Proposals to bring in a data center moratorium in Maine have threatened plans for a new campus in the Pine Tree State.

The proposed bill, sponsored by Representative Melanie Sachs, includes a two-year moratorium on facilities above 20MW in the state while the impacts of data centers are studied and more stringent controls are put in place.

However, State Sen. Matt Harrington, R-Sanford, said a pause on development would endanger a new data center planned for his district, detailing a previously unreported project.

During a works session, he said the moratorium would impact a proposed 100-300MW project being proposed by a developer, later named as the Northern New England Energy Corporation.

He said at the time that the project was well into the planning process and had met with local officials and Maine’s Department of Energy Resources.

“You’re completely blindsiding this business,” Harrington said, according to a report from Maine Public.

Harrington revealed more details in a follow-up Facebook post, saying the project was being targeted on land in Sanford, York County, some 35 miles (56.3km) southwest of Portland.

“I was recently briefed by representatives of the Northern New England Energy Company about their plans to develop an energy generation project utilizing a mix of American-made fuel cells, solar power, and battery storage to produce all of the electricity needed to serve a colocated data center,” he said in the post.

While he was asked not to publicly discuss the project, he said the surprise proposal of a moratorium “might stop this opportunity for our community from coming to fruition before we even had a chance to consider it altogether.”

According to its website, Northern New England Energy Corporation (NNEEC) is an energy company based in Vermont.

A subsidiary of Énergir, NNEEC is the parent company of Vermont utility and energy distribution provider Green Mountain Power Corporation, Vermont Gas Systems Inc., and EGV Insurance Inc.

Énergir, formerly known as Gaz Métro, is a Canadian energy company and the largest natural gas distribution company in Quebec.

Maine has a small data center market, with Data Center Map listing just eight facilities in the state, largely centered around Brunswick and Portland.

A data center is being proposed in the former Loring Air Force Base, and another is being planned next to a former nuclear power plant in Wiscasset.

A project in Lewiston was rejected by local officials last year.