Maine Governor Janet Mills has vetoed legislation that would have imposed the country’s first statewide moratorium on new data centre construction, blocking permits until November 2027 while a study council examined their environmental and energy impacts.
Mills, a Democrat currently running for the US Senate, said she would have signed the bill had it included an exemption for a locally supported data centre project in the Town of Jay. The absence of that carve-out led her to reject the measure despite expressing sympathy for its underlying concerns about electricity rates and environmental impact.
Democratic state representative Melanie Sachs, who sponsored the bill, warned the veto carried significant consequences for ratepayers, the electric grid, and Maine’s energy future. Several other states, including New York, have considered similar moratoriums amid growing public opposition to large-scale AI data centre development.
