Allies of Tonawanda Seneca Nation, NY Renews, and Advocates Demand Governor Hochul’s New York Power Authority Respect Indigenous Sovereignty and Treaty Rights
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***: 12/9/25
Contact: Ryan Madden | 914-924-3970 | ryan@nyrenews.org
Allies of Tonawanda Seneca Nation, NY Renews, and Advocates Demand Governor Hochul’s New York Power Authority Respect Indigenous Sovereignty and Treaty Rights
Groups Held Press Conference and Rally Outside the December 9 New York Power Authority Board of Trustees Meeting
White Plains, NY — Nearly two dozen people represented by Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, Westchester members of the statewide NY Renews coalition, and other local community groups held a press conference and rally outside the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Headquarters in White Plains ahead of their Board of Trustees meeting.
Participants highlighted the failure of Governor Hochul, NYPA CEO Justin Driscoll, and the NYPA Board of Trustees to uphold the stated demands of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation regarding allocations of Niagara River low-cost hydropower to industrial tenants at the Western NY Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) in Alabama, New York. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation, a federally recognized Indigenous Nation and member nation of the Haudenosaunee, has raised concerns about the STAMP mega-industrial site since it was first proposed. STAMP poses an existential threat to the Nation’s land, waterways, and treaty-protected rights. These concerns have been echoed by thousands of New Yorkers over the past year through emails and public comments directed to Governor Hochul, NYPA CEO Justin Driscoll, and the NYPA Board of Trustees.
The Nation requests that NYPA inform them directly when low-cost power allocation requests are made for projects at STAMP, which is located in Seneca ancestral territory adjacent to and upstream from the Nation's treaty-confirmed Reservation Territory.
The Nation strongly opposes any allocation of low-cost hydropower to a data center at STAMP. Such a facility poses a profound threat to the Tonawanda Seneca people, their Reservation Territory, and the surrounding environment. By its nature, a data center at STAMP would fail to meet NYPA's statutory criteria for low-cost power allocations on the following grounds: 1) location outside the statutory 30-mile zone; 2) terrible jobs-to-power ratio; 3) no significant benefits for Western New York; 4) short project lifespan; and 5) poor job security/stability. As a data center would fail to meet the criteria established by the legislature for allocation of low-cost hydropower, NYPA should reject any application for such power from a data center operator at STAMP.
Data centers contribute to ever-rising energy costs and energy demand, with negative impacts to ratepayers and the state’s energy grid. Data centers also undermine Governor Hochul’s stated commitment to addressing widespread concerns around affordability and reliability.
Since the Nation is a disadvantaged community under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act ("CLCPA"), N.Y. Env't Conserv. Law § 75-0101, the Nation also contends that NYPA must conduct the analysis required by CLCPA Section 7(3) before approving any application for a project at STAMP. Section 7(3) prohibits state agencies from issuing "permits, licenses, and other administrative approvals and decisions” that "disproportionately burden disadvantaged communities."
STAMP is a proposed mega-industrial site being developed by the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), an Industrial Development Authority, on 1,260 acres of wetlands, forested habitat, and farmland next to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. Despite nearly twenty years of effort and more than $410 million in taxpayer subsidies, GCEDC has struggled to attract viable advanced manufacturing tenants or to construct basic infrastructure at STAMP. Currently, Edwards Vacuum is the only tenant under construction. Plug Power paused construction on its green hydrogen manufacturing facility in 2023, leaving a gap in financing for the onsite electrical substation. The company, which recently lost millions of dollars in federal funding and fired its two top executives, has never turned a profit. While minimal infrastructure has been built, massive environmental harms have already occurred. STAMP constitutes a profound environmental injustice for Nation citizens.
“Governor Hochul has already siphoned too many taxpayer dollars to prop up STAMP, a failing boondoggle that threatens the Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s homelands and their citizens’ way of life,” said Sarah Howard, Environmental Consultant to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and Rethink STAMP Campaign Organizer with Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. “The Governor must not be allowed to use NYPA as her slush fund to line the pockets of data center developers and their financial backers. She must be stopped from weaponizing Niagara River hydropower to violate the Nation’s treaty-protected rights to free use and enjoyment of their Territory. This finite resource should be used to realize our shared goals of climate justice, not to enact environmental harms and violations of Indigenous sovereignty.”
“We stand with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation in their call for government-to-government consultation and Climate Act compliance to stop the threat posed by the STAMP project,” said Raya Salter, Executive Director, Energy Justice Law and Policy Center, NYS Climate Action Council. “NYPA must not allow any allocation of low-cost hydropower to a data center at the site, conduct a full §7(3) review under the Climate Law, and otherwise respect the Nation’s sovereignty throughout this process.”
