Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

gadgetreview.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 464 posts

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#121

Post by themafia »

lbarrow wrote: post #17

For people who support this kind of ban, I'd ask if you would support a similar ban on new factories for, say, car parts. Like data centers, factories use a lot of power -- which drives up electricity bills -- and their construction can have local environmental impacts. Data centers have a reputation for not providing too many local jobs, but modern factories are often highly automated and also don't provide too many…

> For people who support this kind of ban

I support the ability of local jurisdictions to create laws that are intended to benefit it's citizens. If that means banning a particular new and pernicious development in their borders, then yes, of course I support that.

> would support a similar ban on new factories for, say, car parts.

Has anyone actually done that?

Do you support a ban on tobacco? If yes, then what's different about your desire for this type of ban?

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#122

Post by chris_va »

The actual language (I think): https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=H...

It explains the intent (to protect consumers/grid from price changes and fluctuation), and bans 20MW+ loads. They forgot to define load, so a behind-the-meter datacenter (zero net load on the grid) still would likely not get permitted even though it does not violate the intent of the law, which is a bit odd.

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#123

Post by tacostakohashi »

taormina wrote: post #69
tacostakohashi wrote: post #10

This is a big win for the progressive community. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/25/datacenters-... Nice to see some success for their ideas.

If they think this is progress, I call that a catastrophic failure. The other party has nearly started WW3, but let’s make sure that a state no one wanted a data center in can’t have one. Great strides for the progressive community. A single non-win.

The progressive community is not about progress, it's about being progressive.

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#124

Post by carefulfungi »

Bratmon wrote: post #56
km3r wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just require factories /data centers invest in solar/wind/renewables to cover their power usage. Banning is so childish when there is easy solutions.

Mainers hate seeing wind and solar plants- they consider them to be a massive eyesore. The people of Maine won't consider "We'll build something you don't like but we'll offset it by building something else you don't like" as a compromise.

Of course Mainers aren't monolithic...

https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2026-04-07/maine-legisla....

https://www.maine.gov/energy/initiatives/renewable-energy/so...

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#125

Post by ainch »

irishcoffee wrote: post #110
ainch wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carbon offsets are a sham, but you could just require them to directly pay for the actual energy infrastructure required. If you need 1GW of electricity, develop 1GW of solar.

Surely you realize that building the infrastructure and driver of the 1GW provider would be, hopefully, carbon neutral?

Sorry, I'm not picking up on the connection - could you expand? Do you think they should also pay for offsets alongside developing energy infrastructure?

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#126

Post by cma »

lbarrow wrote: post #17

For people who support this kind of ban, I'd ask if you would support a similar ban on new factories for, say, car parts. Like data centers, factories use a lot of power -- which drives up electricity bills -- and their construction can have local environmental impacts. Data centers have a reputation for not providing too many local jobs, but modern factories are often highly automated and also don't provide too many…

When a tech company builds an AI training datacenter in Alabama, does the model they train there get counted as a created capital asset that they then pay taxes on in that state.

They'll owe some tax from apportionment formula that doesn't really cover the datacenter's contribution to the value of the created model I think, but maybe that's wrong.

A factory that produces physical goods gets more straightforwardly taxed, though they often pit states against each other to reduce it to near zero or negative for bringing jobs.

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#127

Post by bparsons »

lbarrow wrote: post #17

For people who support this kind of ban, I'd ask if you would support a similar ban on new factories for, say, car parts. Like data centers, factories use a lot of power -- which drives up electricity bills -- and their construction can have local environmental impacts. Data centers have a reputation for not providing too many local jobs, but modern factories are often highly automated and also don't provide too many…

Jurisdictions decline all sorts of developments when the proponent cannot demonstrate a sufficient public good.

Generation capacity is scarce at the moment, and governments have to decide if they would rather have affordable residential electricity or be home to the Grok anime slop generator.

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#128

Post by john_strinlai »

beastman82 wrote: post #76
slabity wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> modern factories are often highly automated and also don't provide too many local jobs. The factories in Maine employ thousands of people. Bath Iron Works alone has over 7k employees. The Lewiston datacenter that was planned to be built was expected to employ less than 30.

I'm guessing the population of Lewiston would welcome an employer of 30 jobs

imagine how many other 30-job employers could fit on the same land that the datacenter would take up.

a mcdonalds is probably 1% of the land and employs more than 30 people.

(the # of jobs angle is not the right approach if you are a proponent of new datacenters. there are much stronger arguments to be made)

Re: Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers

#130

Post by jph00 »

jeffbee wrote: post #26
9cb14c1ec0 wrote: post #4

I live in Maine. Commercial power is crazy expensive. I don't know why you would build an AI datacenter here in the first place. As an obsessive self-hoster, I've researched building one, and there is no universe in which it makes sense. New Hampshire and Massachusetts are so nearby latency-wise.

As has been repeatedly demonstrated[1], it is the presence of new, large consumers that drives down the cost of bulk power by amortizing the infrastructure investments. Maine voters are, of course, notorious bozos in this field, having voted in a plebiscite in 2021 to cancel the link to Quebec Hydro, which was already substantially completed. 1: For example LBNL's latest banger: Factors influencing recent trends in r…

"already substantially completed" isn't accurate. $450m of the eventual $1.65b cost had been spent at that point - so less than half.
Post reply on HN