were concentrated on the West Coast and in the Northeast, where state policies have made more electricity more expensive to produce and deliver."
Instead of banning innovation and opportunity while also suffering from the highest energy and utility prices in the nation, New York must look to states who have an all-of-the-above approach unleashing energy exploration as well as a regulatory approach that allows electricity supply to meet growing demand. New York must shed its limiting and harmful embrace of settling for abysmal scarcity, and instead embrace abundance, innovation, and economic opportunity for families. 
Elise Stefanik represents New York's 21st Congressional District and is the New York Times Bestselling author of "Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities."
