Maine Governor Janet Mills attends U.S. President Donald Trump’s working breakfast with governors at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 20, 2026. REUTERS
WASHINGTON, – The Democratic governor of Maine, Janet Mills, vetoed a bill that would have made it the first U.S. state to impose a moratorium on large new data centers, saying the move would have disrupted jobs tied to a project already underway.
Maine lawmakers had approved the bill last week, in what was seen as a test case amid growing local opposition to large facilities powering Washington’s AI race against Beijing.
The Maine bill aimed to freeze approvals for data centers requiring more than 20 megawatts of power until October 2027, while a state-appointed council analyzes their impact on the local grid, electricity bills, air and water.
A dozen other states are considering a moratorium on data centers. Here is the most recent list of U.S. states that have had bills targeting data centers introduced in their legislatures.
State | Bill | Description |
Georgia | HB 1012 | Bars counties and cities from issuing permits, licenses or certificates for the construction or development of new data centers until March 1, 2027, with an exception for approvals issued before July 1, 2026. |
Maryland | HB 120 | Prohibits the construction of new data centers unless the General Assembly enacts legislation related to co-location with new or existing power generation (including natural gas, nuclear or small modular reactors, or SMRs). |
Michigan | House Resolution 240 | A statewide moratorium that calls for a temporary pause on state incentives for data centers. |
New Hampshire | HB 1265 | Prohibits the construction of a new data center anywhere in the state for one year from the act’s effective date and forms a committee to study the environmental impacts of data centers. |
Minnesota | SF 4298 | Bars state and local governments from issuing permits for data centers until a year after the Public Utility Commission submits a report on data center development scenarios in the state. |
New York | S9144 | Imposes a statewide moratorium on permits for new data centers and directs the Public Service Commission to come up with a plan to minimize their impact on electricity and gas rates. |
Oklahoma | SB 1488 | Imposes a moratorium on building new data centers until November 1, 2029, and tasks the Oklahoma Corporation Commission with studying the impact on water supply, utility rates, property values and site locations. |
South Carolina | H 5286 | Bars state and local governments from granting permits, approvals or incentives for new data centers until January 1, 2028. |
South Dakota | SB 232 / HB 1301 | Sets a one-year moratorium on the construction or expansion of hyperscale data centers. House bill imposes a moratorium while also addressing cost/risk allocation tied to electricity usage by data centers. |
Vermont | S 205 | Creates a temporary moratorium through July 2030 while regulators study impacts and recommend a regulatory framework. |
Virginia | HB 1515 | Bars localities from granting final approvals for rezonings/special permits for new data centers until specified grid-interconnection conditions are met. |
Wisconsin | LRB-6377/1 | Creates a statewide moratorium on data centers by prohibiting the operation of a data center unless the legislature first enacts rules — such as a statewide planning authority and explicit bans on shifting data center energy and water costs onto residential customers. |
Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; additional reporting by Chris Thomas; Editing by Pooja Desai
