The Data Center Divide
A policy snapshot ahead of the 2026 midterms. Mapping data center incentives, restrictions, and bans through legislation, regulations, and executive actions across all 50 states and 1,462 local jurisdictions.
Town of Lakeville
Mixed Data Center Policies
Massachusetts requires covered data-center projects above 25 megawatts to meet community-benefit and environmental safeguards for permits, while qualifying large projects can receive conditional tax breaks. Grid initiatives may support reliability, but their benefits are indirect; applications for the tax incentive are currently paused.
Rating and summary from Massachusetts statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for Town of Lakeville.
pending · Town of LakevilleLimits data centers to Lakeville’s industrial overlay district, requires a Planning Board special permit, and caps electrical load at 1 megawatt and water use at 22,000 gallons per day; the bylaw is pending state approval.Massachusetts Lakeville Data Center Siting and Utility-Use Restrictions (2026)
What this means
The measure would allow data centers only in the town’s industrial overlay district and require a Planning Board special permit. Its non-waivable limits of 1 megawatt of electricity and 22,000 gallons of water per day, plus possible operating conditions, would make most substantial data center projects very difficult to build or expand.
People behind it
- Lakeville Planning Board
Proposed the Data Center zoning amendments, sponsored the public hearing, and is designated as the special-permit-granting authority for Data Centers.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements12
A facility is classified as a data center if more than 25% of its gross floor area is devoted to server racks, stationary computing equipment, or related mechanical or electrical infrastructure, or if its primary purpose is housing and operating servers, regardless of floor-area allocation.
Data centers may be located only in parcels within Lakeville’s Industrial District that are included in the Marijuana & Data Center Overlay District.
Data centers are prohibited in all other zoning districts.
A data center requires a special permit from the Planning Board.
Data center special-permit applications must comply with the existing special-permit rules and any additional performance standards adopted by the Planning Board.
The Planning Board may impose operating conditions, including limits on electrical load, water usage caps, noise monitoring or reporting, restrictions on generator-testing schedules, and project phasing tied to demonstrated infrastructure capacity.
A data center’s maximum electrical load may not exceed 1 megawatt at any time, and the limit cannot be waived or modified by the permitting authority.
A data center’s maximum daily water usage may not exceed 22,000 gallons per day, and the limit cannot be waived or modified by the permitting authority.
Within five years after a data center special permit is issued, the Planning Board may conduct a compliance review of operational performance, infrastructure impacts, and adherence to approved limits.
After the five-year review, the Planning Board may modify permit conditions or require an amended special-permit application if material changes are proposed.
Failure to comply with approved operating limits or reporting requirements may result in enforcement under the zoning bylaw.
The amendment removes data-storage facilities as a permitted principal use in the Planned Special Purpose District, eliminating that by-right pathway for data-center development.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions2
Creates a Marijuana & Data Center Overlay District covering parcels in Lakeville’s Industrial District, allowing data centers to be located there while prohibiting them in other zoning districts.
Establishes a special-permit approval pathway for data centers, with the Planning Board designated as the permitting authority.
Sources
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