Maine Gov. Janet Mills Says No To Ban On Data Center Construction

Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a hallmark measure precocious Friday that would person halted nan building of ample information centers successful nan New England authorities for 18 months.

The politician was debating whether to motion nan bill, fto nan measure go rule without her signature aliases veto nan authorities aft nan authorities Legislature passed nan rule past Tuesday. The measure was nan first information halfway moratorium successful nan federation to successfully make its measurement done some chambers of a authorities house.

“I judge it basal and important to analyse and scheme for nan imaginable impacts of large-scale information centers successful Maine, arsenic nan usage of artificial intelligence becomes much widespread,” Mills wrote successful a property merchandise Friday. Yet Mills said that she would veto nan measure owed to its nonaccomplishment to let a information halfway task successful Jay, Maine, to spell ahead. Jay had been deed pinch nan closure of a insubstantial mill successful 2023 that wiped retired respective 100 jobs.

“This task — which is now nether statement and which has received respective permits — is expected to create much than 800 building jobs, astatine slightest 100 high-paying imperishable jobs, and would lend important spot taxation gross to nan Town of Jay,” Mills wrote successful nan property merchandise announcing her decision.

Mills had told NBC News past Friday that she was reviewing nan measure carefully, voicing hesitations astir nan absence of a carve-out for nan Jay project, which she said needed nan economical boost.

The two-term politician is moving for nan U.S. Senate and locked successful a tight Senate superior race pinch progressive rival Graham Platner, who said successful an question and reply past week that he believes she should motion nan bill.

Data centers — fundamentally warehouses afloat of precocious computers, networking exertion and retention instrumentality — supply nan computing infrastructure needed to powerfulness AI systems and cloud-computing services.

Sponsored by authorities Rep. Melanie Sachs, nan measure would person prevented nan building of immoderate information halfway requiring much than 20 megawatts of powerfulness for nan adjacent twelvemonth and a half. Gov. Mills had unsuccessfully attempted to unafraid an objection for nan Jay information center.

Many authorities and national policymakers are progressively captious of information centers, arsenic much Americans sour connected nan accelerated improvement of powerful AI. In a caller NBC News poll, only Iran and nan Democratic Party were viewed little favorably than AI.

Opposition to information halfway building has emerged arsenic a uncommon bipartisan issue successful caller months, pinch information halfway bans projected successful states for illustration New York, Oklahoma and Georgia.

Opponents person cited nan spiking power bills and potential labor-market impacts of precocious AI systems arsenic reasons to artifact nan building of caller information centers. A highly cited December 2024 study from nan Department of Energy recovered that information centers consumed 4.4% of America's power proviso successful 2023, pinch nan proportionality slated to emergence to up to 12% by 2028.

AI skepticism has besides triggered immoderate national efforts to reign successful information halfway construction. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., proposed a national moratorium connected caller information centers successful precocious March.

Despite this clouded position of AI, nan world AI manufacture is set to walk almost $3 trillion connected information centers and related infrastructure done 2028.

Platner, a governmental novice who did not person a domiciled successful crafting nan bill, called it a “band-aid” and said location must beryllium national standards for AI which incorporated labour protections.

“It’s only an 18 period thing,” he said successful an question and reply successful nan municipality of York. “My biggest problem pinch information centers and AI is that it’s very clear that AI is coming. And successful each infinitesimal successful quality history wherever a new, transformative exertion arises that increases productivity erstwhile it’s near successful nan hands of firm power, it is ever utilized to disenfranchise people. It is ever utilized to, frankly, effect workers negatively.”

The victor of nan superior betwixt Mills and Platner will return connected Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, whose run didn't respond to a petition for remark connected nan information centers bill.