A proposed underwater data center has gained little traction since its backer submitted a request to move ahead in February, and many of those near its proposed location in Western Passage off Moose Island are skeptical. In fact, one Eastport resident who’s well acquainted with such centers said it could be disastrous for the area.
Dr. Holly Lewis, who lives seasonally in Eastport while not teaching at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, said she loves Down East Maine and would hate to see the problems that have beset other such data centers affect this area, especially its unique underwater world. “This is where we live, and it’s going to impact future generations. Why would you destroy an absolutely beautiful place that lives off the sea?”
As the director of the Center for Virtual Expression at Southern Illinois University, Lewis said, she’s had a great deal of experience with land‑based data centers, which often create significant noise pollution, ground vibrations, electromagnetic issues, heat problems and increased industrialization near the center. She fears it could impact home prices, tourism and other industries, such as fishing, if an underwater center is built off Eastport.
“It would make it unlivable for the animals that our businesses depend on. The pressure on fishing and marine use would be immense,” she said.
The plan that has attracted Lewis and others’ attention was submitted in February to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It asks for a preliminary permit to study a 400‑acre site in Passamaquoddy Bay by DeepGreen Western Passage SPV LLC for possible placement of the data center. The request has yet to be considered, according to FERC records.
Although few specifics are outlined, the project would generate electricity for AI computer servers by sinking 170 turbines and 34 data center pods into waters off Moose Island on a 27‑acre area designated within the larger 400‑acre zone. It would rely upon tidal energy to supply the immense amount of energy such data centers need and utilize the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay to cool the often‑significant heat generated. Cabling from the data center would emerge somewhere on Kendall’s Head.
The project’s backer, real estate agent Louis Wolfson from Needham, Massachusetts, admitted he has little experience with such projects and has never visited the area surrounding Moose Island. “No, I’ve never been to Eastport, but then the people who are going to the moon haven’t gone to the moon either.”
The underwater data center Wolfson envisions would be one of the first of its kind, although some other entities are now considering such centers. He said that the project is still very much in the planning stages and that he’s in ongoing discussions with both the tribal council at Sipayik and the city of Eastport.
However, Adam Newell, a member of the tribal council, said that while Wolfson has contacted the leadership of the tribe, his communications have not been returned. Indeed, Wolfson said he’s only been in contact with a former member of the council.
And Eastport City Manager Brian Schuth said while he’s had one conversation with Wolfson, he’s had no further contact and believes, if the project were to move forward, that would occur far in the future. At this point, he’s unsure about the proposal. “This could be the product of some really intelligent people who have a really great idea, or it could be the bureaucratic equivalent of a transcribed bar napkin,” Schuth said.
Chris Gardner, executive director of the Eastport Port Authority, said he has spoken with Wolfson several times and has been “very direct with him in expressing the concerns of the community.” Gardner said he’s heard chatter from the community about it. “A lot of people have a lot of questions.”
One of those with questions is Brian Altvater, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and chair of the Schoodic Riverkeepers. “I don’t know about sticking something like that in our cold waters here. You’d like to have things [in Passamaquoddy Bay] restored to what they used to be, and this sounds like it’s headed in the wrong direction.”
Fisherman Elijah Brice said there’s not much good he sees in the project. “I personally fish [in Western Passage] with lobster gear, and there’s many that scallop there. So there’d be direct displacement. In addition, I don’t know what it is about that area, but there’s an amazing number of egg‑bearing female lobsters there, so that tells me there’s something important about that bottom for lobster reproduction.”
Others, such as Bob Peacock, a ship’s pilot in Eastport, worries about whether the depth at which the data center is placed could affect ship traffic to the Port of Bayside. Another, Kieran Weston, an Eastport scallop fisherman, responded that he thinks “it’s a horrible idea and could potentially have a big impact on fisherman. It’s a bad thing.”
The questions are numerous, and Wolfson said he doesn’t have answers to many right now. “Right now it’s more data collection. This is all preliminary.” But he does counter the idea that the project would have any negative effects. “We’re trying to solve problems, not create problems.”
He sees only positive impacts, including potentially lower data costs for industry and the provision of additional local jobs, something Lewis disagrees with.
“This is not going to create jobs for locals. Data centers do not create jobs,” Lewis said. “What they do require is specialized labor, and they’ll probably be going outside the community to get it. People really need to understand this.”
The questions swirling around the project may be moot, however, if federal or state legislation aimed at new data centers is enacted. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez of New York have filed a federal bill to prohibit the construction of new data centers. At the state level, two bills would exclude data centers from certain tax breaks given to other businesses while another bill would temporarily ban building such facilities until 2027. All are currently being considered by lawmakers. Lewis hopes at least one of those bills will pass.
In addition to the potential problems created by a data center, she says there’s also a chance that, in the years it takes to develop such an underwater facility, the system could have become obsolete. “How are they going to deal with going down and changing computers under the sea. On an on‑land data center, you just walk in and change them.”
Those who are opposed to the project should keep up to date with what’s happening with the proposal, Lewis suggested. “People’s opinions matter. So make your voices heard.”