Global Capital

Massachusetts puts data centres above 25MW under local approval and bans state NDAs with developers

2026-09-08 · part of The Backlash Prices In

What happened

Governor Maura Healey signed an executive order requiring data-centre projects above 25MW of peak demand to secure local community-benefit agreements before state permitting, and barring state agencies from signing NDAs with developers. The NDA ban is the sharper half: the secrecy agreements that have let siting proceed without disclosure are what local opposition has organised against elsewhere. It builds on a June 2026 clean-energy and cost-recovery framework. (WBUR)

Sources 1

WBUR wbur.org unrated

Credibility ratings combine two public datasets: Lin et al. 2023, PNAS Nexus 2(9):pgad286 (CC BY 4.0) for the domain-quality score, and Wikipedia's perennial-sources list (CC BY-SA 4.0) for the reliability tier. A rating describes an outlet's general record, never this particular article. Unrated means absent from those datasets — not a judgement.