LINCOLN, Maine — Former Gov. Paul LePage cast data centers as part of the answer to Maine’s energy crisis this week, breaking with polling that shows widespread skepticism of the projects among voters in both parties.
“I’m a big, big fan of data centers,” the Republican running for Maine’s open 2nd District seat said Wednesday at a former mill site being redeveloped into a tech center. “I think they’re going to create jobs. I think we can solve our energy problems.”
State Auditor Matt Dunlap, his Democratic opponent, is challenging LePage on his stance as data center policy draws mounting scrutiny nationally and in Maine. Nearly three-quarters of Mainers — and majorities in both parties — opposed data centers being built in their communities, according to a University of Massachusetts Lowell/YouGov poll in May.
LePage spoke alongside U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who argued for a case-by-case approach to data centers. The former governor downplayed concerns about data centers’ water and power demands, blaming high energy prices on Democrats and pointing to the state’s paper mills as a potential model.
Yet LePage’s position doesn’t amount to a blank check. His campaign said Friday he supports “sensible regulation,” including guarantees of adequate water supply, local community buy-in and no rate hikes for consumers.
“Data centers will have their own generation because we’ll ask them to do that,” LePage said in Lincoln.
Research shows data centers have reduced average electricity prices in regions with excess power supply. But when new infrastructure is needed to meet rising demand, ratepayers often absorb higher costs. Public Advocate Heather Sanborn told The Maine Monitor in December that Maine, as part of the regional New England wholesale market, could see costs “driven upward as a result of data center development anywhere in the region.”
Dunlap campaign manager Harry Burke pushed back on LePage’s framing, calling it “blanket support for data centers.” Burke said Dunlap favors “developing benchmarks and standards to ensure that there are benefits for workers, that there is a positive impact on ratepayers, and that there are clear community benefits.”
“If we don’t approach these projects deliberately they will jack up energy prices at a time when Mainers are already dealing with sky high rates,” Burke said.
The skepticism isn’t confined to Dunlap’s campaign. Gov. Janet Mills drew criticism from fellow Democrats in April when she vetoed legislation that would have made Maine the first state to temporarily ban new large data centers. Several projects planned for Maine have been canceled, including one Mills had favored at the former International Paper mill site in Jay.
The Bangor City Council unanimously passed a data center ban this spring, and several rural Maine towns are weighing similar pauses. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order in July implementing a yearlong ban on new environmental permits for large data centers.
The Trump administration has taken the opposite posture, promoting data center expansion as central to the country’s economic future while facing court challenges from Democratic-led states over environmental rollbacks.
In Lincoln, Wright framed the skepticism as a policy failure rather than a legitimate check on the industry, noting that developers in other states have agreed to pay for grid upgrades and that property taxes in many host communities have fallen.
“If you’re able to expand your energy-producing resources, they’re actually a very helpful way to lower electricity prices,” Wright said.