EASTPORT, Maine — The Eastport City Council registered a formal motion to intervene with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week in an attempt to block a controversial subsea artificial intelligence data center proposal, DeepGreen Western Passage SPV.
The councilors, who also sent an accompanying statement to FERC that was posted a day later, joined a growing list of residents and organizations fighting the project, including the nonprofit research group the Center for Biodiversity, by registering official concern over the DeepGreen Western Passage application for 48-month preliminary permit, which was accepted for filing by the agency in August.
The August acceptance of DeepGreen’s FERC preliminary permit application by the Commission kicked off a 60-day process for community members, organizations and other relevant parties to formally intervene in the permit proceedings; that window closes this month.
In a letter to FERC posted on Sept 30, the City Council asked that FERC deny the application.
“We recognize that a preliminary permit would not authorize construction or land-disturbing activities,” councilors wrote. “Nevertheless, it would give DeepGreen priority to pursue development of this project at this location for up to four years. That is a significant procedural benefit involving waters and community interests that are central to Eastport’s economy, heritage, and future.”
The letter went on to list specific concerns, including unexplored impacts on fish, wildlife and overall marine habitat from sediment, underwater noise, electromagnetic fields and heat; access and use to waterways, resources and other waterborne assets; effect on industries like fisheries; effect on water quality, and vagueness regarding site recovery and decommissioning.
In the letter, councilors also expressed concern over project unknowns, like how much it might cost the city if the project requires emergency response or other city works or utilities. The letter also outlined a desire for accountability to the Passamaquoddy tribe, who, the council wrote, should be consulted with meaningfully before any permit is considered.
The letter also noted that “On September 9, 2026, the Eastport City Council unanimously enacted ordinance provisions prohibiting large-scale data centers, including underwater data centers, within the areas covered by those provisions. The Council expects to undertake additional work to strengthen and clarify the City’s protections.”
The ordinance ban was enacted after the City Council voted to enact a temporary moratorium on data center development.
The council raised questions about the technical experience of the developer and managing member of DeepGreen Holdings LLC, Louis Wolfson, who has not been present in person for the Eastport proceedings.
Wolfson’s background is in luxury real estate development in Needham, Massachusetts.
DeepGreen Holdings LLC was incorporated in Delaware just weeks before preliminary permit applications were submitted to FERC by the company’s project subsidiaries, DeepGreen Western Passage SPV and DeepGreen Cook Inlet SPV, for similar hydrokinetic data center projects in Eastport in Maine, and Cook Inlet, Alaska.
Special project vehicles, or SPVs, are a type of legal formation developers often use when they intend to package and sell a project with all of its permits and agreements in place.
Commenters from Alaska Commercial Fisheries Conservation Alliance, who objected to the FERC docket assigned to Cook Inlet Alaska, also registered their formal objection letter to the Eastport project’s comments, citing similar concerns about impacts on local water temperature and commercial fisheries in the area. Further, ACFCA says DeepGreen used decisions by the commission in their response to these concerns that cannot be verified by the group as “genuine Commission decisions.”
In the FERC file for DeepGreen Western Passage SPV, Ocean Renewable Power Co., ORPC, a company once named by Wolfson on the preliminary permit application because of its hydrokinetic turbine technology, also filed a comment stating DeepGreen’s application language could be “interpreted that extensive discussions have happened between ORPC and DeepGreen regarding the integration of ORPC’s turbines onto DeepGreen’s proposed data center.”
Stuart Davies, chief executive officer of ORPC, stated “we are submitting this comment to clarify for FERC that ORPC has no involvement in DeepGreen’s project and that no conversations have occurred between ORPC and DeepGreen regarding the integration of ORPC turbines with DeepGreen’s proposed data center.”
In their letter to FERC, councilors also noted that DeepGreen’s proposal “does not establish
that the electricity generated would provide a direct energy or grid-reliability benefit to Eastport residents or the surrounding region.”
Eastport residents Carrie Cobb and Gary Fronheiser have also filed motions to intervene in the case, along with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, Eastport Community Solar and the National Marine Fisheries Service Greater Atlantic Region.
Once the 60-day comment period closes this month, FERC will review DeepGreen’s preliminary permit application for the Western Passage, considering comments from the public, and will begin to schedule intervention hearings with those whose petitions have been accepted.
Registration of Motions to Intervene and public comment closes on Oct. 19.
This story appears as part of a collaboration to strengthen investigative journalism in Maine between the BDN and The Maine Monitor. Read more about the partnership.