Maine local moratoria

Every local infrastructure moratorium in the inventory for Maine, current through September 23, 2026.

17 instruments — 12 in force, 4 pending, 1 past.

State policy is tracked separately: 6 actions (6 bills) in state_legislation.csv. These are not included in the local count above.

Detailed entries

Albion

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟢 Extended
• Date enacted: 2024-11-25 (certified adoption date)
• Normalized date: 2024-11-25 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days, repeatedly extended by Select Board vote
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: battery storage, wind
• Moratorium ID: me-albion-2024
• Legal basis: Moratorium Ordinance on Grid-Level Battery Energy Storage Systems, Grid-Level Substations and Grid-Scale Wind Energy Projects
• What prompted it: Developer inquiries about grid-scale BESS/substation/wind projects; town wants time to adopt standards
• Affected projects: None identified
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23 per the carina.energy BESS tracker (expiring June 2026 at last check). Adopted 2024-11-25 for an initial 180-day term and repeatedly extended by Select Board vote.
• Outcome: Town continuing to study grid-scale BESS/substation/wind siting standards

Bangor

• Type: City
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-04-13
• Normalized date: 2026-04-13 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days; ordinance text states repeal on 2026-08-09 or earlier if replacement land-use amendments take effect
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-bangor-2026
• Legal basis: City Council Ordinance 26-138, "Moratorium Ordinance on Data Centers in the City of Bangor"; cites 30-A M.R.S.A. 4356(1)(B)
• What prompted it: Sudden development pressure; lack of use-specific standards; concerns about electricity use, water use, cooling, air and water pollution, noise, land consumption, water supply, wastewater infrastructure, grid resilience, and impacts on neighboring property owners
• Affected projects: No named project identified in the city packet or captured news coverage
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31. Official City Council minutes confirm Ordinance 26-138 was adopted at the April 13, 2026 regular meeting: the Council first voted 9-0 to waive the requirement of reading on two separate days, then voted 9-0 for final passage the same night.
• Outcome: Pending. The moratorium directs the city to develop Land Development Code amendments and related standards before new data center applications proceed.

Bethel

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟡 Pending
• Date enacted: —
• Normalized date: — (unverified)
• Duration: Proposed 180-day moratorium on data centers; not yet adopted as of 2026-09-23
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-bethel-undated
• Legal basis: Not yet enacted; a public hearing on the proposed 180-day moratorium was scheduled for 2026-09-30
• What prompted it: Preemptive, per regional reporting on the wave of Maine municipal data-center moratoriums following the governor's veto of a statewide pause
• Affected projects: Not identified in sources reviewed.
• Detailed status: Pending as of 2026-09-23. A more recent Sun Journal report (2026-09-22) clarifies the mechanism and supersedes the town's Sept-30-public-hearing notice and the Bangor Daily News' Aug-17 report of a November ballot question: the Select Board approved (at its Sept. 16, 2026 meeting) sending a proposed six-month (180-day) data center moratorium ordinance to a Special Town Meeting vote on Oct. 15, 2026 (the Sept. 30 event is a public hearing preceding that meeting, not the decision itself). The proposal originated with the town's Ordinance Review Committee, not a citizen petition or any specific project. No adoption had occurred as of this pass.
• Outcome: Proposed 180-day moratorium; public hearing scheduled for 2026-09-30; not yet adopted.

Brunswick

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-06-01, Town Council adoption
• Normalized date: 2026-06-01 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days from effective date
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-brunswick-2026
• Legal basis: Data Center Moratorium Ordinance, adopted under 30-A M.R.S. sections 3001 and 4356
• What prompted it: Proactive council action amid rising developer interest in siting data centers; concerns about demand on electrical and water infrastructure, PFAS, and other environmental impacts
• Affected projects: None named; enacted preemptively ahead of any specific pending application
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31 (180-day window runs to approximately late November 2026). A July 27, 2026 Planning & Development staff memo to the Town Council confirms the moratorium remains in force while staff draft permanent zoning standards for Council review.
• Outcome: 180-day moratorium on new, enlarged, or expanded data centers of 1 MW or greater electrical capacity

Dixfield

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-09-14 (special town meeting, secret ballot vote 35-3)
• Normalized date: 2026-09-14 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days, effective immediately upon the town meeting vote
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-dixfield-2026
• Legal basis: Town meeting vote (special town meeting at Ludden Memorial Library), Select Board-recommended moratorium ordinance
• What prompted it: Preemptive; residents raised rumors of a possible data center (including one unconfirmed rumor tied to the former Twin River Lumber site on Main Street), though the Select Board confirmed no permit applications had been filed; adopted to allow the town to gather information and develop ordinances/regulations
• Affected projects: None confirmed; Select Board member Pete Holman stated no one had requested permits for a data center, despite resident rumors.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Residents voted 35-3 by secret ballot at a Sept. 14, 2026 special town meeting to enact a 180-day moratorium, effective immediately. The planning board is charged with using the term to research data centers and draft an ordinance for the Select Board's and town's later consideration.
• Outcome: 180-day moratorium adopted by direct town-meeting vote to allow the planning board to study data centers and develop a future ordinance.

