Massachusetts orders new data centers to bring clean power

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order on Sept. 8 that puts real limits on new data centers. Any project over 25 megawatts is big enough to strain a local grid. It now needs the host community's sign-off before the state will even issue a permit. Developers also have to pay for their own clean energy and grid upgrades. They can no longer pass those costs onto everyone else's electric bill.

AI's data center boom is driving huge new electricity demand across the country. Utilities have been passing much of that cost onto regular ratepayers. Massachusetts is trying to flip that: build the power supply first, get the neighbors' buy-in first, then break ground. It's part of a wider pattern of states pushing back on who foots the bill for AI's power appetite.

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Will other states follow, or will developers just build where the rules are looser? An executive order isn't a law. It can be reversed by a future governor without a single legislative vote. For now, Massachusetts just made it harder for a data center to open without the neighbors' blessing.