Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Sept. 8, 2026, signed Executive Order No. 658, directing state agencies not to issue permits for data-center projects above 25 megawatts (MW) of peak electricity demand unless the project conforms to the state's Framework for data centers and has a community benefits agreement that meets state standards. Large AI and cloud data centers in Massachusetts now need the host community's approval, and a deal with it, before state permits move.
The order also bars state permitting agencies from signing non-disclosure agreements with data-center projects, except where the law already allows them. And it tells the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to set up procedures making sure covered projects buy enough electricity from new clean sources, ones that qualify under the state's Clean Energy Standard, to match what they use each year.
By Dec. 31, 2026, MassDEP must take steps to set up an alternative compliance payment for projects that fall short. The money will go into a Ratepayer Protection Fund meant to offset electricity supply costs for all electricity customers.
Healey's office presented the order as giving communities a veto and protecting electricity customers. It follows her June 25 pause on applications for data-center sales and use tax exemptions and the release of the Framework, which the order cites. The Framework expects developers to pay for energy infrastructure and clean power, protect water and public health, and keep communities involved in planning.
A news analysis published Sept. 11 says the 25 MW threshold applies to data centers built or expanded after Sept. 8. The order itself does not set the amount of the payment.
MassDEP has yet to set the payment level, and a municipal guidance document due in December could shape local negotiations. How the Department of Public Utilities' work on rates for very large electricity users, under related orders, will fit with reforms to the grid connection queue for projects above 25 MW is also unsettled.