Graded Light and tightening. 7 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
No large-load study, fee or own-power rule is in force; the 29 Apr 2026 order only tells the energy department to look for ratepayer protections.
The 29 Apr 2026 executive order directs a search for ratepayer protections and a council report by 29 Jan 2027, but no tariff or binding term exists.
More than a dozen towns hold 180-day pauses as of 22 Oct 2026, including Scarborough, Westbrook and Gorham in the Portland market, Bangor, and an Eastport ban.
LD 713, signed 23 Apr 2026, removes data centers from the business equipment tax exemption and the Dirigo program outright.
No water reporting, air permit or disclosure rule for data centers is in force.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
LD 713, signed April 23, 2026, removes data centers from the business equipment tax exemption and the Dirigo business incentive. The Legislature also passed LD 307, a moratorium on data centers above 20 MW until November 2027, but Governor Mills vetoed it on April 24 because it had no exemption for a $550 million project at the closed Androscoggin Mill in Jay, and the House override failed 72 to 65. By executive order she created a 15-member Maine Data Center Advisory Council and told the energy department to find ways to protect ratepayers. Towns have filled the gap: more than a dozen, including Bangor, Scarborough, Brunswick, Westbrook and Gorham, have 180-day moratoria, and Eastport banned large-scale data centers in September 2026. No large-load tariff or self-supply law was found.
The economic development department's study of data center incentives is due November 4, 2026 and the advisory council's strategy report, with any proposed legislation, is due January 29, 2027. Governor Mills is term limited, so a new governor and Legislature elected on November 3, 2026 will decide whether the moratorium returns. Local pauses keep spreading and renewing: Bangor extended its moratorium 8-0 on September 28, 2026 to about April 2027, Old Town adopted a six-month pause in its industrial zones on October 5, 2026, Bethel's began October 15, 2026, Saco's runs to November 28, 2026, and Bucksport and Buxton have measures pending. The Jay mill project's permit status was not checked.
No statewide moratorium, but 3 local pauses are in force as of 23 October 2026, in Bangor, Old Town, Statewide, towns. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Maine is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. Tax incentives removed; statewide moratorium vetoed; council reports January 2027. The outlook above says what is pending.
Maine sits in ISO-NE. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. Maine has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: LD 713, data centers removed from tax incentive programs.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Maine scores grid connection 1, power rates 2, siting and land use 3, tax treatment 5, permits and water 1, a mean of 2.4. The most regulated line is tax treatment: LD 713, signed 23 Apr 2026, removes data centers from the business equipment tax exemption and the Dirigo program outright.
7 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
The City Council voted unanimously on 5 October 2026 for a six-month moratorium on data centers in the city's industrial zones, retroactive to 8 September and expiring in March 2027 with a possible extension to June; other zones already bar data centers.
Source: bangordailynews.comA national tracker updated 22 October 2026 lists 180-day moratoria in Scarborough, Brunswick (1 MW and above), Westbrook and Gorham from June 2026, Paris from 28 September 2026, Bethel from 15 October 2026 and Eastport, which converted its August moratorium into a ban on large-scale data centers on 9 September 2026 after an underwater data center proposal. A separate tracker lists Saco (extended to 28 November 2026), Dover-Foxcroft (180 days from 28 September) and pending measures in Bucksport and Buxton. Sanford's 91-day emergency moratorium expired 18 August 2026.
Source: programs.comThe City Council voted 8-0 on 28 September 2026 to extend its 180-day moratorium, first adopted 13 April 2026, by another 180 days, to about April 2027.
Source: wabi.tvSigned April 29, 2026. A 15-member council will evaluate existing and proposed large data centers and report a strategy and any recommended legislation by January 29, 2027. The governor also directed the Department of Energy Resources to find ways to shield ratepayers from data center energy costs.
Source: mainemorningstar.comSigned April 23, 2026. Data centers no longer qualify for the business equipment tax exemption or the Dirigo Business Program, and the economic development department must report on data center incentives by November 4, 2026.
Source: stateside.comWould have barred data centers larger than 20 MW until November 2027. Vetoed April 24, 2026; the House voted 72 to 65 to override on April 29, short of two thirds.
Source: maine.govA $550 million data center redevelopment of the paper mill that closed in 2023 was the governor's stated reason for the veto; her veto message says the project is under contract, has received several permits and is expected to create more than 800 construction jobs and at least 100 permanent jobs, reusing existing buildings, water and electrical infrastructure.
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