Multiple states in the U.S. are considering new bans on data center construction, with Maine or being the first to "break the ice."

Because the U.S. data centers facing construction difficulties caused by not being able to buy transformers and gas turbines have now encountered a new headwind— with midterm elections approaching, a legislative wave of “pausing construction of new data centers” is sweeping across states.

As the first “first-mover” state to “crack open the piggy bank,” Maine in the U.S. Northeast is expected to become the first jurisdiction to ban new large data centers. The state’s House passed a bill in March requiring that, by November 2027, data centers with specifications exceeding 20 megawatts (equivalent to the electricity supply for 15k households) be banned from being newly built, so the state can assess the impact of such development on the power grid and the environment.

The bill is expected to pass smoothly through the Maine State Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, and Democratic Governor Janet Mills has also said she supports the freeze measures with conditions. Her condition is that the freeze bill grants an exemption to a data center that is already planned locally.

A spokesperson for Mills told the media that the project is expected to bring urgently needed job opportunities, economic activity, and tax revenue to the local area. In the election at the end of this year, Mills will compete for a U.S. Senate seat.

There is no doubt that the rising pressure on the cost of living (electricity bills) brought on by the rise of artificial intelligence is becoming a major issue ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

Because they are concerned that data centers will further strain local power resources and drive up electricity prices, legislators in at least 10 U.S. states, including New York, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, are pushing similar policies. As one of the U.S. data center development hubs, activists in Ohio are collecting signatures in an effort to get a referendum banning the construction of data centers onto the November ballot.

In addition to state-level legislation, some municipalities and counties in Michigan and Indiana have already implemented freeze policies on their own. Major cities such as Denver and Detroit are also considering similar bans.

Although Maine’s legislation may run into obstacles during the amendment process, to some political operators, it is already a foregone conclusion that the state will implement some form of ban.

Tony Buxton, a lawyer at the Maine law and lobbying firm Preti Flaherty, said: “This is political reality; voters have a very strong fear of data centers and artificial intelligence.”

In recent weeks, towns such as Wiscasset and Lewiston in Maine had proposed new data center construction projects, but were forced to pause or fully cancel them after local residents opposed them.

Meanwhile, U.S. data center developers are also keeping a close watch on similar legislative developments. Tracey Hyatt Bosman, a site selection consultant who works with data center developers, said proposed regulations in places that would limit data centers are a “red alert,” and they are indeed restricting the range of locations where data centers could be sited.

At the level of the U.S. Congress, last month Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York unveiled a legislative proposal to temporarily pause data center construction nationwide.

（Source: Caixin Global）