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L.D. 307 would have imposed the country’s first statewide moratorium on new data centers — lasting, in this case, until November 1, 2027.
Read full articleThe pushback comes after the local government in Newburgh, a town of roughly 1,500 people, shared a new town logo on social media asking for feedback, admitting that it was made using AI.
Janet Mills says moratorium would’ve been ‘appropriate’ if it didn’t interfere with ongoing datacenter project in Maine The Democratic governor of Maine on Friday vetoed a bill that would have made it the first US state to impose a moratorium on large new datacenters, even as local opposition to the electricity-hungry facilities grows. The decision reflects the difficult trade-off facing political leaders, who must weigh the impact of datacenters on the environment and household energy bills against the millions of dollars in investment and tax revenue they can bring. Continue reading...
Gov. Janet Mills said she rejected what would have been the nation’s first moratorium on data centers because it failed to exempt a project in a distressed mill town.
Massive data centers are rapidly being built all over the nation to provide computing power that tech companies need to train artificial intelligence or power other emerging technologies.
The legislation would require conversational chatbots to disclose to minors they are not human, or mental health professionals. It now needs just the governor’s signature to become law.
Closely watched legislation could provide a blueprint for others considering moratoriums
Bangor may fast-track an ordinance to pause data center builds for six months as the Maine state Legislature considers a longer freeze that would ban large centers for a year and a half.
