Rhode Island Data Center Moratorium Tracker
Rhode Island has 1 data-center bill pending in the legislature. 5 city and county measures are tracked here, 4 of them in force. Every entry below links to its primary source: a legislature page, a governor's office, a local government, or the reporting of record.
State-level measures in Rhode Island
Every statewide moratorium, pause, siting restriction, or tax-incentive rollback in Rhode Island we can verify against a primary source. Strongest status first.
| Measure | Status | What it does | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7695Establishes property, tangible, sales and use tax exemptions as incentives for the location of qualified data centers in Rhode Island. | Proposed 2026-05 | Rhode Island H7695 (2026 Regular Session): Establishes property, tangible, sales and use tax exemptions as incentives for the location of qualified data centers in Rhode Island.. Last action 2026-05-07: Committee recommended measure be held for further study. | |
| HB 6476AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- QUALIFIED DATA CENTERS LOCATION INCENTIVE (Establishes incentives for property sales and use tax exemptions) | Failed / vetoed 2021-06 | Rhode Island HB 6476 (2021): AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- QUALIFIED DATA CENTERS LOCATION INCENTIVE (Establishes incentives for property sales and use tax exemptions for qualified data centers located). Last action 2021-06-25: 06/25/2021 Introduced, referred to House Finance. | |
| S2776Data-center grid-cost and water guardrails | Failed / vetoed 2026-06 | Would have required data centers of 50 MW or more to fund grid upgrades and report and limit water use. Held for further study and died in committee at session end, June 11, 2026. |
City and county moratoria in Rhode Island
Most of the movement is local, where a building pause or permit halt does not need a legislative session. 5 tracked measures in Rhode Island, each with its source.
Where Rhode Island stands
Across the whole tracker we hold 334 state-level measures in 49 states and 1253 city and county measures, against 1419 primary sources. Rhode Island accounts for 3 of the state-level measures and 5 of the local ones.
By total measures on record it is #41 of the 50 states and DC carrying any tracked action, and #39 by city and county measures alone. Ranking is by count of sourced entries in this dataset, so it measures documented activity, not the size of the buildout.
Sources for Rhode Island
7 citations behind the entries above. Each opens in a new tab.
- Statewide · H7695 — 2 separate measures, cited together status.rilegislature.gov →
- Statewide · S2776 — Data-center grid-cost and water guardrails webserver.rilegislature.gov →
- Charlestown — Zoning ban on data centers and battery storage progressive-charlestown.com →
- Cumberland — Zoning ordinance listing data centers as a prohibited use upriseri.com →
- Smithfield — Zoning ban on data centers in all districts oceanstatemedia.org →
- Westerly — Town moratorium on data centers through July 27, 2027 thewesterlysun.com →
- Hopkinton — Zoning amendment prohibiting data centers, hearing set upriseri.com →
What does bind large loads in Rhode Island
A moratorium is only one way a data center gets stopped. The grid operator decides whether it can connect at all, and on what terms. Rhode Island sits in 1 footprint.
Entire state in ISO-NE.
States next door
2 of the 2 states bordering Rhode Island have at least one data-center measure on record. Restrictions tend to travel between neighbors, so this is usually where the next one comes from.
Data centers in Rhode Island
The US Data Center Map identifies 7 facilities run by 3 operators in Rhode Island, each one placed from primary sources and listed by city and by operator, with the measures on this page beside them.
Open the Rhode Island data center map → · The US Data Center Map →
How to read this page
In force = a moratorium, siting restriction, or tax-incentive rollback that is currently enacted, by statute or executive order. Paused = a temporary hold on new incentives or applications. Proposed = introduced and still pending. Failed / vetoed = died in committee, was voted down, or was vetoed.
This page is generated from the same primary-sourced dataset as the national U.S. Data Center Moratorium Tracker and is re-checked on the same weekly cycle, whether or not anything changed. Legislative status changes quickly; it is informational, not legal advice. Spot something out of date in Rhode Island? Tell us.
Companion references: the Data Center Grid Operator Watchlist for the interconnection and curtailment rules that bind here, the Data Center Water Tracker for water mandates, and the Data Center Delay Watchlist for named projects.
Why Rhode Island is pushing back
The objections repeat from state to state: strain on the electric grid, water drawn for cooling, and the sense that a facility takes local resources without giving much back. SAVRN builds AI factories designed around those three objections: on-site power that does not lean on the public grid, direct-to-chip cooling that does not consume municipal water, and a training institute that puts local people to work inside the building.
See how a SAVRN factory works Talk to us about a Rhode Island site