One other state-level effort to ban new data center development simply failed, this time in Maine.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Friday vetoed a invoice that will have put a pause on data centers within the state till late 2027. Mills stated she helps a moratorium on knowledge heart tasks however that the invoice, which handed the state Home and Senate his month, didn’t embrace an exemption for a challenge already underway.
“A moratorium is suitable given the impacts of huge knowledge facilities in different states on the setting and on electrical energy charges,” Mills stated in a letter to the state legislature. “However the closing model of this invoice fails to permit for a selected challenge within the City of Jay that enjoys sturdy native assist from its host neighborhood and area.”
An announcement shared by her workplace stated the $550 million knowledge heart redevelopment challenge was wanted in Jay, the place a paper mill closure in 2023 “eradicated a whole lot of good-paying jobs and dealt a major blow to the native financial system.”
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The governor stated she would have signed the invoice had there been a carve-out for the challenge, which she stated is anticipated to create over 800 development jobs and not less than 100 high-paying everlasting jobs along with producing property tax income.
Mills, a Democrat who’s operating for US Senate in 2026, stated she plans to subject an govt order to create a council to take a look at the influence of knowledge facilities in Maine.
“I consider it needed and vital to look at and plan for the potential impacts of large-scale knowledge facilities in Maine, as using synthetic intelligence turns into extra widespread,” she stated.
Lawmakers in not less than 11 different states have additionally tried and didn’t go laws that will briefly ban new data center development, Enterprise Insider beforehand reported.
The information heart increase, fueled by Large Tech’s AI ambitions, has sparked pockets of native resistance throughout the US amid considerations about power consumption and influence on power prices in addition to the setting.
A Business Insider investigation discovered Maine had two knowledge facilities within the state as of final yr.

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