A version of the following public comment was submitted to the New Hampshire House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Affairs on January 29, 2026.
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House Bill 1124 (HB 1124) is similar to legislation passed in other states. It recognizes a “Right to Compute,” a critical affirmative right for innovators that demands policymakers to carefully weigh the compliance burdens of proposed, potentially heavy-handed legislation like data center moratoriums, discriminatory energy use regulation, and more. When overly burdensome laws or regulations are passed, this bill would allow an avenue for redress by affected innovators grounded in the rights enumerated in the state’s constitution.
The bill is an excellent example of pro-innovation policy that will drive future investment in this state, and we commend the sponsors for their introduction. However, we offer the following suggestion to strengthen the bill’s intended effect and create further certainty for innovators.
HB 1124 preserves the ability for state and local governments to regulate when needed to further a “compelling government interest.” Of these compelling government interests, we note that the text allowing for actions preventing “common law nuisances created by physical datacenter infrastructure” could be abused by localities that approve a plan to build a data center only to change positions after an election and call it a “public nuisance.” We suggest amending this language to clarify that nuisance-based rejections should be considered prior to approving a data center and that these approvals are not subject to an after-the-fact nuisance decision.