Maine is poised to put legal teeth into the growing popular backlash to AI data-center constructions. A bill to ban new data centers outright until November 2027 passed the Democratic-controlled Maine House of Representatives last month and now moves to the state Senate, also under Democratic control, where it is expected to pass. Gov. Janet Mills, another Democrat, has indicated she supports the measure.
The goal of the bill is to give the state a chance to assess the impact of the data center buildout on the environment and utility prices in the state, according to the Wall Street Journal. Maine has some of the highest residential electricity prices in the country and lawmakers there are concerned that the expansion of the energy-hungry centers could further drive up prices.
Enactment of the Maine law could set off a chain reaction around the country. At least 10 other states, including New York, South Carolina and Oklahoma, have seen bills introduced to temporarily ban or restrict new data-center construction. In Ohio, a group of activists are gathering signatures on a petition to get a ban on new data centers onto the November ballot.
“I think Maine is the canary in the coal mine,” Anirban Basu, chief economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors, whose members who work on data centers, told the Journal. “Maine will be the first of many states to have such moratoria.”
Several local municipalities and counties have already imposed limits on new data centers. And last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) unveiled legislative proposals to temporarily pause data-center construction nationwide.
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Via https://www.pymnts.com/cpi-posts/maine-set-to-become-first-state-to-ban-ai-data-centers/
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