Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoed legislation that would have created the nation’s first moratorium on the construction of large new data centers.
Reuters reports that Mills, a Democrat in the final months of her term as governor, rejected a bill that would have halted the creation of data centers requiring over 20 megawatts of power until October 2027. Mills said she would have signed the bill into law if it included her request for an exemption on a $550 million data center project currently underway in the Town of Jay.
“A moratorium is appropriate given the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates,” she said in a statement. “But the final version of this bill fails to allow for a specific project in the Town of Jay that enjoys strong local support from its host community and region.”
Mills signed a bill to prohibit data center projects from being able to access the state’s business development tax incentive programs. She is also planning to sign an executive order establishing a council to examine the impact of data centers in Maine.
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