Data Centers

What Do Data Centers Mean for Maine?

Overview

Sierra Club Maine Fact Sheet - Share this with friends, family, clubs, and other social groups who might have questions about Data Centers!

What are data centers?

Data centers are large warehouses that store large servers, hardware, networking equipment, and other computing technologies. Most data centers prior to 2024 were ‘traditional’ or ‘conventional’ data centers that consume less water and require less energy. Newer hyperscale data center proposals can pose a serious threat to the environment as they require massive amounts of water and power to operate.

What is Sierra Club doing about it?

As more of these projects pop up across Maine, we are focused on preventing unchecked growth without transparency and creating stronger environmental safeguards. Data centers must not drive new fossil-fuel generation, strain water supplies, or shift infrastructure costs onto Maine households and communities. 

Here are some of our policy priorities:

• Temporary moratoriums - Towns can adopt a temporary moratorium on large-scale data centers to give the town time to study the issue, hear from residents, and develop strong local safeguards.
• Strong data center regulation - The best protection for our communities and natural resources is real regulations with teeth. This includes:
  • Data centers fully paying for all energy needs and grid upgrades
  • Public disclosure of energy and water impacts
  • Implementing best water conservation practices 
  • Not relying on dirty fossil fuel energy.
    • Why? This will protect ratepayers, our natural resources, and communities from unchecked pollution and footing the bill for data centers.
• Transparency - Advocating for transparent processes in which communities and regulators have a clear, public role in approving data center projects to protect climate goals, affordability, and local resources.
  • Why? The prevalence of NDAs and private deals to avoid expensive legal fights is troubling. We need transparency and public engagement to ensure local communities aren’t left footing surprise bills or unexpected harms from data center activities.
• Prevent tax incentives for data centers 
  • Why? Our state struggles to have enough revenue for crucial public goods and services, including environmental programs. The most profitable companies in the world should pay their fair share to keep crucial environmental programs and support other important public goods and services.

Learn More:

Sierra Club National: Data Center information

Maine Conservation Voters: MCV toolkit

Take Action:

Maine Data Center Advisory Council - attend the public meeting on October 7th, comment on draft recommendations