Maine Is About to Become the First State to Ban New Data Centers

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/maine-data-center-ban-e768fb18

35 Comments

  1. borkborkbork99 on

    Let’s hope more states follow suit. AI data centers are a drain on our resources and a blight on our communities.

  2. Boring_Pair_982 on

    All states need to follow. The companies are already avoiding taxes, why should residents front the cost..

  3. I wish rather than banning a data center, legislate them to pay their fair share. No tax incentives. Make them pay for the energy/water infrastructure and upgrades at a cost that lowers the community’s energy bills. Make them have a program with local community colleges that has a path for work at the data center and fund it to prioritize local talent. Make it so they’re a net positive.

    This is coming from someone in this community. Some data center companies do this, but it should be a bare minimum requirement.

  4. Just-Grocery-2229 on

    Maine leading the way: ‘AI is fun, but our lights need to stay on too – getting too expensive.’

  5. It wouldn’t be Reddit if people actually read the article.

    This isn’t a long-term ban. It’s less than two years, to let them figure out how to manage future potential datacenter constructions without harming their own environment and residents. We’re never going to get rid of datacenters, we shouldn’t want to because they’re more than just AI, and that shouldn’t be the goal, but we damn sure need to stop just letting people do whatever they want to build them. Good on Maine for actually doing something without jumping straight to a blanket permanent ban like some are calling for.

  6. FlamboyantPirhanna on

    Are they actually trying to build data centres Maine? Or is this just performative?

  7. Is it really a surprise that people are turning on the technology when AI is the cited reason people are losing their jobs, is the reason people see increasing energy bills, and is often misused to create shit like deepfakes? The technology has potential to be a positive for society, but the people running the show are more interested in privatizing the benefits while socializing the costs, and people aren’t going to have it. Right now, AI is the most popular that it will ever be as things currently stand. If things continue as they currently are, expect to see more politicians take hardline stances against AI as popular opinion worsens. Proposed bans like these are only the beginning.

  8. Data centers aren’t just for AI. This is a bandaid reaction that will affect all websites and the internet as a whole.

  9. WNC_Hillbilly on

    Data Centers should be required to build and maintain their own, separate infrastructure, period!

  10. If Maine’s moratorium proves effective at protecting its grid without significantly hurting economic development, do you think other energy-constrained states will follow with similar legislation before the end of 2026?

  11. Neither_Cap6958 on

    It’s not just AI centers, it’s any data center of 20MW of electrical draw.

  12. Wait till the investor bubble bursts on these data centers. Did no one remember large rooms full of big computers being replaced by desktops? Hell, you can download an open-source LLM to your run of the mill PC and do AI at home now.

  13. thursdaynovember on

    its a temporary ban until november of ’27. still good but hopfully gives Maine enough time to create longer lasting legislation

  14. FinancialJet on

    That’s why they force the shorts to loop and not just auto play to next one, so you use more data. Think about it, they’ll phase everything out, then at birth we’ll be paying data center fees to do anything, drive a car, wipe your ass robo toilet, eat food robo AI robot made or currated shopping grocery store experience.

  15. TangerinePlastic7552 on

    Maine got the memo that data centers can have their own power generators which they can sell surplus to the grid, right?

  16. DISCONNECTlE on

    Let em all be built in Alabama and rural Texas where they goon for this stuff.

  17. While this is probably a good move for them given the current situation, China is going to eat us alive.

    We need to get our sht together.

  18. nifty-necromancer on

    I really want Michigan to ban them as well, Nestle is already stealing our Great Lakes water.

  19. atreeismissing on

    Good on them, also, Maine is fairly small compared to most states which is why there isn’t a lot of room for data centers.

  20. I don’t understand why they don’t charge the companies for the electricity they use and not the other users?

  21. “We want the benefit but not the burden.”

    I’m all for reigning in data centers but if we go state-by-state like this then those states should be restricted to only using the data centers within their state going forward.

  22. I am not a fan of banning things outright. Why not set rules to require data centers to pay their share for infrastructure upgrades which could, perhaps, even lower electricity costs for households.

  23. dookieshoes97 on

    My first week in my new apartment, I only ran my tv. I used the LED desk light when necessary, but sparingly. My bill for that week was $12.79. That’s over $50/mo just to watch tv and power the wifi.

    I can’t imagine how expensive it is for normal people who use lights, let alone in something bigger than a single bedroom apartment.

  24. The_RabitSlayer on

    First off didnt read the article. But it shouldn’t be outright bans, it should just make them supply their own power source.