Maine may be the first state to impose a temporary ban on new large data centers

Where huge areas of land are acquired Expanding our AI data center across the USAt least one state hopes to slow the building boom after that Many protests and Invitations from politicians.

Tuesday, Maine lawmakers passed a bill It would put a moratorium on the construction of new data centers requiring more than 20 megawatts of power until October 2027. The moratorium would give the state time to determine the impacts of large data centers on the power grid, local utilities and the surrounding environment, Reuters reports.

The bill still needs approval from Gov. Janet Mills. Her office did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

As artificial intelligence continues to find its way into every part of our lives, data centers are on the rise — and getting bigger. Meta spends $27 billion To build a data center in Louisiana on an area of ​​​​more than 3,600 acres. Amazon spends $25 billion To build more in Mississippi. This is just a drop in the bucket.

However, the size of data centers is not the only concern. It’s also the huge amount of electricity they consume to run the centers and Water used to cool them.

Residents who live near data centers have it, too He complained about the noise And light pollution.

With the explosive growth, public anger has erupted from communities where data centers are still under construction, as well as from politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who She previously proposed a bill that would pause all data center construction. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley It also called for more transparency surrounding data centers.

If Governor Mills signs the bill, it could set a precedent for other US states grappling with how to regulate the rapid development of artificial intelligence education, especially since… The Trump administration has pushed to accelerate construction of data centers. Governor Mills has 10 days to make her decision.