The Maine Legislature returns today for a final session day; an override of Gov. Janet Mills's April 24 veto of the country's first proposed statewide data-center moratorium is possible but earlier roll calls did not show the two-thirds margin required. The Oklahoma State Senate unanimously passed HB 2992, the Data Center Consumer Ratepayer Protection Act, in an amended form that adds 60-day advance-notice and public-meeting requirements. And Virginia's House budget plan showed what conditional continuation of the data-center sales-tax exemption would actually require.
The Maine Legislature reconvenes April 29 for a final day of work, with the option of voting to overturn Gov. Janet Mills's April 24 veto of LD 307 — a bill that would have banned data centers larger than 20 megawatts in Maine until November 2027. An override requires two-thirds in both chambers; per Maine Morning Star reporting, earlier roll calls on the bill did not have that level of support. Mills wrote in her veto letter that a moratorium is “appropriate given the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates,” but said the bill “fails to allow for a specific project in the town of Jay that enjoys strong local support” — a reference to a $550 million data-center redevelopment of the former Androscoggin Mill, a brownfield site that closed in 2023. Mills also signed LD 713 one day before her veto, on April 23, excluding data centers from some state tax-incentive programs.
Bill sponsor Rep. Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport): "By vetoing this bill, Governor Mills isn't just rejecting the advice of her own task force — she is resisting the will of a majority of Maine people." Seth Berry, executive director of Our Power, said the group helped organize nearly 6,880 letters from members of the public to elected officials in support of the moratorium and added: "We believe Maine people will now take matters into their own hands, community by community, and we are confident that they will win."
Source: Kaitlyn Budion / Maine Morning Star.
The Oklahoma State Senate unanimously passed an amended version of House Bill 2992 — the Data Center Consumer Ratepayer Protection Act — sending it back to the House, where Rep. Brad Boles (R-Marlow) is the primary author. The bill requires “large load” users — including data centers, AI facilities, and cryptocurrency mining operations — to cover their share of electricity and infrastructure costs and directs the Corporation Commission to ensure ratepayers and local businesses are not paying unfair rates driven by these new users. The Senate version, amended by Sen. Grant Green (R-Wellston), adds transparency requirements: developers must give 60 days' notice before buying land, notify the Corporation Commission, county commissioners, and property owners within five miles of the site, publish that notice in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks, and hold a public meeting. More than 30 senators and representatives signed on as co-authors.
Sen. Grant Green, chair of the Senate Energy Committee: "This legislation makes it abundantly clear that all developments that would put significant strain on Oklahoma's electric grid must cover their own costs. Under no circumstances should Oklahoma families, farmers, ranchers and small business owners be left footing the bill." On the transparency amendment: "As data centers continue to spring up in rural Oklahoma, these transparency requirements ensure that farmers and ranchers aren't blindsided by a massive new development next door. Local landowners deserve to know what's going on and have a seat at the table before any land sales are finalized for these projects."
Source: Oklahoma State Senate, via States News Service.
The Virginia House version of the $212 billion state budget would preserve the 5.6% sales-and-use-tax exemption on data-center computer equipment and electricity but condition it on environmental requirements starting in July 2027. Operators would be barred from co-locating with carbon-emitting power facilities, required to purchase renewable energy certificates, required to use generators that don't release carbon emissions, and required to pledge to be as energy efficient as possible. The Senate version (Senate Bill 30, sponsored by Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth) would eliminate the exemption entirely, recouping what Virginia Mercury describes as an average of $1.6 billion in annual lost state revenue.
The 2024 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report on the data-center industry found that approximately half of the 50-jobs-per-data-center figure consists of contract workers — the finding behind the House plan's wage requirement that data-center jobs pay at least one and one-half times the locality's prevailing average wage.
Source: Virginia Mercury, via States Newsroom.
A pattern of pro-buildout op-eds is appearing this week across multiple papers and channels. An Indiana Capital Chronicle op-ed published this week compared data-center protesters to people "protesting air and running water" and described organized opposition as a "professional protester class." On April 28, the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader ran a piece by Peter Clark via the InsideSources syndication network arguing against permitting moratoriums. Today's Utility Dive carried an op-ed by Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, titled “Americans deserve facts, not fearmongering, about their electric bills.” The framing is consistent across all three: oppose moratoriums, defer to competitive-market structures, and characterize organized opposition as a small left-wing fringe — a framing the Oklahoma Senate's unanimous bipartisan vote complicates.
Sources: Indiana Capital Chronicle (via States Newsroom); Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader; Utility Dive.
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