Maine Governor Mills Vetoes Statewide Data Center Moratorium
(Bloomberg) -- Maine Governor Janet Mills vetoed what would have been the first statewide freeze on large data center development, saying it would hurt a part of Maine in need of an economic boost.
Mills, a Democrat running for US Senate, bucked her own party in rejecting a proposed moratorium on permitting for data centers larger than 20 megawatts until November 2027. The veto likely kills the measure in its current form. While the proposal garnered nearly unanimous support from Democratic legislators when it passed earlier this month, the number of backers is still well short of the two-thirds threshold necessary for an override.
Political pushback against data centers is rising nationally. While the industrial projects are key cogs in the advancement of artificial intelligence, opponents are concerned about their effects on energy prices and water availability. Maine only has nine data centers, but developers have been exploring smaller-scale projects.
Mills opposed the freeze because it would stop a planned data center that would replace a recently shuttered paper mill in Jay, a town about 60 miles north of Portland. She unsuccessfully pushed lawmakers to include an exemption for the $550 million project, which would create as many as 1,000 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs once in operation, according to its developer.
In her veto message Friday, Mills pointed to the “devastating blow” that the mill’s closing has had on Jay, which is located in her home county.
“I supported the exemption and would have signed this bill if it had included it,” Mills said.
Mills, a two-term governor, is trailing political newcomer Graham Platner in the June 9 Democratic Senate primary despite winning the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other establishment Democrats. Recent polls show Platner leading by more than 25 percentage points.
Representative Melanie Sachs, the Freeport Democrat who sponsored the bill, called Mills’ decision “simply wrong” and criticized the governor for rejecting a pause that she said most Mainers support.
“While a veto might protect the proposed data center project in Jay, it poses significant potential consequences for all ratepayers, our electric grid, our environment and our shared energy future,” Sachs said in a statement.
Democratic politicians across the US have seized on opposition to data centers as part of an affordability pitch ahead of the midterm elections. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed legislation that would prohibit “AI data centers” until national safeguards are established. Some Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are also calling for limits on data center development. Lawmakers in other states including New York, Georgia and South Carolina have proposed freezes similar to the one vetoed by Mills.
The Maine legislation also would have established a state council to assess both the economic opportunities posed by data centers and the risks to ratepayers, grid reliability and the environment. Mills said that despite her veto, she believes the state should begin planning for the potential impacts of large-scale data centers.
(Updates with legislative sponsor’s comments in eighth paragraph.)
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