Massachusetts is to require large data centres to secure their own clean power, under an executive order signed by Governor Maura Healey as opposition to energy-hungry developments grows across the US.
Projects with peak demand above 25 megawatts will have to provide power that meets the state’s clean energy requirements. Developers will be expected to generate it on site where possible, or fund new generation nearby.
Those unable to do either will have to pay into a fund intended to protect electricity customers from higher costs linked to data-centre demand.
The order directs communities to avoid signing non-disclosure agreements with data-centre developers, potentially increasing public scrutiny of proposed sites. It also pauses applications for a sales tax exemption for data centres, which came into effect last month, while state regulators put the new restrictions in place.
Massachusetts’ clean power requirement does not mean that every unit of electricity used by a facility must come from renewable sources. The state’s existing clean energy standard requires an increasing proportion of electricity to come from approved sources, including wind, solar and hydroelectric power.
By 2030, those sources must account for at least 40 per cent of the total under the standard. The required share varies from year to year and is scheduled to rise over time.
The move marks a sharp change in approach from the incentives that US states previously offered to attract technology companies and data-centre operators. Facilities that support cloud computing and artificial intelligence can bring investment and jobs, but they also place heavy demands on electricity grids and local infrastructure.
Massachusetts is the third state in as many months to announce measures aimed at limiting or scrutinising new data-centre construction.
In August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said new facilities would have to undergo audits by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the state’s grid operator, ERCOT. The previous month, New York’s governor halted construction of new data centres with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more.
The measures come as politicians face increasing pressure from residents concerned about electricity bills, land use and the environmental impact of large computing facilities.
Technology companies and their supporters have begun campaigning in response. Leading the Future, an artificial-intelligence-focused super political action committee backed by Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and Greg Brockman, is buying advertisements in battleground states ahead of the US midterm elections.