Dover-Foxcroft

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟡 Pending
• Date enacted: —
• Normalized date: — (unverified)
• Duration: Proposed six-month (180-day) ban on large-scale data center development; extendable beyond six months
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-dover-foxcroft-undated
• Legal basis: Not yet enacted as of 2026-09-23; drafted with assistance from Maine Conservation Voters and pushed by Carole Boothroyd, chair of the town's Climate Action Advisory Committee
• What prompted it: Preemptive; Select Board Chair Stephen Grammont said the town is unlikely to attract a data center given limited infrastructure, but cited concern about developers surprising towns with projects (as happened in Jay), and said the ban would give the town cover while the state's Data Center Advisory Council studies regulation
• Affected projects: None; no data center proposed in the town.
• Detailed status: Pending as of 2026-09-23. Per Bangor Daily News (2026-09-21), the Select Board was 'on track to pass a six-month ban on large-scale data center development by the end of September' 2026, but no vote had been confirmed as of this pass. [VERIFY instrument number; adoption date; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.6 in the 2026-09 refresh]
• Outcome: Proposed six-month ban on large-scale data center development, drafted with support from an environmental advocacy group; Select Board vote expected by the end of September 2026 but not confirmed as of this pass.

Durham

• Type: Town
• Status: ⚪ Expired
• Date enacted: 2024-09 (ordinance drafted/adopted around September 2024; exact town-meeting vote date not located)
• Normalized date: 2024-09 (month_only)
• Duration: Not confirmed in the draft reviewed
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: battery storage
• Moratorium ID: me-durham-2024
• Legal basis: Moratorium Ordinance: Battery Energy Storage Systems (Town of Durham)
• What prompted it: Inquiries about large-scale BESS; concerns over fire risk given volunteer fire department and no public water system
• Affected projects: None identified
• Detailed status: Expired. Per the carina.energy BESS tracker, Durham's BESS moratorium expired in May 2025. [VERIFY instrument number not confirmed at confidence 0.6 in the 2026-09 refresh]
• Outcome: Moratorium term lapsed

Eastport

• Type: City
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-08-12 (City Council unanimous vote)
• Normalized date: 2026-08-12 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days unless extended or terminated by the council, or until the two pending citizen-initiated data-center ordinances have been reviewed and decided, whichever occurs first
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-eastport-2026
• Legal basis: Eastport City Council motion/ordinance (moved by Councilor Karen Raye), adopted 2026-08-12
• What prompted it: Specific proposed project: DeepGreen Holdings LLC's proposed underwater, tidal-powered AI data center in the Bay of Fundy/Western Passage (FERC preliminary-permit application filed February 2026), opposed by residents, the Eastport Coalition for Healthy Oceans (ECHO), and Passamaquoddy tribal officials; the moratorium gives the Council time to consult with the Planning Board on two citizen-initiated ordinances aimed at the project
• Affected projects: DeepGreen Holdings LLC's proposed underwater AI data center in the Western Passage/Bay of Fundy off Eastport (DeepGreen Western Passage SVP), a FERC preliminary-permit applicant scaled down from an original 400-acre/51-MW/170-turbine proposal to a 27.1-acre/15-MW/16-to-34-turbine proposal as of this pass; no preliminary permit had been granted.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. The City Council voted unanimously on 2026-08-12 to adopt a 180-day moratorium prohibiting any application, permit, license, or approval related to a commercial or industrial data center or AI computing facility, explicitly including land-based, underwater, and partially/fully submerged facilities, directly halting the DeepGreen underwater data center proposal. The Planning Board held a special public hearing on the related citizen-initiated ordinances on 2026-08-24; as of this pass, those ordinances (a permanent ban and a separate voter-approval requirement) remained under review, with the permanent-ban question expected before the Council at a special meeting.
• Outcome: 180-day moratorium adopted specifically to halt the DeepGreen underwater data center proposal while the city reviews citizen-initiated ordinances that would permanently restrict or require voter approval for data center development.

