A legislative push in Maine to enact the country’s first statewide data center moratorium failed after lawmakers could not override Gov. Janet Mills’ veto.
The moratorium would have temporarily banned large-scale data center development, banning data centers larger than 20 megawatts until November 2027.
Blue State Passes Nation’s First Ban On Large Data Center Projects, Bill Goes To Governor’s Desk
The Maine House of Representatives failed to gain the two-thirds majority required to override the governor's action.
Maine Morning Star explained further:
But despite the vote, supporters of the bill made clear that this would not be the final debate over data centers in Maine.
ADVERTISEMENT“I want to close today with a warning to the friendly corporate lobbying crew in the hallways and in the balcony who have maneuvered us into this position today: This is not over,” said Rep. Daniel Ankeles (D-Brunswick).
The bill would also have created the Maine Data Center Coordination Council to assess policy tools for regulating data centers, but Mills signed an executive order Wednesday creating a version of the council.
The 15-member group will make recommendations on large-scale data center development. Mills also directed the Department of Energy Resources to identify and implement ways to protect ratepayers from energy costs resulting from data centers.
Outside the chambers, supporters of the moratorium lined the State House hallways to urge lawmakers to override the veto.
“No one could have listened to that debate and not voted to override,” said Topsham resident Neal Gabler, referring to the robust discussion in the House chamber.
“Well, we know what the hurry is,” Gabler said. “There’s money to be made here, and it’s not going to be made by the people in Jay,” referring to the location of a proposed data center project that the governor had said she wanted carved out of the temporary ban.
Maine’s legislature passed a first-in-the-nation moratorium on large data centers in April 2026.
Governor Janet Mills vetoed it, and lawmakers failed to override, so the pause never took effect.
The core concern: power-hungry, secretively negotiated data centers competing for… pic.twitter.com/NV8jn6OScZ
— Localize - Farmers Market (@Localizefoodapp) May 27, 2026
Meanwhile, Mills signed an executive order to establish the Maine Data Center Advisory Council.
"The Council will make recommendations on large-scale data center development in Maine to protect ratepayers, maintain electric grid reliability, minimize environmental impacts, and enable responsible economic development," a press release read.
"In addition, the Governor's order also directs the Department of Energy Resources, in coordination with the Maine Public Utilities Commission, to identify and implement ways to protect ratepayers from new, or increased, energy costs resulting from data centers to the extent permissible under law," it continued.
"It is necessary, important and urgent that the State plan for potential impacts of large-scale data centers on our state, given the serious conversations about them here and around the country. Through this order, this work starts today," Mills said.
"I look forward to this Council's work to examine the serious questions and concerns about data center development in Maine and provide recommendations about how best to protect our environment and ratepayers while providing for responsible economic development that benefits communities," she added.
More from the press release:
Last week, Governor Mills vetoed LD 307, An Act to Establish the Maine Data Center Coordination Council and Place a Temporary Limitation on Certain Data Centers, which would have established the Council while also instituting a moratorium on data center projects. The Legislature sustained the Governor's veto today.
In her veto letter, the Governor said she supports a temporary moratorium on data center projects and would have signed LD 307 if it included an exemption for a project now underway at the former Androscoggin Mill in Jay.
A 2020 boiler explosion at the Androscoggin Mill -- followed by the mill's closure after the departure of Pixelle Specialty Solutions in 2023 -- eliminated hundreds of good-paying jobs and dealt a significant blow to the local economy. At the time of closure, the mill accounted for an estimated 22 percent of the Town of Jay's tax base. In recent weeks, the Town of Jay, the Franklin County Commissioners, and the regional Chamber of Commerce have written to Governor Mills in support of the project.
