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2026 Maine Senate Race
Key developments
Massachusetts pauses data center tax incentive
The Massachusetts Municipal Association reported that Gov. Maura Healey paused acceptance of new data center sales and use tax exemption applications on June 25, just after the program launched last month. The administration also released a responsible-development framework requiring developers to fund needed energy infrastructure and clean energy supply, avoid cost shifts to ratepayers, protect water and wastewater systems, reduce diesel backup reliance where feasible, and provide labor and community benefits. Acadia Center’s Sarah Salkowski reported support for the pause as a step toward statewide data center policy.
Why it matters
Massachusetts is moving from incentive-led recruitment toward conditional approval tied to grid, water, public-health, and community protections.
Sources & driving stories
MASSACHUSETTS MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION
Massachusetts Municipal Association coverageACADIA CENTER · Sarah Salkowski
Acadia Center coverageHouse data center cost bill advances
Politico’s Josh Siegel reported that the Ratepayer Protection Act passed by voice vote amid a split inside the House Energy and Commerce Committee over whether to regulate data centers more aggressively. The bill would require states to consider a federal standard making large power customers cover 100% of new generation and transmission upgrades, though state regulators could reject it; Google, Microsoft, and the Data Center Coalition backed the approach, while Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and Food and Water Watch opposed it. Separately, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced H.R. 9442, the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, which would halt new AI data center construction or upgrades until Congress enacts broader AI safety, labor, community, and environmental protections.
Why it matters
Federal policy is shifting from general concern about AI power demand toward explicit fights over moratoria, cost allocation, and disclosure obligations.
Sources & driving stories
POLITICO · Josh Siegel
Politico coverageCONGRESS
Congress coverageTexas analysis finds 248 planned projects
The Texas Tribune’s Alejandra Martinez and María Méndez reported a new analysis finding at least 248 planned data center projects in Texas, on top of 335 existing facilities, using private datasets because the state does not publicly track developments. Nearly half of planned facilities are expected in unincorporated areas; North Texas accounts for 86 planned projects, Central Texas 56, and West Texas 45. ERCOT says large development projects have requested 439 gigawatts of capacity, about 89% from data centers, with many targeting 2030, while Gov. Greg Abbott has pushed utilities to prevent infrastructure cost shifting and proposed repealing data center tax incentives.
Why it matters
Texas is emerging as the clearest test case for whether grid planning, water policy, and local land-use authority can keep pace with AI infrastructure demand.
Sources & driving stories
THE TEXAS TRIBUNE · Alejandra Martinez and María Méndez
The Texas Tribune coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Michigan and Florida add guardrails
Michigan House Democrats introduced bills requiring cost responsibility, community benefit agreements, water guardrails, noise studies, NDA limits, labor agreements, and decommissioning funds, while Florida’s SB 484 takes effect July 1 with cost-of-service, reclaimed-water, foreign-control, and NDA provisions.
WORTH NOTING
Local moratoria keep spreading
Minneapolis approved a five-month pause on most data center projects, while Brookville, Pennsylvania, passed a unanimous 180-day moratorium after concerns that two prospective projects could use about 2.4 million gallons of borough water per day.
WORTH NOTING
Capgemini flags global grid bottlenecks
Capgemini’s new report, based on energy and data-center executive input across 21 countries, identifies aging infrastructure, permitting delays, interconnection timelines, weak reserve margins, and supply-chain pressure as major constraints on AI-driven load growth.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will ratepayer protections have teeth?
The federal Ratepayer Protection Act would require states to consider a cost-allocation standard, but regulators could reject it, leaving outcomes dependent on state-level implementation.
OPEN QUESTION
How much proposed load is real?
ERCOT’s 439 gigawatts of large-load requests far exceed near-term system capacity, and overbuilding around speculative data center queues could shift costs to customers if projects fail to materialize.