Maine governor vetoes statewide pause in new data centers
Maine Governor Janet Mills vetoed legislation that would have banned large-scale data center development in the state for 18 months. Mills supports a temporary moratorium but cited an exception for a $550 million project in Jay, which has local support.
Maine Governor Janet Mills vetoed a bill that would have imposed an 18-month ban on large-scale data center development in the state. The legislation, which passed earlier this month, was the first of its kind to make it through a state legislature in the U.S. Mills supports a temporary moratorium on data center projects due to their environmental and electricity rate impacts. However, she cited an exception for a $550 million project in the town of Jay, which has strong local support and is being developed on the site of the former Androscoggin Mill. The governor will issue an executive order to establish a council to study the impact of data centers in Maine. Mills had previously signed a bill to ban data center projects from Maine's business development tax incentive programs. At least a dozen other states are considering temporary bans on data center projects.
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