Buxton voters approve temporary data center ban
BUXTON — Buxton joined several Maine towns Wednesday in passing a data center moratorium. Voters approved the measure in a special town meeting attended by about 60 residents.
The moratorium bans data centers — facilities designed for processing and storing troves of digital data and artificial intelligence — for 180 days dating from Aug. 12 in Buxton. Opponents of data centers point to evidence that they deplete local natural resources and disrupt infrastructure.
No data centers have been proposed in Buxton. The pause will give town officials time to draft and pass an ordinance to regulate any such facility that might be pitched in the future.
Several towns in southern Maine, including Gorham, Scarborough, Westbrook, Biddeford and Sanford, have enacted similar moratoriums since Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill in April that would have temporarily restricted such developments statewide. Some communities are now considering banning data centers outright.
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Tagged: artificial intelligence, data center, development
Madeleine is a community reporter for Gorham, Buxton and Standish. She started her journalism career in Vermont, where she reported for Seven Days and served as the editor-in-chief of Middlebury College's. More by Madeleine Kaptein
