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A developer who explored building a hyperscale data center in southern Aroostook County scrapped the project because of inadequate infrastructure and a temporary ban on the facilities that is advancing through the Maine Legislature.
The data center, which has not been previously reported, was proposed for the Houlton area within the last year and was envisioned to use 50-200 megawatts, Johanna Johnston, executive director of the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation, confirmed to the Bangor Daily News Wednesday.
“As we would with any opportunity of that scale, SADC brought together a small group of regional partners, town representatives and utilities to help answer initial questions and assess feasibility,” Johnston said. “This was strictly an exploratory step to understand what such a project would entail locally.”
It became clear through early conversations that southern Aroostook’s energy infrastructure could not support the proposed demand within the developer’s timeline for the project, Johnston said. No formal proposal or permitting was submitted because the developer — whom she did not name — shifted focus to other locations.
“While this particular opportunity did not move forward, it reflects the growing interest in rural areas and helps inform how we think about long-term infrastructure readiness and economic development strategy,” Johnston said.
Data centers have become a hot topic in Maine over the last six months, as municipal and state officials grapple with how or whether to regulate the facilities that some see as an economic boon but have drawn scrutiny for their environmental impact.
The centers house servers and other hardware needed to manage and support data for websites and networks. The rise of artificial intelligence programs, which require high computational power and vast storage, has dramatically increased the demand for large-scale data centers nationwide.
Data centers have drawn criticism for straining power grids and fresh water supply.
A data center that could scale up to 50 megawatts is in the works in a warehouse on the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. Other proposals in Lewiston, Wiscasset and Jay have been killed or halted because of backlash from residents or legislative initiatives.
A bill advanced Monday in the Maine Legislature that would prevent governmental permits and other approvals from being granted for facilities using more than 20 megawatts of power until late 2027 so a newly formed council can study the impacts of building data centers in Maine.
The Bangor City Council is fast-tracking an ordinance that would stop it from hearing data center proposals for at least six months so the city can update its Land Development Code.
The Southern Aroostook Development Corporation, the region’s economic development agency, has launched an initiative named “Aroostook Innovation,” which aims to position the region as a hub for hyperscale data centers and other industrial growth.
The working group’s goal is to “drive economic growth and energy innovation in Northern Maine by building scalable infrastructure that supports hyperscale data centers and empowers local communities,” according to its mission statement.
Johnston said southern Aroostook’s cool climate, reliable and low-cost electricity, broadband infrastructure, available land and access to I-95 make it an attractive location for data center development.
“The interest itself wasn’t surprising,” she said. “These are the kinds of assets that continue to put rural regions like ours on the radar for future investment as the industry evolves.”
