Maine Governor Janet Mills vetoed Friday the first moratorium adopted by lawmakers in an American state on the construction of large data centers, citing the lack of exemption for a local project. This veto comes as eleven other states are considering similar measures. The move comes amid increased criticism of the AI infrastructure boom and soaring electricity prices.
The law, passed in mid-April with bipartisan support, prohibited the issuance of permits for data centers with a capacity exceeding 20 megawatts in this northeastern state until November 2027. “A moratorium is justified given the impact of large data centers in other states on the environment and electricity prices,” acknowledged the governor in her veto letter. However, she justified her veto by the local legislature’s refusal to make an exception for a project converting an old paper mill in the city of Jay, a local investment of $550 million.
Governor Mills announced that she would establish an executive order commission to study the impact of data centers on the power grid, residents’ bills, and the environment, as outlined in the law but now without the permit freeze pending project reviews. Democratic representative Melanie Sachs, who initiated the bill, criticized the decision as “simply wrong” in a statement.
By vetoing the bill, Governor Mills “resists the will of a majority of Maine residents,” said the elected official, whose bill had garnered support from thousands of citizens concerned about rising electricity prices. The spending on constructing “data centers” in the US has doubled in two years, with projections for 2025 exceeding $60 billion compared to less than $7 billion in 2023, according to the professional data platform ConstructConnect.
Maine is one of the states with the highest increases in residential electricity rates in recent years, according to the US Energy Information Agency (EIA). In two cities in the state, data center projects were rejected at the end of 2025 by officials who criticized promoters for downplaying the extent of their water and electricity consumption, as reported by local media.
