Maine Legislators Pass First Data Center Moratorium; Governor Janet Mills Faces LD 307 Decision

Across the United States, communities are pushing back against “resource-draining data centers being built to fuel artificial intelligence and crypto ventures,” and Maine has become the focal point of the fight over how fast the state should allow large facilities.

In Maine, state legislators “recently passed a first-in-the-country statewide moratorium on large data centers,” and the bill is now headed to Governor Janet Mills’s desk.

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Democratic state Representative Melanie Sachs, who sponsored the bill, said “Maine residents are concerned about the impacts of data centers on both their electric rates and other utility rates, as well as on our wonderful environment,” and she described developers as operating in “complete secrecy.”

Sachs said the bill is designed to “give legislators time to develop regulations around new data center construction,” while also creating a temporary pause.

The Democracy Now! interview frames the moratorium as part of a broader national push, noting that “Last month, Vermont’s independent Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced legislation to impose a national moratorium on new AI data center construction.”

In the same program, Sachs said the bill responds to a state AI Task Force report that “came out in fall of 2025,” and she emphasized that the report recommended both attention to residents’ concerns and a regulatory “playbook.”

The Independent Women’s Forum account adds that Governor Mills has said she is undecided because there is “not a carveout for a particular data center she wants,” and it identifies the bill as LD 307, setting a “temporary moratorium—through late 2027—on data centers over a 20 megawatt (MW) load.”

The moratorium bill at the center of Maine’s debate is LD 307, and multiple outlets describe it as a targeted pause tied to a specific size threshold.

The Independent Women’s Forum says LD 307 “sets a temporary moratorium—through late 2027—on data centers over a 20 megawatt (MW) load,” while also arguing that the “bill casts a wide net” that could affect more than AI.

AP News

WGME likewise describes the governor’s decision as a deadline that “could make or break plans for a multi-million-dollar data center in Maine,” and it says the governor has until Saturday to “veto or sign a one-year moratorium.”

WGME also reports that if Mills signs, it would “slash plans for a $550 million data center set to go into part of the former Androscoggin Mill,” and it identifies the Jay project as the key local test case.

Maine Morning Star, in a report dated April 22, 2026, says the bill “bans data centers larger than 20 megawatts until November 2027,” and it adds that the bill “creates a Maine Data Center Coordination Council to assess policy tools for regulating data centers.”

That same Maine Morning Star piece quotes experts who argue the moratorium’s effect depends on what happens after the pause, with Arjun Krishnaswami saying that “If you’re a tech company who wants to build a data center in the state, and there’s a moratorium to 2027 and then uncertainty on what the policy will get after that, it’s going to make it hard to do the sort of gritty work required to get a project built in 2028 or 2029.”

Costa Samaras frames the policy as a test of whether governments can evaluate ratepayer, grid, and environmental impacts before approving large loads, saying Maine is asking “What does it mean for rate payers, the grid, the environment and host communities?” and that “Maine is running an experiment.”

The debate over Maine’s moratorium is shaped by sharply different voices arguing about both the scale of the energy issue and the economic consequences of pausing construction.

In WGME, Franklin County Commissioner Tom Saviello urged Governor Mills to veto the moratorium, saying, “It’s so disappointing to me as a former legislator to watch them put this moratorium in place,” and he tied the decision to local jobs after “the paper mill in Jay exploded.”

Saviello said the data center would “hire about 800-1,000 people to work inside the machine rooms,” and he added that it would “hire another 100-125 local people to work there,” while also describing the proposal as a response “six years after the paper mill in Jay exploded.”

Rep. Melanie Sachs, the bill’s sponsor, told WGME that the legislation will create “a council to study potential financial, environmental and community impacts from data centers,” and she said the pause is meant to “get it right,” adding, “So a temporary pause to get it right felt like the right course of action for Maine.”

In Democracy Now!, Sachs described the bill as a way to build a regulatory framework, saying the council would include “state agencies, rate payer protectors, environment, tribes, municipalities,” and she said it would “put together a collaborative council” while pausing development.

