Democratic Maine governor vetoes first US state freeze on new datacenters
Summary
Maine’s Democratic governor vetoed a bill that would have stopped approvals for big new datacenters until 2027. She supports a temporary pause but exempted a local datacenter project that would create jobs and bring tax revenue. The state will form a council to study datacenters’ impact and banned tax incentives for these projects.Key Facts
- The bill would have paused new datacenter projects needing more than 20 megawatts of power until October 2027.
- Governor Janet Mills vetoed the bill because it did not exempt a $550 million datacenter project in Jay, Maine.
- The Jay project is expected to create over 800 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs and provide property tax income.
- The nearby Androscoggin paper mill closed in 2023, causing many job losses, increasing the importance of the datacenter project.
- Governor Mills plans to create a council to study how datacenters affect Maine’s electric grid, environment, and energy costs.
- She also signed a law banning datacenters from Maine’s business development tax incentives.
- US tech companies plan to spend over $600 billion on AI datacenters this year, which is boosting the economy but causing concerns about electricity use.
- Some states consider limiting datacenter growth due to environmental and energy cost worries, while President Trump’s administration urges states not to regulate AI.
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