Maine’s Democratic-controlled legislature approved a bill Tuesday that would impose a yearlong moratorium on large data centers, sending what would be the nation’s first statewide pause on the energy-hungry facilities to Gov. Janet Mills for her signature. The measure follows intense community backlash against proposed projects in Maine and escalating concerns about electricity costs, potential blackouts, and water consumption tied to the AI-driven surge in data center construction.
Mills’ office did not respond to a request for comment on whether she plans to sign the bill, the Associated Press reported. Mills, a Democrat, is running for U.S. Senate.
Moratorium proposals have been introduced in at least a dozen states, but none other than Maine’s has passed even a single legislative chamber. The bill would also create a special council to help communities vet proposed projects before development proceeds.
A national first
The legislation targets data centers above a certain size, commonly called hyperscalers, which power artificial intelligence applications. Data center projects have drawn high-level support from President Donald Trump’s administration and many governors, who describe them as economic engines and essential for competing with China in artificial intelligence. Analysts have also warned of the possibility of blackouts in the mid-Atlantic grid in the coming years as data centers consume growing shares of the power supply.
Why Maine?
Democratic Rep. Melanie Sachs, the bill’s sponsor, said the calculus around data centers had not favored residents. “It’s not that there’s no place for data centers in Maine,” Sachs said. “Frankly, the tradeoffs have not been shown to be of benefit to our ratepayers, water usage or community benefit in terms of economic activity.”
Several communities in Maine had raised concerns about a lack of transparency in proposed data center projects. Supporters said the moratorium was primarily about securing community input. “If this is going to come, we want to be in early and often on the conversation,” said Joe Oliva, a spokesperson for the Maine Broadband Coalition and GrowSmart Maine, both of which supported the measure.
Industry opponents warned that the bill would deter developers and cost the state long-term economic development. “It says that the state is willing to essentially put a blanket ban on you if it decides that you may be politically unfavorable,” said Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition, a trade association that includes tech companies and developers. Montana Towers, a policy analyst with the free market Maine Policy Institute, said “a lot of these concerns about them are luddite in nature.”
Growing resistance across states
Community opposition to data centers has mounted since last summer, with numerous municipalities defeating proposals before packed zoning and planning board meetings. Several counties and municipalities have imposed their own local moratoriums.
Voters in Festus, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, replaced half of the city’s eight-member city council this month amid a backlash over a data center project. In Ohio, residents are attempting to gather more than 400,000 voter signatures by July 1 to place a measure on the November ballot that would permanently ban hyperscale data centers — described as among the strictest measures under consideration in the country.
South Dakota’s one-year moratorium bill failed in a state Senate committee amid opposition from power plant owners and data center developers. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Taffy Howard, told senators that opponents were all lobbyists, “billion-dollar corporations” and government officials. “Are you going to listen to the people or the paid lobbyists?” Howard said.
Other states, including Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin, have seen moratorium proposals emerge, while some have pursued alternative approaches such as tougher standards around water and energy use, transparency requirements, and protections for ratepayers. In Georgia, a data center hub, a moratorium bill died without action.