Ellsworth

• Type: City
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-08-17 (City Council adoption, following a public hearing)
• Normalized date: 2026-08-17 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days from the effective date, per the ordinance text, running through approximately 2027-02-13; extendable
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-ellsworth-2026
• Legal basis: City of Ellsworth Data Center Moratorium Ordinance, enacted pursuant to 30-A M.R.S. §§ 3001 and 4356 (Council Order #082603)
• What prompted it: Preemptive; the City cited a recent increase in large-scale data center development nationally and in Maine and found its Unified Development Ordinance (Chapter 56) lacks specific standards addressing data center siting, water/power use, noise, and decommissioning
• Affected projects: None identified; the city's communications director stated no data center construction applications had been received.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. The City Council held a public hearing and adopted the Data Center Moratorium Ordinance on 2026-08-17 by a reported 4-1 vote (per SAVRN's tracker), effective immediately for 180 days (through approximately 2027-02-13). No data center applications had been received by the city as of the public-hearing stage.
• Outcome: Temporary 180-day moratorium ordinance adopted to give the Planning Board and City staff time to study data centers and develop recommendations for permanent regulation.

Gorham

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-06-02, Town Council adoption, 7-0 vote
• Normalized date: 2026-06-02 (exact)
• Duration: Six months (180 days) while the town researches regulations for large-scale data center facilities; contemporary reporting said the pause could be extended for another 180 days if necessary
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-gorham-2026
• Legal basis: Town Council ordinance/order (exact instrument number and statutory citation not located in sources reviewed)
• What prompted it: Town researching regulations for large-scale data center facilities
• Affected projects: —
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Confirmed by two independent Portland Press Herald articles (2026-06-03/04 and 2026-09-03) plus a secondary report (The Cool Down): the Gorham Town Council unanimously approved (7-0) a 180-day moratorium on data center proposals on 2026-06-02, with no known project pending. On 2026-09-01, the Council voted to direct the Planning Board to hold a public hearing and determine whether to make the data-center ban permanent by amending the town's land use and development code; that permanent-ban process (a separate action from this moratorium) was still pending as of 2026-09-23, and the Planning Board would need to vote on the code change before any permanent ban takes effect. No enacted ordinance text or instrument number was located despite additional search of Portland Press Herald reporting and secondary coverage. [VERIFY instrument number; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.6 in the 2026-07 refresh]
• Outcome: 180-day moratorium on data center proposals adopted 2026-06-02; on 2026-09-01 the Town Council directed the Planning Board to hold a public hearing on making the data-center ban permanent through a land use and development code amendment. If the permanent ban is adopted, this row's outcome would become 'replaced' in a future pass; as of 2026-09-23 the permanent ban had not been adopted.

Gray

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-08-18 (Town Council adoption); the ordinance is expressly retroactive to a Date of Applicability of 2026-07-14
• Normalized date: 2026-08-18 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days from the Date of Applicability (2026-07-14), per the ordinance text, running through approximately 2027-01-10
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-gray-2026
• Legal basis: Town of Gray Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers, enacted August 18, 2026 under 30-A M.R.S. § 4356
• What prompted it: Preemptive; the Town Council cited a recent, unevaluated increase in large-scale Data Center development nationally and in Maine, and found existing comprehensive plan/ordinances inadequate to prevent serious public harm from siting, noise, environmental, and public-facility impacts
• Affected projects: None identified; the ordinance is framed as preemptive/proactive rather than responding to a specific pending application.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. The Town Council unanimously adopted the moratorium ordinance on 2026-08-18 (following public comment on Aug. 4), expressly retroactive to a 'Date of Applicability' of 2026-07-14, and running 180 days from that date (through approximately 2027-01-10). No specific data center project was cited as the trigger.
• Outcome: Temporary 180-day moratorium ordinance adopted to give the Town Council time to develop zoning standards and regulations for data centers.

Palermo

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟡 Pending
• Date enacted: —
• Normalized date: — (unverified)
• Duration: Not documented
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: battery storage
• Moratorium ID: me-palermo-undated
• Legal basis: —
• What prompted it: Battery energy storage system regulation (proposed, covering all BESS)
• Affected projects: None identified
• Detailed status: Pending as of 2026-09-23 per the carina.energy BESS tracker; a proposed moratorium that would cover all battery storage (not just utility-scale), which would make it one of few ALL_BESS-scope moratoria outside New York. Not confirmed adopted; town's own warrant article/ordinance text not located within the research budget. [VERIFY instrument number; adoption date; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.45 in the 2026-09 refresh]
• Outcome: Not confirmed

Peru

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟡 Pending
• Date enacted: —
• Normalized date: — (unverified)
• Duration: Proposed 180-day moratorium on the development and permitting of data centers, to take effect immediately if approved by voters
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-peru-undated
• Legal basis: Not yet enacted; to be decided by townwide referendum vote on 2026-11-03
• What prompted it: Preemptive; Select Board Chair Gail Belyea confirmed that as of 2026-09-15 no one has proposed building a data center in the town; the moratorium would give the Select Board and planning board time to study impacts on water use, electrical grid capacity, noise, and environmental/government resources
• Affected projects: None; no data center proposed in the town as of the reporting reviewed.
• Detailed status: Pending as of 2026-09-23. Peru voters will decide on Nov. 3, 2026 whether to approve a 180-day moratorium on data center development and permitting; if passed, it would take effect immediately. No data center has been proposed in the town.
• Outcome: Proposed moratorium placed on the November 2026 town ballot; not yet adopted.

