Massachusetts Mandates 100% Clean Energy for Large Data Centers

Massachusetts is tightening rules on digital infrastructure, requiring any new data center with a peak demand exceeding 25 megawatts to cover all of its electricity needs with clean energy.

Under an executive order signed by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, developers must supply their own renewable generation, with a state preference for on-site installations. Operators that cannot generate adequate power directly must finance local clean energy capacity or pay into a dedicated ratepayer protection fund. The directive also advises local municipalities to refrain from entering non-disclosure agreements with facility operators and temporarily suspends a state data center sales tax exemption enacted only last month.

While existing state regulations require standard industries to scale up renewable adoption over time, reaching a 40 percent threshold by 2030, the governor's office confirmed that data centers will face an immediate 100 percent clean energy requirement, as reported by TechCrunch.

The move makes Massachusetts the third state in three months to curb data center growth. In July, New York paused construction on projects rated at 50 megawatts or larger. In August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered all new facilities to submit to regulatory reviews by the state public utility commission and grid operator ERCOT.

The wave of state-level restrictions signals an abrupt end to the era when regional leaders competed to attract server farms with unchecked grid access and tax incentives. With artificial intelligence clusters pushing electrical grids to their limits and threatening higher utility bills for households, data center expansion has quickly turned into a volatile political issue for state governments.

The technology sector is organizing pushback. Leading the Future, a pro-AI political action committee backed by venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz alongside OpenAI president Greg Brockman, has started buying advertising in key states to shift voter attitudes ahead of the midterm elections.