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Data centers · York County, Maine

York County

1 project on record · 5 moratorium or ban actions

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Projects in York County
Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical CampusNew England Energy (Randy Gibbs and Walt Bussells)300Paused by moratoriumAug. 4, 202650 MW+

Moratoriums and bans

  1. May 12, 2026 Sanford: Moratorium. A citizen-proposed 91-day emergency moratorium, set to end Aug. 18, stopped acceptance or approval of permits for large data centers, including the Sanford Woods campus. (Portland Press Herald, May 18, 2026; Portland Press Herald, Aug. 5, 2026)
  2. Aug. 4, 2026 Sanford: Moratorium (extension). The council unanimously extended the pause 180 days, to Jan. 31, 2027, and said it could add another 180 days if its task force is not done. (Portland Press Herald, Aug. 5, 2026)
  3. 2026 Saco: Moratorium. Named by the Press Herald in October 2026 among communities that had approved temporary data center bans; no town record or other report giving the vote date or terms was found. (Portland Press Herald, Oct. 6, 2026)
  4. Aug. 25, 2026 North Berwick: Ballot question (vote pending). Instead of a moratorium, the Select Board is sending voters a November zoning question that would permanently ban data centers of 25,000 square feet or more. (WGME, Aug. 25, 2026)
  5. Oct. 13, 2026 South Berwick: Moratorium. The council voted 4-0 for a 180-day pause, retroactive to July 14, while the planning board drafts rules with a 10,000-square-foot threshold; no data center was known to be proposed. (Portland Press Herald, Oct. 14, 2026)

Updates, newest first

  1. Oct. 13, 2026 South Berwick: Moratorium · The council voted 4-0 for a 180-day pause, retroactive to July 14, while the planning board drafts rules with a 10,000-square-foot threshold; no data center was known to be proposed. (Portland Press Herald, Oct. 14, 2026)
  2. Aug. 25, 2026 North Berwick: Ballot question (vote pending) · Instead of a moratorium, the Select Board is sending voters a November zoning question that would permanently ban data centers of 25,000 square feet or more. (WGME, Aug. 25, 2026)
  3. Aug. 4, 2026 Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus · The council unanimously extended the moratorium 180 days, to Jan. 31, 2027, while its Industrial Development Standards Task Force reviews city ordinances. (Portland Press Herald, Aug. 5, 2026)
  4. Aug. 4, 2026 Sanford: Moratorium (extension) · The council unanimously extended the pause 180 days, to Jan. 31, 2027, and said it could add another 180 days if its task force is not done. (Portland Press Herald, Aug. 5, 2026)
  5. May 12, 2026 Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus · The City Council unanimously adopted a citizen-proposed 91-day emergency moratorium on large data center permits; Gibbs wrote that he supported it. (Portland Press Herald, May 18, 2026; Portland Press Herald, Aug. 5, 2026)
  6. May 12, 2026 Sanford: Moratorium · A citizen-proposed 91-day emergency moratorium, set to end Aug. 18, stopped acceptance or approval of permits for large data centers, including the Sanford Woods campus. (Portland Press Herald, May 18, 2026; Portland Press Herald, Aug. 5, 2026)
  7. Feb. 19, 2026 Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus · Co-developers Randy Gibbs and Walt Bussells presented the Sanford Woods campus to the committee, describing a 100-300 MW data center on a campus that would be islanded from the grid. (Sanford Springvale News, Feb. 27, 2026)
  8. Feb. 12, 2026 Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus · At a committee work session, Sen. Matt Harrington said a moratorium would harm a 100-300 MW data center planned in his district; the Sanford Water District superintendent later told Maine Public the district had held no pre-application meeting with any data center. (The Maine Monitor (from the Daily Yonder), Feb. 23, 2026; Maine Public, Feb. 16, 2026)
  9. 2026 Saco: Moratorium · Named by the Press Herald in October 2026 among communities that had approved temporary data center bans; no town record or other report giving the vote date or terms was found. (Portland Press Herald, Oct. 6, 2026)

Statewide

LD 307 (HP 207), sponsored by Rep. Melanie Sachs, would have set up a 13-member Data Center Coordination Council and barred state and municipal permits for data centers with a load of 20 MW or more until Nov. 1, 2027. The Senate's final enactment vote on April 14, 2026 was 21-13; Gov. Janet Mills vetoed the bill on April 24, saying she would have signed it with an exemption for the Jay mill project; on April 29 the House voted 72-65 to override, short of two-thirds, so the veto was sustained. (Maine Legislature, April 29, 2026; Office of Gov. Janet T. Mills, April 24, 2026; Portland Press Herald, April 29, 2026; Mainebiz, April 27, 2026) LD 713 (HP 452), signed April 23, 2026 as chapter 768 of the public laws, defines data centers and takes those that begin operating on or after Aug. 1, 2026 out of the Business Equipment Tax Exemption (BETE, Maine's property tax break for most business equipment) and the Dirigo Business Incentives Program. It also has the Department of Economic and Community Development study what other incentives under current law data centers could still use, such as tax increment financing, and report to the Legislature's taxation committee by Nov. 4, 2026. (Maine Legislature, April 23, 2026; Maine Legislature, April 23, 2026; Maine Senate Democrats (press release), April 27, 2026) Executive Order 5 (April 29, 2026) created the Maine Data Center Advisory Council, co-chaired by the commissioners of Energy Resources and Environmental Protection, with a public report and any proposed bills due to the governor and Legislature by Jan. 29, 2027; it also told the Department of Energy Resources to work with the Public Utilities Commission on ways to keep data center costs off other ratepayers. The council's October 2026 working draft, marked as not agency policy, floats ideas such as requiring large data centers to pay for grid upgrades in advance or post security, and requiring projects over 50 MW to buy new clean energy to match their portfolio obligation. (Office of Gov. Janet T. Mills, April 29, 2026; Maine Department of Energy Resources, Oct. 20, 2026; Maine Department of Energy Resources, Oct. 7, 2026) PUC docket 2026-00142, opened May 27, 2026 after a May 20 letter from the Department of Energy Resources, is a commission-initiated informal investigation into the development of large data centers. Central Maine Power, Versant Power, consumer-owned utilities and advocacy groups filed initial comments in June, staff issued an order scheduling a workshop on Aug. 11, and the Unitil gas companies commented on Oct. 2. No large-load tariff case for Central Maine Power or Versant was found in the sources reviewed. (Maine Public Utilities Commission, May 27, 2026; Maine Department of Energy Resources, Oct. 20, 2026) Maine data centers →