Maine Public | By Peter McGuire Published February 16, 2026 at 8:38 AM EST
Maine lawmakers are considering a two-year pause on building large new data centers in the state.
State Rep. Melanie Sachs, D-Freeport, added the moratorium to her bill proposing a broad-based data center "coordination council" that would study benefits and risks of data centers in Maine and offer recommendations to local governments, utilities and state agencies.
"These data centers as we have seen in other states have impacts for grid resilience, they have impacts for environmental resources, so we just wanted to take a proactive approach and do it unlike any other state has so far," Sachs said in an interview.........................
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Maine lawmakers consider moratorium on new data centers
by Long Islander
4 hours ago
Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published February 16, 2026 at 8:38 AM EST
Maine lawmakers are considering a two-year pause on building large new data centers in the state.
State Rep. Melanie Sachs, D-Freeport, added the moratorium to her bill proposing a broad-based data center "coordination council" that would study benefits and risks of data centers in Maine and offer recommendations to local governments, utilities and state agencies.
"These data centers as we have seen in other states have impacts for grid resilience, they have impacts for environmental resources, so we just wanted to take a proactive approach and do it unlike any other state has so far," Sachs said in an interview.........................
Continue reading at https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2026-02-16/maine-lawmakers-consider-moratorium-on-new-data-centers
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Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.