Local Maine officials look to pause data center development after state moratorium veto
Expedient, a data center that has operated since 2021, is seen in Centennial, Colorado, on May 12, 2025. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
After a statewide moratorium on data centers failed to make it across the finish line at the Maine Legislature, local officials are pursuing their own bans.
This story was originally published by Maine Morning Star.
After a statewide moratorium on data centers failed to make it across the finish line at the Maine Legislature, local officials are pursuing their own bans to buy time to consider the potential impact of the industry — and in some cases, the local proposals are even stricter.
On Tuesday evening, the Sanford City Council voted to institute a 91-day pause on data center development, stalling a proposal for a 1,000-acre project along the Mousam River. One day prior, both Westbrook and Brunswick advanced proposed data center moratoriums. The Brunswick Town Council set a public hearing on the plan for June 1, and Westbrook’s housing and development committee agreed to send theirs to the full council next month.
The local developments come after Gov. Janet Mills last month vetoed a bill that would have banned data centers larger than 20 megawatts until November 2027; and state lawmakers failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote to overturn that action.
“That left a lot of municipalities kind of talking about, ‘Okay, well, should we be doing something locally?’” said Westbrook Mayor David Morse at the committee meeting Monday.
Rep. Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport) sponsored the statewide ban and after the veto, urged municipalities to consider local moratoriums.
Sachs said Tuesday that while it is unfortunate that there’s no statewide approach to data center development, municipalities should “definitely should start looking at their own ordinances to decide — or have the conversation together around — whether they would like to welcome data centers or not.”
Sachs said she feels the state is at an inflection point on the issue and she’s glad communities are continuing to ask questions about these projects.
“Despite the veto, the one thing that this legislation did was bring the question to the forefront, so that communities are having this conversation, which I do not believe they would have had without the bill and without these projects coming out of the woodwork,” Sachs said, referring to previously undisclosed data center plans that became public during the course of debate.
Sanford City Manager Steven Buck said the city will establish a task force dedicated to reviewing concerns and making recommendations for municipal regulations for data centers, the Press Herald reported, including the pending Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus. The pause will remain until August 21.
Morse in Westbrook said he heard from other towns, including Scarborough, that are also looking into some form of moratorium. Morse introduced the Westbrook proposal, which would halt the siting, permitting, construction and operation of data centers — regardless of megawatt consumption.
The proposal will need to be approved by the Westbrook City Council and planning board before it goes into effect.
“And this process will wrap up, hopefully, with a clear defined policy on if Westbrook is going to consider data centers, where will that be, or potentially that data centers just don’t fit for our community,” Morse said.
Westbrook adopted a definition of data center in its land use ordinance in 2019, but Morse said the industry has changed a lot in recent years.
“I think there’s a lot happening around the word ‘data center’ and what data centers are,” said Councilor Jennifer Munro. “I think they’ve changed over the years, and I think putting a pause on it to make sure that everything that we’re doing continues to be in the best interest of Westbrook, while it’s still a hot topic around the nation, is a smart thing to do.”
Some councilors said they supported moving the proposal forward, but expressed hesitations over placing a moratorium on an entire industry.
Brunswick’s proposed moratorium incorporates the definition of a data center from the state bill, but, like Westbrook, goes further than the state’s proposed 20 megawatt cap. Councilors in Brunswick amended the plan to include any data center larger than one megawatt.
Brunswick currently has a data center — though it does not power artificial intelligence, as many new proposals would — that would not be affected by a moratorium.
Brunswick town councilors on Monday called the proposal an “essential” protection for the town.
“My perspective on this is that it’s a travesty that the governor vetoed this, and what we’re doing as individual towns is kind of a stopgap until the Legislature can get back to making this more of a statewide thing,” said Councilor Richard Ellis.
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