Without a statewide moratorium on large data center development, a patchwork of local laws appears to be forming in Maine.

Weeks after Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill to temporarily restrict permitting for new data centers of 20 megawatts or more, at least four towns and cities have passed or are considering enacting their own moratoriums. The local pauses are designed to give officials time to review their zoning rules and develop new regulations for large data centers — should they ever come to town.

Some, like those in Sanford and Scarborough, come as developers have already proposed building data centers in town. Others, like in Brunswick and Westbrook, are designed to get ahead of potential data center construction.

Though these proposals have taken on new urgency in lieu of a broader moratorium, they are not the first of their kind. The Bangor City Council unanimously passed a citywide pause in April, days before Mills shot down the statewide effort. Anne Krieg, Bangor’s director of development, said city officials “didn’t want to wait for the state” as development pressure mounted.

Data centers are facilities that house computers to store data and run online applications and services. They have existed for decades, but new developments in artificial intelligence technology have created an exponential increase in demand for the sites. Proponents argue that the facilities can create jobs, lower local tax burdens and drive economic growth; opponents argue that they suck up resources like water and electricity, driving up utility bills and polluting the surrounding environment.

Tanya Emery, advocacy manager at the Maine Municipal Association, said discussion of the statewide moratorium — and Mills’ ultimate rejection of the bill — brought the issue to the forefront in many small towns. For the most part, Emery said those conversations are in nascent stages.

“In the majority of communities, it’s speculative,” she said. But “you never know. And it’s better to have had a conversation about what your community wants, what your priorities are, what your infrastructure looks like, what is your comprehensive plan — before you get a knock on the door.”

RESPONDING TO REQUESTS

In Sanford and Scarborough, the local proposals came as developers had already voiced plans to build data centers in town.

In Sanford, local officials have grappled with a large data center proposal for months. Plans for the 1,000-plus acre Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus first emerged as state lawmakers initially began considering a moratorium.

On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously passed a 91-day emergency moratorium, which put an immediate pause on the acceptance, approval or issuance of permits for any large-scale data center proposal in the city until Aug. 12.

Unlike the proposals in Brunswick, Scarborough and Westbrook, Sanford’s ordinance emphasizes that the city intends to support economic development so long as it has the proper guardrails.

City Manager Steven Buck said there are plans to establish a task force dedicated to reviewing residents’ concerns and making recommendations for municipal regulations on data centers.

Buck also said the 91-day pause may soon give way to a 180-day moratorium — the longest allowed by law — to give that task force adequate time to make recommendations.

Randy Gibbs, the primary developer behind the Sanford Woods project, has been outspoken about the benefits he says the data center would bring to the city — and has said he supports Sanford’s moratorium.

“We intend to develop Sanford Woods responsibly,” Gibbs wrote in a letter that Buck read aloud during Tuesday’s meeting. “We would rather meet a high bar than operate in an undefined one.”

Jordan Matthews, a member of the Sanford Clean Water & Air Coalition, described the moratorium as “a step in the right direction.”

“We definitely need more to protect us, and at the end of the day, many of us are hoping the City Council will eventually establish a total ban,” she said. “We want the moratorium to serve the goal of protecting the people of Sanford, not just finding a means of passage and permitting a data center.”

In Scarborough, a proposed data center on the west side of town came to the public’s attention a few days after Mills issued her veto.

Local officials rejected developer Daniel Dickinson’s application for a 52-acre development called the Scarborough Technology Park, just west of the Maine Turnpike, as incomplete.

Town Manager Tom Hall told Maine Public this month that Dickinson’s proposal came as a surprise to local officials, adding that a moratorium would be an opportunity to “educate ourselves and make more informed decisions.”

At a Town Council meeting on Wednesday where a draft of a 180-day moratorium had its first reading, Dickinson said the retroactive nature of the proposal — which would apply to any applications submitted on or after April 1 — unfairly singles out his development.

Cory Fellows, chair of the Scarborough Town Council, has said the town’s moratorium is not meant to target any specific project. He said local interest, and messages from the public, spiked after the governor’s veto.

Pausing for six months would allow the town to develop specific requirements related to noise and light, making sure that any data centers fit into a broader vision for one of Maine’s fastest-growing communities, he said.

“The whole purpose of doing this as a moratorium is it gives the town a chance to catch up, research, do everything we need to make a more permanent decision one way or another,” Councilor Larry Cain said.

Multiple residents spoke Wednesday in favor of the moratorium during the meeting, citing concerns about the impact of data centers on the environment, specifically the Scarborough Marsh.

A public hearing and second reading of the draft moratorium are scheduled for June 3.

GETTING AHEAD OF THINGS

In Westbrook, news of the statewide pause and Mills’ veto triggered conversations at City Hall about how the existing local code could apply to large data center development, said Mayor David Morse.

The city already has a definition for the term “data center,” but it was written in 2019 — well before the AI boom skyrocketed demand for processing power. And the city’s code does not include any site review standards specifically aimed at the facilities, said Jennie Franceschi, assistant city administrator.

“Rather than waiting until that day comes and scrambling to prepare for it then, we’d like to be preemptively prepared,” Morse said.

Earlier this month, Morse asked city councilors to consider implementing a 180-day moratorium. Councilors discussed the proposal at a committee meeting Monday and are scheduled to vote on the moratorium June 1.

“People are very concerned about the rapid proliferation of data centers across the country being driven by AI and cloud computing. I share that concern,” Morse wrote in a news release announcing the proposal. “I believe that, while no data center has been yet formally proposed in the City of Westbrook, a moratorium at this time would be prudent so that we can be prepared if or when such a proposal comes forward.”

Westbrook’s moratorium would take effect upon passage and prohibit the city from accepting or taking any action on permit applications related to “a new, enlarged or expanded data center,” according to the latest language.

The draft ordinance points to the facilities’ high water and electricity usage, as well as their noise, light pollution and potential impacts to the surrounding environment. It does not explicitly mention any potential benefits the centers could bring.

The city’s current land use rules are “inadequate to prevent the serious public harm that may result from the development of data centers in the city,” the draft continues.

In Brunswick, local officials are considering a very similar proposal, which uses much of the same language but includes some additional details. (The two communities’ legal counsels work for the same law firm.)

“We towns stick together if we can,” said Deb Young, Brunswick’s administration and communications director, adding that Brunswick officials saw Westbrook’s draft as they considered their own.

Brunswick’s draft ordinance originally targeted data centers with gross floor areas of at least 10,000 square feet or electrical capacities of at least 20 MW. Town Manager Julia Henze said that threshold was designed to protect an existing, smaller-scale data center that she said has not been an issue.

“What we’re all concerned about is these enormous data centers,” Henze said.

At a Monday night meeting, though, town councilors removed that section from the draft moratorium. Instead, data center projects with an electrical capacity of 1 MW or more would be temporarily prohibited.

Brunswick is scheduled to host a public hearing on its proposal June 1.

Staff Writers Salomé Cloteaux, Abigail Driscoll and Katie Langley contributed to this story.