The governor of Maine, Janet Mills, has vetoed a bill that halts the development of enormous knowledge facilities within the state till the autumn of 2027. Whereas the invoice passed both houses of the Maine’s legislature on April 14, and Mills has suggested she’d assist a short lived moratorium, the governor wished a invoice that may exempt an existing data center project in Jay, Maine.
The bill particularly blocked the development of information facilities that eat 20 megawatts of energy or extra and directs state companies and different entities to not difficulty permits until proposed initiatives fall underneath these power wants. Passing the invoice would additionally require the creation of a “Maine Information Heart Coordination Council” that may “present strategic enter, facilitate coordinated state planning issues and consider coverage instruments to handle knowledge middle alternatives and associated advantages and dangers to the State.”
Whereas Mills killed this try at knowledge middle regulation, she mentioned she would signal an govt order calling for the creation of a council just like the one proposed within the invoice. She additionally signed LD 713, a invoice that prohibits knowledge facilities from taking part in Maine’s enterprise improvement tax incentive applications.
Maine is much from the one state pursuing knowledge middle bans or momentary blocks. There are no less than 12 different states exploring related laws, like New York, the place lawmakers recently introduced a bill that may block the development of recent knowledge facilities for no less than three years. On the federal degree, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed a bill that may not solely create a moratorium on new knowledge middle development, but additionally any upgrades to present services.
Any need to decelerate AI improvement or the infrastructure that makes it potential runs counter to the calls for of tech firms, and the angle of the Trump administration, who’s actively encouraging quicker AI buildout within the US. President Donald Trump’s recent AI framework even known as for the method of constructing and powering knowledge facilities to be streamlined in March.
