House narrows data-center moratorium, rejects narrow carve-out for Jay project
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Summary
Lawmakers debated LD 307 and a floor amendment that would have allowed certain projects to proceed under Public Utilities Commission review. A floor amendment (HD-969) seeking a carve-out for the Jay mill reuse failed 29–115; the House adopted committee amendment A and approved the bill on a separate roll call (82–62) and ordered it sent to the Senate.
The House spent several hours debating a proposed moratorium and guardrails for data-center development in Maine and a contentious floor amendment intended to give a path forward for a specific adaptive-reuse project in Jay.
Representative Virgil, who said he had consulted with local officials, described the Jay project and told colleagues the development team had "lined up a client" to invest in the site; in floor remarks he said, as stated in the debate, "a client who will invest a half $1,000,000,000." The floor amendment (HD-969) would have allowed some projects to proceed if the Public Utilities Commission found minimal grid impact and viability.
Opponents argued the amendment unfairly favored a single community. Representative Boyer said the measure should be "all or nothing" and said he would not support a carve-out for one town. Representative Lieven and others said rural communities need protections and that the amendment left many towns at a disadvantage.
On a roll call the House rejected the floor amendment, 29–115. The chamber then adopted committee amendment A on a separate roll call (82–62) and ordered the amended bill to be engrossed and sent to the Senate.
