Maine halts data centres

Maine lawmakers just moved to block a whole category of power-hungry buildings before most states have even figured out how to price them. The bill, LD 307, pauses permits for new data centers with electric loads of 20 megawatts or more until November 1, 2027. (legislature.maine.gov) That 20-megawatt line is not small. Maine’s amended bill says state agencies, municipalities, and quasi-independent state entities could not accept or issue approvals for a project at or above that size during the pause. (mainelegislature.org) The Legislature is not banning every server room in the state. It is targeting the kind of large campuses that can draw as much power as a small city and that have become the physical backbone of the artificial intelligence boom. (cnbc.com) Maine’s politics around this are simple to understand if you start with the electric bill. Federal data for January 2026 put Maine’s average residential electricity price at 30.73 cents per kilowatt-hour, versus 17.45 cents nationally. (eia.gov) Data centers are basically warehouses full of computers, and the newest artificial intelligence ones run day and night like a factory that never closes. The U.S. Department of Energy said data centers used about 4.4% of all U.S. electricity in 2023 and could reach roughly 6.7% to 12% by 2028. (energy.gov) The same Department of Energy report said U.S. data-center electricity use rose from 58 terawatt-hours in 2014 to 176 terawatt-hours in 2023. It estimated 325 to 580 terawatt-hours by 2028, which is why statehouses are suddenly treating server farms like power plants in reverse. (energy.gov) New England’s grid operator has tried to calm some of the panic. In a February 6, 2026 letter, ISO New England said no new large data centers had yet committed to construction in the region and said recent wholesale power costs there had not, to date, been driven by data-center development. (iso-ne.com) Maine lawmakers are acting before that changes. The bill also creates a Maine Data Center Coordination Council and tells it to report back to the Legislature by February 1, 2027 with recommendations on how the state should handle future projects. (maine.gov) Supporters say the pause buys time to decide who pays when a giant new user wants wires, substations, and generation built around it. Opponents told CNBC that even a short freeze could push developers and construction work to faster-moving states like Virginia and North Carolina. (cnbc.com) This is why Maine stands out. More than a dozen states have debated similar limits, but Maine appears to be the first to get a statewide moratorium on large new data centers through both chambers, turning a local zoning fight into a state energy policy test case. (businessinsider.com; cnbc.com) If the bill takes effect, the fight does not end in 2027. It just moves from “should we allow them” to “what rules, prices, grid upgrades, and exemptions should come first,” which is exactly the question Maine decided to answer before opening the door. (maine.gov; legislature.maine.gov)