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WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - Maine lawmakers have passed a bill that could make it the first U.S. state to put a moratorium on new data centers as opposition to the electricity-hungry facilities grows across the country over their impact on household energy bills and the environment.
The bill, which still needs final approval from Democratic Governor Janet Mills, would 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.
The bill passed the House 79-62, clearing the Senate 21-13 later the same day. Governor Mills' office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Tuesday.
Mills has insisted on an exemption for a smaller-scale project that has been under development, which reuses existing infrastructure that would not have a major impact on the electric grid or energy bills.
Maine will serve as a test case for other states that have been debating similar measures. So far, 11 states are weighing legislation that would halt or restrain data center development.
Following strong backlash against data center proposals by Big Tech firms, the Trump administration last month got those companies to sign a voluntary pledge at the White House that they would bear the cost of new electricity generation to power their data centers.
While the question of how to handle the explosion of data centers does not fall under party lines, two Democratic lawmakers - Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - last month introduced legislation to halt all construction on data centers until Congress passes AI safety legislation.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal have also introduced legislation aimed at protecting ratepayers from data-center-related energy bill spikes.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