The Independent Women’s Forum account quotes Mills’s stance from NBC News, saying “It’s on my desk. I’m going to read it. Read it very carefully,” and it also reports that Mills “had already expressed publicly concerns for the project that’s proposed in Jay, Maine.”

Maine Morning Star adds expert voices, with Arjun Krishnaswami arguing that uncertainty after the moratorium could make it “hard to do the sort of gritty work required to get a project built in 2028 or 2029,” while Costa Samaras says Maine is asking how large loads affect “rate payers, the grid, the environment and host communities.”

While the moratorium’s basic mechanics are consistent across reporting—LD 307, a 20 megawatt threshold, and a pause extending into 2027—outlets diverge sharply in how they characterize the policy’s purpose and likely impact.

Democracy Now! emphasizes environmental and consumer concerns, quoting Food & Water Watch that “a single large data center can consume as much energy as 2 million U.S. households,” and it highlights a national legislative push by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, including Ocasio-Cortez’s claim that “Congress itself has a moral obligation to stand with them and stop Big Tech from ruining their communities.”

CNN

The Independent Women’s Forum, by contrast, frames the moratorium as a broad restriction that could impede ordinary business and internet operations, arguing that “The bill casts a wide net that will affect far more than just artificial intelligence (AI) and could impede relatively commonplace internet and business operations.”

WGME and Maine Morning Star focus on the governor’s decision and the Jay project as the immediate test, with WGME describing the deadline as “just days away” and Maine Morning Star describing “all eyes are on Mills as she considers whether to sign the bill — without the exemption process she wanted — or veto it entirely.”

The Commercial Observer article shifts the debate to trust and governance, asserting that “The industry is hitting a wall built on eroded trust,” and it argues that “The real issue is not whether data centers should be built. It is how they are being built, and who is included in that process.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner takes an explicitly pro-development stance, calling the moratorium “Maine's idiotic moratorium on data centers,” and it argues that “Blocking their development risks undermining economic growth, weakening national competitiveness, and distorting energy policy.”

Even within the pro-moratorium framing, Democracy Now! and Maine Morning Star differ in emphasis: Democracy Now! foregrounds the Earth Day context and the energy/water concerns, while Maine Morning Star foregrounds uncertainty about what happens after November 2027 and how that affects project timelines.

The next phase of Maine’s data center fight centers on Governor Janet Mills’s deadline and the practical consequences for projects and for the state’s approach to regulating large power demand.

“The Data Center Debate Is Missing the Point The fastest-growing asset class in real estate is running into its first real constraint”

Commercial Observer

WGME reports that “Governor Janet Mills has until Saturday to veto or sign a one-year moratorium,” and it adds that “If Mills does not sign the bill or veto the bill by Saturday, it will automatically become state law.”

Commercial Observer

The Independent Women’s Forum similarly says Mills will need to decide by “April 24, 2026,” whether she will sign, veto, or allow the bill to pass without her signature, and it frames the decision around whether the state will allow the Jay project while restricting other localities.

Maine Morning Star describes the bill’s timeline as a ban until “November 2027,” and it emphasizes that the policy’s uncertainty after the moratorium could affect whether projects are built in “2028 or 2029,” quoting Arjun Krishnaswami’s warning that uncertainty makes it “hard to do the sort of gritty work required to get a project built in 2028 or 2029.”

On the economic side, WGME’s Saviello argues the moratorium would block a $550 million plan and he says the data center would “hire about 800-1,000 people” plus “100-125 local people,” while the Independent Women’s Forum counters that the moratorium could impede investment and points to the creation of a “13-member Data Center Coordination Council” to examine environmental impacts and ratepayer impacts.

On the governance side, the Commercial Observer argues that “Without enforceable frameworks that define how costs, resources and benefits are shared, opposition will continue to grow,” and it says “Secrecy is not protecting projects. It is creating opposition.”

The Washington Examiner adds a national stakes argument, saying “at least 12 other states are considering moratoriums on data center construction,” and it warns that “Moratoriums are bad for state and local economies, and they harm national security.”