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As massive amounts of land are being acquired for AI data center expansion across the US, one state was poised to slow the construction boom following numerous protests and calls from politicians.
Earlier this month, Maine lawmakers passed a bill that would have put a moratorium on the building of new data centers that require more than 20 megawatts of power until October 2027. The pause would have given the state time to determine the effects that large data centers have on the energy grid, local utilities and the surrounding environment.
However, Gov. Janet Mills announced her decision Friday to veto the bill, noting that while she supports a temporary moratorium on data center projects, the bill did not include an exemption for a project already underway in the Town of Jay at the former Androscoggin Mill, which closed in 2023. Mills notes that the Town of Jay “worked for two years on a $550 million data center redevelopment project to finally bring jobs and investment back to the mill site.”
The letter by Gov. Mills to the Legislature recognizes the impacts that massive data centers have on the environment and electricity rates in other states. However, she says that the project at the old mill site will bring in substantial property tax revenue, and that project developers will use “existing industrial buildings, water and electrical infrastructure to avoid the adverse impacts cited in the bill, including impacts to ratepayers.”
Gov. Mills went on to say she would issue an executive order to establish a council “to examine the impact of data centers in Maine.”
As artificial intelligence continues to find its way into every part of our lives, data centers are on the rise — and they’re getting bigger. Meta is spending $27 billion to build a data center in Louisiana on more than 3,600 acres, while Amazon is spending $25 billion to build more in Mississippi. Data centers require a colossal amount of electricity to run and consume a massive amount of water to cool them.
Residents living near data centers have also complained about noise and light pollution.
With the exponential growth, public outcry has erupted from communities where data centers are still being built, as well as from politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who previously proposed a bill that would pause all data center construction. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley have also called for greater transparency surrounding data centers.
A state law like the one vetoed Friday could have set a precedent for other US states grappling with how to regulate the rapid development of AI instruction, especially given that the Trump Administration has pushed for an acceleration of data center construction.
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