How many states will adopt data center moratoriums in 2026?: Will the number of U.S. states that formally adopt a binding state-level moratorium on data-center development be at least 5 in 2026?

If the number of U.S. states that formally adopt a binding state-level moratorium on data-center development is at least 5 in 2026, then the market resolves to Yes. A state qualifies upon final adoption of a binding law, executive order, regulation, or agency order that expressly targets data centers and prohibits or suspends a material governmental approval, permitting, interconnection, construction, expansion, or operation pathway for new or expanded data centers. The measure may apply only to a defined class of data centers, including facilities above a specified power, water-use, computing-capacity, or size threshold, and may grandfather existing facilities or applications. It need not use the word “moratorium,” and a permanent prohibition also qualifies. A qualifying state remains counted if the measure subsequently expires, is repealed, rescinded, superseded, or enjoined, provided it became legally operative. Local measures, project-specific holds, pending legislation, studies, reporting requirements, tax-incentive changes, and regulatory requirements that do not suspend development do not qualify. Count as of July 21, 2026: 1 — New York. New York Executive Order 62, issued July 14, directs the Department of Environmental Conservation to hold certain incomplete discretionary-permit applications for the construction or expansion of data centers in abeyance. The order covers data centers consuming or capable of consuming at least 50 megawatts, and official state and NCSL materials identify it as the nation’s first statewide data-center moratorium.