Maine’s data center revolt will decide who controls the Senate
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, was midway through defending her record during the final debate of the midterms when an audience member cut her short.
“I’m terrified,” a man shouted. “AI data centers are destroying our climate. They are poisoning our water.” Collins brushed off the outburst, tying the man to her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson. But the fear echoing through the auditorium wasn’t so easily dismissed. Just days before voters head to the polls, the rapid expansion of resource-hungry data centers has exploded into one of Maine’s most volatile campaign issues.
Maine drew national headlines in April when the state Legislature passed what would have been the nation’s first statewide moratorium on large data centers — had Gov. Janet Mills not vetoed the bill 10 days later. But the fight hasn’t slowed down, with towns across the state adopting temporary moratoriums or putting the question of data center...
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