Maine Governor Vetoes 1st Statewide Data Center Moratorium to Protect Jay Project
Updated
Updated · Rolling Stone · May 25
Maine Governor Vetoes 1st Statewide Data Center Moratorium to Protect Jay Project
8 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · May 25
Janet Mills last month blocked a bill that would have made Maine the first state to impose a statewide moratorium on data centers, saying it could derail a planned development in Jay.
Melanie Sachs, the Democratic lawmaker who introduced the bill, said residents wanted a pause—not a permanent ban—while Maine set rules after a 2025 state AI task force flagged energy and environmental risks.
7 in 10 Americans do not want a data center in their area, and opposition has spread across red and blue states as communities warn about higher power bills, heavy water use, pollution and limited job creation.
Hundreds of billions of dollars are flowing into AI, making new data centers critical to industry expansion, but the backlash is increasingly shaping campaigns from Virginia to Wisconsin and could become a voter litmus test.
With towns rejecting data centers, who decides where America's AI infrastructure gets built?
Can local communities afford the hidden environmental price of the nation's AI ambitions?
After the 20-Megawatt Moratorium Veto: Maine’s High-Stakes Debate Over Data Centers, Energy, and Local Control
Overview
In April 2026, Governor Janet T. Mills vetoed L.D. 307, a bill that would have paused large data center projects in Maine. Developers, including Sentinel Data Centers, were concerned about the bill, hoping for an exemption for the Jay project. However, the final version of the bill did not include any exceptions. Governor Mills stated her main reason for the veto was the lack of an exemption for Jay and urged the Legislature to support her decision. Before the veto, the Legislature had already passed a law removing some state tax breaks for data centers, leaving local municipalities to decide on incentives.