An Act Regarding Energy, Utilities and Technology
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0307
Committee Amendment CA_A_HA_A_H969 (House)

HOUSE AMENDMENT " /\ " to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 207,
L,D, 307, "An Act Regarding Energy, Utilities and Technology"
Amend the amendment in section 1 in the 2nd line (page 1, line 17 in amendment) by
inserting after the following: "conh-aiy," the following; 'except as provided in section 3,'
Amend the amendment by inserting after section 2 the following;
'See. 3. Exemption for certain data centers. Notwithstanding any provision of
section 1 to the contrary, a proposed data center, as defined in section 1 and referred to in
this section as "the data center," is exempt from the provisions of section 1 if it meets the
requirements of this section,
1. Site restrictions. The exemption applies if, prior to the effective date of this Act;
A, The data center developer has entered into a binding lease or purchase agreement
and has demonstrated site control for the property on which the data center is planned
to be constructed or operated;
B. The property on which the data center is to be constructed or operated is a former
industrial site with existing electrical transmission and distribution functionality that
supported industrial or electric generation use and for which the data center developer
provides the results of a system impact analysis provided by the transmission and
distribution utility that served the site or, if applicable, ISO-New England, as well as
agreements with tlie transmission and distribution utility and, if applicable, ISO-New
England. As used in this paragraph, "ISO-New England" means the independent
system operator of the New England bulk power system; and
C. The data center developer has identified a maximum electric utility demand of 82
megawatts for the data center, supported by documentation provided to the Public
Utilities Commission, and the demand does not exceed the level evaluated by the
Public Utilities Commission pursuant to subsection 2 and may not be increased except
as provided in this section.
2. Determination by Public Utilities Commission. Upon the receipt of a filing by a
5 data center developer, the Public Utilities Commission shall conduct a proceeding and may
approve the data center only upon a finding, based on substantial evidence in the record,
including verification of compliance with subsection 1, that:
HOUSE AMENDMENT
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HOUSE AMENDMENT " A " to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H,P.207, L.D. 307
A, The data center will not result in material cost-sliifting to electric utility ratepayers;
B. All transmission, distribution, interconnection and related infrastructure costs
required to serve the data center are fully borne by the data center and are not recovered
through an. increase in rates on other utility ratepayers;
C. The data center will not materially adversely affect electric system reliability,
including peak demand impacts and regional resource adequacy issues;
D, The data center's projected water withdrawals, consumption and wastewater
discharge will not materially burden local or regional water supplies or wastewater
infrastructure;
E. Any natural gas usage associated with tlie data center, including on-site or backup
electric generation, will not result in infrastructure costs borne by other natural gas
customers; and
F, The data center's electric utility demand does not exceed the maximum level
documented pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph C.
The Public Utilities Commission may impose conditions necessary to ensure compliance
with this subsection. To the greatest extent practicable, the Public Utilities Commission
shall make a determination within 150 days of the effective date of the filing by the
applicant,
The Public Utilities Commission may assess a filing fee on a data center developer to cover
any costs incurred by the Public Utilities Commission, including but not limited to
consulting services associated with the proceeding required pursuant to this subsection.
Filing fees paid as required under this subsection must be segregated, apportioned and
expended by the commission for the purposes of this subsection. Any portion of the filing
fee that is received from a data center developer and is not expended by the commission
must be returned to the data center developer,
3. Limitation on expansion; filing fee. A data center for which approval was received
pursuant to subsection 2 may not increase its maximum electric demand beyond the level
approved by the Public Utilities Commission unless the commission, after notice and a
proceeding, determines that the data center continues to meet the criteria in subsection 2,
0 The Public Utilities Commission may assess a filing fee on a data center developer to cover
any applicable costs incurred by the commission, including but not limited to consulting
services associated with the proceeding required pursuant to this subsection. Filing fees
paid as required under this subsection must be segregated, apportioned and expended by
the commission for the purposes of this subsection. Any portion of the filing fee that is
received from a data center developer and is not expended by the commission must be
returned to the data center developer.
4. Construction timelines. An exemption granted under this section is void unless
construction of the data center commences within 12 months of completion of the Public
Utilities Commission review under subsection 2.
