Maine Becomes First to Issue Statewide Moratorium on Data Centers

Maine passed a moratorium on data centers that will last until November 2027 on Tuesday, sending it to the desk of Governor Janet Mills to be signed.

The Details: The bill would prevent state and local governments, as well as "quasi-governmental agencies," from issuing permits and create a new Data Center Coordination Council for studying the potential impact of the centers, according to The Portland Press Herald (Center bias). The House approved it 79-62 and the Senate 21-13. Gov. Mills has expressed concern that it doesn't include an exception for a data center planned for Jay, Maine, saying the people of the town "need those jobs." The bill would become the first statewide moratorium on data center development in the US, though many municipalities across the US have enacted them.

Pro-Data Center: The Wall Street Journal Opinion (Lean Right), which AllSides has observed as having a "pro-free market" bias, published many opinions from advocacy groups and business people supporting the construction of data centers recently. Several have come in the past week. Ross Connolly of the libertarian Americans for Prosperity, a think tank funded by the Koch brothers, published one titled "Maine Shouldn't Miss the Infrastructure Boom." Doug Kelly, CEO of the pro-AI advocacy group American Edge Project, published one titled "Maine's Moratorium Hinders Manufacturing." Peter Suderman of libertarian magazine Reason (Center) highlighted populist opposition to them across the spectrum but said it is an "incoherent" position.

Anti-Data Center: Kate Aronoff of The New Republic (Left) noted Maine's new moratorium and a Quinnipiac poll that found Americans hold a high level of concern regarding AI and a strong amount of bipartisan opposition to building data centers in their communities. She accused the US of "embarking on a state-sponsored spending-and-building binge for a technology that most people here think will make the world—and their lives—worse." Aronoff also noted controversial uses of AI including civilians using it for the generation of pornography and the Trump administration reportedly using it in its war effort against Iran.

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