Maine governor nixes data center moratorium in state | National | dailygazette.com

Maine Governor Janet Mills has vetoed a bill that proposed a temporary moratorium on the construction of large data centers in the state. The legislation, which had been endorsed by Maine legislators earlier this month, aimed to halt new data center construction until November of next year to assess the environmental and utility impacts of these power- and water-intensive facilities. In her statement announcing the veto, Governor Mills explained that the bill failed to include an exception for a data center project in a northeastern part of the state that suffered significant economic hardship after a mill closure three years prior. State Representative Melanie Sachs, a sponsor of the bill, criticized the governor's decision, stating that it rejected the advice of her own task force and the will of the majority of Maine people. The debate highlights growing public sentiment against massive data centers across the United States, with a recent Quinnipiac University poll indicating that 65 percent of Americans oppose such facilities in their communities. The boom in generative artificial intelligence has led to a surge in data center demand and construction spending, placing a strain on local power grids and contributing to rising electricity bills in states like Maine.