“The decisions that get made by the New York Power Authority here in Westchester have far ranging consequences across this state. As a leading force for progressive social change in this county, we stand in solidarity with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation in its fight to uphold its sovereignty, protect its treaty rights, and stop harmful development at STAMP, which are underwritten by NYPA allocations of low-cost hydropower,” said Nada Khader, Director, WESPAC Foundation. “We oppose any allocation of this power to tenants at STAMP, and especially for a data center. Such a facility poses a profound threat to Tonawanda Seneca people, their Reservation Territory, and the surrounding environment.”
“The New York Power Authority is failing our communities. I'm here in Westchester standing in solidarity with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation in calling on NYPA to stop using our tax and rate-payer dollars to give breaks to large corporations to build harmful infrastructure that will drive up electric rates, all while our communities struggle to afford our energy bills,” said Courtney Williams, Co-founder, Safe Energy Rights Group (SEnRG). “Today they are voting on a proposal that fails to meet the mandate set by the Build Public Renewables Act that could make clean, cheap, sustainable energy available to our communities. While underdelivering on the public renewables we need, NYPA is instead propping up harmful industrial development that impacts Indigenous lands. From Peekskill to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation lands, Disadvantaged Communities are being denied climate justice. It's time NYPA put public good over private profit.”
"Governor Hochul's New York Power Authority is being used to benefit private corporations while extending its shameful legacy of treaty violations, undermining both our Climate Law and our government-to-government responsibilities to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation,” said Ryan Madden, Indigenous Solidarity Director, NY Renews. “At this critical juncture for a livable climate, we must heed the Nations’ demands, who have called upon New York officials to uphold the Treaty of Canandaigua by ending both direct and indirect subsidies, as well as permits and approvals, to STAMP."
“Public renewables directly impact New York families. Data centers directly harm New York families. Making it easier for data centers to operate without meeting our legally required climate mandates is not climate justice! We stand in solidarity with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, as the futures of New York families and the youngest New Yorkers are dependent on NYPA building substantially more public renewables, not subsidizing corporations,” said Stacy Williams, Co-Founder, Climate Families Westchester.
“We stand in solidarity with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s opposition to harmful development at the STAMP industrial site, in particular the recently proposed and, as of now, revoked 900,000 square foot data center. A facility of that scale would directly threaten the Tonawanda Seneca people and their Territory, and would be a gross misuse of available low-cost NYPA hydropower,” said Erik Lindberg, Member, United 4 Clean Energy. “Data centers have a well-documented and growing negative impact on local communities, from straining public utilities and hiking energy prices, to noise and diesel smoke pollution, to disruptive cooling systems, all while providing few jobs beyond the initial construction phase. I call on NYPA to remain vigilant in protecting the public interest and the Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s sovereign Territory.”
“We ask that the New York Power Authority respect Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s sovereignty and treaty rights and yield to their demands,” said Denise Rebeil, Housing and Environmental Justice Lead Organizer, Make the Road NY.
Photos of this event can be found here.
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Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation is a coalition of individuals and organizations taking action in solidarity with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation's longstanding fight to stop harmful industrial development at the Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) mega-industrial site.
NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 climate, labor, youth, and community groups, and the force behind the nation’s most progressive climate law. We fight for clean energy, good jobs, and a healthier, more affordable New York. Following the leadership of Indigenous Nations in the territory of New York State, we work to ensure that our fight for a Just Transition is aligned with Indigenous environmental justice, land justice, and sovereignty.
WESPAC Foundation has been a leading force for progressive social change in Westchester County, New York, since 1974. We have been educating, agitating and organizing for a more just and peaceful world, an end to militarism and racism and a more fair economy that works for all.
Energy Justice Law and Policy Center is an energy, environmental, and climate justice policy and advocacy center. We work with local communities to address harms caused by energy systems while catalyzing the development of equitable clean and green infrastructure.
Safe Energy Rights Group is continuing its work to ensure no community is harmed by energy infrastructure. That includes proper decommissioning of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, safe storage of the irradiated spent fuel stored there, and the protection of the environment and communities surrounding the plant.
United 4 Clean Energy is a grassroots group that supports renewable energy and believes we must not rely on nuclear power or fossil fuels. We partner with many other groups to oppose fracked gas infrastructure and focus on decommissioning issues at Indian Point, as well as larger issues about nuclear power and fossil fuels.
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance is a citywide membership network linking grassroots organizations from low-income neighborhoods and communities of color in their struggle for environmental justice. NYC-EJA empowers its member organizations to advocate for improved environmental conditions and against inequitable environmental burdens. Through our efforts, member organizations coalesce around specific common issues that threaten the ability for low-income communities of color to thrive.
Climate Families Westchester is a grassroots group of kids and caregivers fighting for an end to fossil fuels and a cleaner, greener future for all.
Make the Road NY builds the power of immigrant and working class communities to achieve dignity and justice.