[ { "provision": "New high-energy-intensive uses and qualifying expansions require a permit": "The permit must be approved by the Common Council and issued by the Code Enforcement Officer. The requirement applies to new high-energy-intensive uses, expansions that reach at least 1 MW, and changes in use that reach at least 1 MW." }, { "provision": "High-energy-intensive use is defined at 1 MW or more of electrical demand": "Data centers meeting or expected to meet the 1 MW threshold are subject to the law's requirements." }, { "provision": "Covered facilities must maintain minimum on-site employment": "The employment schedule requires at least 6 full-time-equivalent employees for facilities above 0.5 MW and below 1 MW, 12 employees for 1 MW to below 2 MW, and 18 employees for 2 MW or more. Employees must work at least 30 hours per week and physically work within Plattsburgh." }, { "provision": "Applicants bear the burden of demonstrating compliance": "A data-center applicant must establish that the proposed use satisfies the law's requirements before receiving a permit." }, { "provision": "Operators must annually provide requested compliance documentation": "Covered data centers must submit documentation reasonably requested by the City or Municipal Lighting Department to demonstrate continued compliance." }, { "provision": "A surety bond of at least $1 million is required": "As a condition of permitting and continued operation, the operator must maintain a bond based on projected electrical demand and utility charges, or $1 million, whichever is greater. A qualifying cash deposit may be used instead." }, { "provision": "A permit does not guarantee continued electric capacity or service": "Permitted data centers do not obtain a vested right to a particular level of municipal electric capacity, continued service, or continued operation if later laws, utility requirements, infrastructure limits, or lawful orders restrict them." }, { "provision": "Violations may lead to civil penalties or permit suspension or revocation": "The City may enforce the requirements through penalties or loss of the operating permit, subject to notice and an opportunity to be heard." }, { "provision": "Related operations may be aggregated": "The City may combine the electrical demand of commonly owned or controlled operations functioning as one integrated business when determining whether the law applies or whether requirements are satisfied. Adjacent parcels or contractual relationships alone are insufficient." }, { "provision": "Existing lawful operations are generally exempt from new requirements": "A lawfully operating existing data center may continue without a new permit, employment thresholds, bonding, or other operational requirements unless it increases electrical demand, expands onto additional property, changes use classification, or materially increases use intensity." } ]

Lawfully operating high-energy-intensive facilities may continue operating as pre-existing uses, without obtaining a permit, meeting employment thresholds, providing additional bonding, or complying with other operational requirements, unless they increase demand, expand onto additional property, change use classification, or materially intensify operations. may continue operating

Routine maintenance, repair, replacement, modernization, and equipment upgrades that do not increase authorized electrical demand are not treated as an expansion, modification, or intensification requiring new compliance. Routine maintenance, repair, replacement, modernization

The law operates prospectively: existing lawful operations are protected, and the requirements apply to future high-energy-intensive uses and future increases in electrical demand rather than retroactively to existing operations. operate prospectively

Facilities using between zero and 0.5 megawatts have no minimum employee requirement. no minimum employee requirement

The City may aggregate related operations only when they share common ownership or control and function as one integrated enterprise; operations are not aggregated solely because they occupy adjacent parcels or have contractual relationships. Aggregation shall not occur solely

Before a permit is suspended or revoked, or electrical service is limited under the law, the operator must receive written notice, a reasonable opportunity to cure where appropriate, and a hearing opportunity; the resulting decision must include written findings and is subject to judicial review. Written notice of the alleged violation