Massachusetts is putting guardrails around big data centers. Governor Maura Healey, who's on the ballot in November, signed an executive order that requires developers to finance their own clean energy generation and get local approval before they can even apply for state construction permits. Skip the renewable power and the project pays into a new pot that benefits the state's electricity customers.
The order applies to any facility whose maximum electricity use tops 25 megawatts. Healey said Tuesday in Boston, "We can't have data centers coming in and taking energy away from the rest of us." Massachusetts has seen relatively little data center investment thanks to steep energy and real estate costs, and Healey said the state is moving now before interest accelerates. Progress on in-state renewables, including offshore wind, has been put at risk by President Donald Trump's opposition campaign against the technology.
In June, Healey also put a halt on new filings for the data center sales tax break she enacted in 2024 as part of a broader economic development package. She rolled out a voluntary playbook at the same time, much of which is now baked into the new mandate.
States are increasingly telling developers to shoulder the cost of the power and infrastructure these facilities require, and places like New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania have paused or tightened data center development amid local pushback. Oversight has drawn bipartisan interest: in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott halted new projects while the state conducts audits.
Last month, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro rolled out comparable guidance, mandating that developers supply their own power and that "an increasingly significant portion" come from clean resources like solar, advanced nuclear, and batteries. Healey's specific requirement to line up a clean power supply stands out, though other states are weighing similar steps.
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AI-focused data centers are front and center in this year's midterms, with voters worried about higher power bills, grid stress, water use, and job risks. BloombergNEF expects U.S. data center electricity demand to triple by 2035, spurring a rush to add generation. That has lifted solar and battery projects, which can be built faster than gas plants and nuclear facilities.
Healey's team is also trying to keep homegrown AI talent and lure AI companies. Earlier this year, she positioned Massachusetts as the first state to provide a ChatGPT‑powered assistant to its entire executive branch. She later held discussions with Anthropic PBC leaders at the firm's San Francisco HQ regarding their presence in Massachusetts and potential future partnerships.
Her Republican opponent, former medical device executive Michael Minogue, argued the state shouldn't court more data centers. Existing facilities, he said Tuesday, should be required "to provide energy support to the community and water purification in their operations."
For would‑be builders, the new hoopla is clear: line up clean power, secure local backing, or budget for payments into a ratepayer fund. That raises the bar for large projects and could steer demand toward faster‑to‑deploy options like solar and storage. If you're watching where the next wave of electricity spending and policy support may land, states drawing hard lines on data centers are pointing to the same place: cleaner, quicker power that can scale without breaking the grid.
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