5. Limitation on financial incentive. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, the Department of Economic and Community Development may not approve a
municipal tax increment financing application for a data center that includes a credit
enhancement agreement for a data center developer or an employment tax increment
HOUSE AMENDMENT
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HOUSE AMENDMENT " /\ " to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 207, L.D. 307
financing application that includes a data center, The department may approve a municipal
tax increment program if the sheltered tax revenues generated by a data center are retained
by the municipality for statutorily permitted municipal uses.
A state agency or quasi-independent entity may not approve, award or disburse state-
funded financial incentives, tax credits, grants or loans for a data center under this section
during the temporaiy limitation established in section 1.
6. No segmentation. For purposes of this section, electric utility demand must be
calculated based on the total aggregated electric utility demand at a single site or contiguous
parcels under common ownership or control. The development of a data center may not be
divided into phases or affiliated entities to obtain the exemption provided by this section.
7. No establishment of precedent. An exemption granted pursuant to this section
may not be construed to establish precedent for the Maine Data Center Coordination
Council, convened pursuant to section 2, the Public Utilities Commission or any other state
agency in developing recommendations, policies or regulatory frameworks applicable to
data centers.
8. Approval by referendum. A data center that otherwise meets the requirements of
this section must also be approved by the voters of the municipality in which the data center
is proposed to be located by referendum election held in 2026.'
Amend the amendment by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or
section number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment exempts from the provisions of Committee Amendment "A" a data
center that, prior to the effective date of the legislation, meets specified criteria, such as;
1. The developer entered into a lease or purchase agreement for property on whicli the
data center is planned to be constructed or operated;
2, The property on which tlie data center is to be constructed or operated is a former
industrial site with existing electrical transmission and distribution functionality that
supported industrial or electric generation use;
3, Following the receipt of a filing by a data center developer, the Public Utilities
Commission finds, after a proceeding, that;
A. The data center will not result in material cost-shifting to electric utility ratepayers;
B, All transmission, dish-ibution, interconnection and related infrastructure costs
required to serve the data center are fully borne by ttie data center and are not recovered
through an increase in rates on other utility ratepayers;
C, The data center will not materially adversely affect electric system reliability,
including peak demand impacts and regional resource adequacy issues;
D, The data center's projected water withdrawals, consumption and wastewater
discharge will not materially burden local or regional water supplies or wastewater
infrastructure;
HOUSE AMENDMENT
HOUSE AMENDMENT " /\ " to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H,P. 207, L.D. 307
E. Any natural gas usage associated with the data center, including on-site or backup
electric generation, will not result in infrastructure costs borne by other natural gas
customers; and
F. The data center's electric utility demand does not exceed the maximum level
documented to the Public Utilities Commission;
4, Any expansion in electric utility demand is approved by the Public Utilities
Commission;
5, The data center is not included in a credit enhancing agreement for a tax increment
financing application or in an employment tax increment financing application. The
Department of Economic and Community Development is prohibited from approving such
an agreement. During the moratorium on data centers, state agencies and quasi-independent
entities are prohibited from awarding or disbursing any type of state-funded grant, fax
credit, incentives or loans;
6. The data center construction commences within 12 months of the completion of the
review by the Public Utilities Commission; and
7. The municipality in which the data center is proposed to be located approves the
data center by referendum held in 2026,
SPONSORED BY:
(Representative SAOHS, M.)
TOWN: Freeport
BISCAL NOTE REQUIBED
(See attached)
Page4-132LR152((08)
HOUSE AMENDMENT
Approved: 04/01/26
L-KL.
LD 307 LR 1521(08)
An Act Regarding Energy, Utilities and Technology
Fiscal Note for House Amendment ')^' to Committee Amendment "A" (H -
Sponsor: Rep. Sachs of Freeport
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Current biennium cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds
Current biennium revenue increase - Other Special Revenue Funds
Fiscal Detail and Notes
This amendment requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to apply additional review criteria to projects
seeking exemptions from certain data center limitations, Implementation of this requirement would require formal
proceedings or the use of contracted consulting services, depending on the scope and complexity related to the
exemption request.
The amendment also authorizes the PUC to assess filing fees to recover costs associated with additional proceedings
and consulting services. To the extent such fees are assessed, they may offset all or part of the associated costs. The
frequency of additional proceedings, the extent of consulting services needed, and the level of cost recovery through
filing fees cannot be determined at this time.
LR1521(08) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1