A company recently visited the site of Bucksport’s former paper mill with interest in developing a data center there.
That information was shared publicly for the first time Thursday when the Town Council considered a temporary data center ban, which was introduced as a way to buy time to update regulations around such developments before any formal proposal came in.
Bucksport’s lingering infrastructure from its mill — deep water access, a power plant, a fresh water supply — and the mostly vacant site itself make the town more realistically attractive to data center developers than many other Maine communities that have adopted such bans in recent months.
But the proposed pause has met with a mixed reception rooted in the town’s long-running desire to attract new industry for its tax base post-mill. The confirmation that at least one developer has already visited adds new information to that conversation and to the number of Maine sites eyed by data center developers, who have sometimes caught officials off guard with proposals.
“It’s current, it’s relevant, it should be discussed,” Councilor Tracey Hair said during the council’s first reading of a potential ban Thursday. “This [moratorium] is very timely because a data center has come to town with an interest.”
She said after the meeting that she didn’t know a company had already visited when she brought up the idea earlier this month. No formal proposal has been submitted.
The former mill site is privately owned, meaning the town’s say over what is built there is limited to local regulations. Almost all of it belongs to Whole Oceans LLC, the company that proposed a major land-based fish farm eight years ago with big economic promises but never broke ground.
A state economic development plan released last year also named a data center as one potentially valuable reuse of Bucksport’s mill site.
Hair learned about the recent developer visit from resident Don White, who had confirmed it with town officials, she told the Bangor Daily News after Thursday’s meeting.
White said the town’s economic and community development director, Rich Rotella, told him that a company called Kratos LLC visited part of the site earlier this summer with town officials and had last communicated with Bucksport in early August.
Rotella did not respond to requests to verify that. He also did not respond to BDN inquiries earlier this month about whether any developers had shown interest in the site.
Several entities named Kratos work in or around the data center industry — Kratos AI, Kratos Data Centers, Kratos Defense, Kratos Space, Kratos Industries — but it’s not publicly clear if, or how, most of them are connected to each other.
Kratos Industries, which designs and manufactures electrical equipment for data centers and other large facilities, was acquired by data center supplier Legrand earlier this year. They have not visited Maine and are not connected to any potential plans here, a spokesperson said Friday.
Kratos Industries are not affiliated with the other companies using Kratos in their name, the spokesperson said.
Kratos AI, whose website advertises data centers, did not return an email seeking comment. The website for Kratos Data Centers includes only a contact form, which appeared to be broken Thursday night.
The temporary ban was first fully discussed at a committee meeting two weeks ago. It would last for up to 180 days but could be rescinded if town rules were updated earlier; even supporters said the idea was not to keep away a data center, but to put guardrails in place.
Supporters said it would be a way to protect townspeople, listing concerns about the potential impacts of new technology that didn’t exist when town code was written. Those included significant demands on energy and water that would bring higher electric costs, loud and constant noise, pollution, harm to human health and a lack of decommissioning plans.
Hair also noted the town has learned the hard way that investors do not always keep their promises.
“This is about Bucksport,” Councilor Paul Rabs said in support. “This is going to be about our water, this is going to be about our electricity.”
A state task force formed after Gov. Janet Mills’ veto of a statewide ban, made to save a project at Jay’s former paper mill, is also studying large-scale centers and plans to release a report in January.
Others said at Bucksport’s initial conversation, and in smaller numbers Thursday, that they felt a halt on data centers would send a hostile message to interested developers with deep pockets that could bring long-desired industry to the mill site. Existing ordinances are mostly prepared for such a proposal, Code Enforcement Officer Luke Chiavelli said earlier this month, but could be tweaked without a ban.
The town also has begun a multiyear process of making structural cuts to reduce costs. Many residents want their tax burden relieved by industrial growth rather than cuts to services, according to Councilor Ed Rankin.
He was the only one to vote against advancing the ban Thursday, saying he could support a pause on larger projects over 20 megawatts but not smaller ones.
Councilors also discussed a need for more information, calling the conversation speculative in some ways.
A second reading and a public hearing will be held before a vote on the ban.
