Bangor City Council passed a fast-tracked freeze on data centers Monday that bans any developments for six months.
The freeze was proposed because city officials don’t know how a data center would affect the city’s infrastructure or resources.
The impact of data centers on resources including water and electricity are still unknown, but the city is “suddenly experiencing increased development pressure from data centers,” according to the moratorium.
The pause will allow for city officials and councilors to learn more information about them before moving forward with any developments.
The freeze comes as the Maine Legislature considers a statewide year-and-a-half ban on data centers. Gov. Janet Mills said she was hesitant about the proposed ban, saying some towns need the jobs the centers could bring.
If the ban is passed, Maine would be the first state to enact a ban, although many U.S. cities and counties have created similar laws as centers for artificial intelligence have caused spikes in utility costs and raised concerns about environmental impacts. Public opposition has stopped plans for data centers in several other Maine communities, including Wiscasset and Lewiston.
City councilors did not discuss the ban during Monday’s meeting before voting unanimously to approve it.
Councilors agreed the pause was needed for officials and Councilors to figure out how to approve, deny or regulate the centers in the future, Councilor Daniel Carson said after the meeting.
The lack of any state law regarding the centers means Bangor has no example to base any local ordinance on, Carson said.
“We literally don’t have any policy framework. So without that, it can put us in a pretty difficult situation with resources like water and electricity,” he said.
Current ordinances and city standards “do not adequately address the unique infrastructure demands, environmental impacts, impacts to neighboring property owners, and operational characteristics of data centers,” according to the moratorium.
Some councilors do see an economic value in having the centers in the Queen City, Carson said, but still wanted the freeze to ensure they would be beneficial.
Although the moratorium is for 180 days, Carson said the Council has the option to extend it if Councilors aren’t prepared to draft ordinances regulating the centers yet.
“I wouldn’t necessarily commit us to being done with that within the 180 days,” he said.
