Gov. Janet Mills on Friday vetoed a bill that would have created a temporary statewide ban on large data centers.
The bill passed by the Maine Legislature earlier this month would enact an 18-month moratorium on new data centers that use more than 20 megawatts of power.
It would have made Maine the first state in the country to enact such a ban on the controversial facilities, which support cloud computing and artificial intelligence at the cost of large amounts of electricity and water.
Mills had previously voiced support for the bill, but asked for an exception for a proposed $550 million data center in Jay, citing the need for jobs in the former mill town.
The bill sent through by the Legislature did not include the Jay carve out, and on Friday, Mills reiterated her earlier position, calling the moratorium “appropriate given the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates” but objecting to including the Jay project, which she said would create more than 800 construction jobs and at least 100 high-paying permanent jobs while contributing to the tax base of a town which has struggled since the Androscoggin Mill closed in 2023.
