DoomsdaysCWVote on #LD307 is today... #DataCenterMoratorium #Maine
No more #Maine #DataCenters for now, lawmakers say
Lawmakers advanced a measure that drew attention last month when one senator said it could kill a previously unannounced project in Sanford.
by Daniel Kool, Posted March 5, Updated March 6, 2026
"Maine lawmakers voted Thursday to advance a bill that would stop the development of new data centers in the state for more than a year.
"The bill, #LD307, would create a temporary limitation on data centers with electric loads of at least 20 megawatts by preventing the state, local governments and quasi-governmental agencies from issuing permits or other approvals until 90 days after the first session of the 133rd Legislature adjourns.
"That will likely be around October 2027, the bill’s sponsor, said Rep. Melanie Sachs, D-Freeport.
"That would give a new “Data Center Coordination Council,” also created by the bill, time to study and review the potential impacts of building the centers in Maine. The Department of Energy Resources would be responsible for convening the body.
"Sachs has said the restriction is designed to address future growth without impeding projects that are already well underway, such as one pegged for the former Loring Air Force Base.
"Members of the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee have debated the bill for weeks.
"On Thursday, they voted 8-5 in favor of passing the bill with amendments, sending it to the broader Legislature. The committee vote fell along party lines, with Democrats supporting the measure."
Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/03/05/no-more-maine-data-centers-for-now-lawmakers-say/
#SanfordME #JayME #LewistonME #WiscassetME #AWS #NoDatacenters #NoAI #MainePol #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
Meanwhile, in #Maine...
As #dataCenters look to rural #NewEngland, Maine considers a moratorium
The bill’s advocates want answers about how data centers will affect energy costs in the region, which already has some of the country’s highest electricity prices.
By: Julia Tilton, The Daily Yonder - February 23, 2026
"Maine legislators are currently considering #LD307, a resolution bill that would establish a data center coordination council to provide input and evaluate policy options for data center development in the state. The bill comes after a series of data center proposals have been met with local pushback.
"Shortly after #WiscassetME voted to pause its data center conversations in November of 2025, residents in #LewistonME, lobbied their city councilors to reject a $300 million #AIDataCenter on December 16, 2025. There, community members organized over a weekend to change city councilors’ minds from supporting the idea when it was first made public on December 11, 2025, to voting unanimously to reject it the following week.
" 'It really speaks to the importance of adequate public participation and notice,
said Dana Colihan, the co-executive director of Slingshot, an environmental health and justice organization in New England. Colihan is based in Maine and helped residents of Wiscasset and Lewiston organize. 'When community members do find out about these projects, they have really serious concerns around the impacts to their local environment and wellbeing.'
"Richard Davis was among the residents in Wiscasset and neighboring #WestportIsland who, in November of 2025, pushed Wiscasset’s town selectboard, which functions like a city council, to pause conversations about developing a $5 billion data center on a town-owned parcel of land along the Back River, which empties into Maine’s #CascoBay.
"Davis, who lives along the Back River about a mile and a half from the proposed development, said little information about the facility’s end user, utility usage, or power source was provided after it was first made public on September 16, 2025.
"This caused him and others to worry about how the site would affect the town’s resources, including the grid. Along with his neighbors, Davis started #ProtectWiscasset, a grassroots campaign opposing the data center."
#MainePol #MaineResists #ResistDatacenters #NoEnergyForAI #AISucks #ResistanceIsFertile
As data centers look to rural New England, Maine considers a moratorium • Maine Morning Star
When local officials in rural Wiscasset, Maine, voted on November 4, 2025, to pause a data center discussion in the community of around 4,000 year-round residents, it may have been a sign of what’s to come. As the nationwide expansion of data centers arrives in New England, questions about electricity prices, grid reliability, and impact […]