Democratic Maine governor vetoes first US state freeze on new datacenters

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.