Sanford

• Type: City
• Status: 🟢 Extended
• Date enacted: On or about 2026-05-19, reported as an emergency moratorium; primary ordinance text/order number not located
• Normalized date: 2026-05-19 (exact)
• Duration: Initial 91-day emergency pause (2026-05-19 to 2026-08-18) extended by City Council for an additional 180 days on 2026-08-04, now running through 2027-01-31. The Aug. 5, 2026 Press Herald report notes a city agenda-packet misprint had listed the initial moratorium's expiration as Aug. 12 rather than the correct Aug. 18; that misprint has no bearing on the currently operative extended term. Deputy Mayor Maura Herlihy said the moratorium could be extended another 180 days if the city's new Industrial Development Standards Task Force has not finished its work by Jan. 31, 2027.
• Current end date: 2027-01-31
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-sanford-2026
• Legal basis: Emergency moratorium order adopted by City Council vote 2026-05-19 (91 days) and extended by a further City Council vote 2026-08-04 (180 days); no numbered order/ordinance citation was located in Portland Press Herald reporting or Sanford's own site despite additional search. The extension was accompanied by City Council appointment (June 2026) of an Industrial Development Standards Task Force (Deputy Mayor Maura Herlihy; Councilor Cheeny Plante; representatives of the planning board, water district, sewerage district, and Industrial Development Corporation; and four Sanford-Springvale residents) to survey existing municipal standards and propose ordinance amendments.
• What prompted it: A proposed data center project along/near the Mousam River
• Affected projects: Proposed data center project near the Mousam River
• Detailed status: Extended and active as of 2026-09-23. Sanford City Council unanimously extended the emergency data-center moratorium by 180 days on 2026-08-04, now running through 2027-01-31; the extension continues to halt the proposed Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus data center (part of a 1,000+-acre project along the Mousam River) while the city's Industrial Development Standards Task Force (appointed June 2026) works to propose new ordinance standards. The task force's goal is to complete its work by the Jan. 31, 2027 expiration; the moratorium could be extended a further 180 days if that work is not finished by then. No signed order/ordinance number was located despite additional search of Portland Press Herald reporting and the city's public materials. [VERIFY: signed extension order/ordinance number not located]
• Outcome: Emergency moratorium halting a specific pending data-center project

Scarborough

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-06-03, Town Council adoption
• Normalized date: 2026-06-03 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days, or until a new and revised set of regulations is adopted, whichever occurs first
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-scarborough-2026
• Legal basis: Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Data Centers, adopted under 30-A M.R.S. section 4356
• What prompted it: Increasing developer interest in siting data centers; existing zoning ordinance deemed inadequate to address grid, water, traffic, and noise impacts. Applies retroactively to any application submitted on or after 2026-04-01.
• Affected projects: Not tied to a single named project; applies retroactively to applications submitted on/after 2026-04-01
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31 (180-day window runs to approximately early December 2026 absent extension or earlier replacement by permanent regulations).
• Outcome: 180-day moratorium on data center siting, permitting, construction, or operation

Warren

• Type: Town
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-07-08 (special town meeting)
• Normalized date: 2026-07-08 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days from the date of enactment; the Select Board may extend for additional 180-day periods after notice and public hearing under 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4356(2)-(3)
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center, battery storage
• Moratorium ID: me-warren-2026
• Legal basis: Town of Warren Moratorium on Data Center and Data Center Accessory Development, adopted by special town meeting vote 2026-07-08 pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4356
• What prompted it: Preemptive; the town cited the absence of specific data center standards in its Land Use Ordinance/Comprehensive Plan, the experience of Wiscasset and Lewiston with inadequate regulatory frameworks, and a desire to protect the Georges River watershed and electrical infrastructure
• Affected projects: None identified; adopted preemptively.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Voters approved the moratorium in near-unanimous fashion (per SAVRN, roughly 60 residents attended, nearly double normal turnout) at a special town meeting on 2026-07-08, prohibiting Data Center and Data Center Accessory Use (including battery energy storage systems as an accessory use) townwide for 180 days from enactment, renewable in further 180-day increments. No data center applications had been filed in Warren.
• Outcome: 180-day moratorium on data centers and accessory uses (including BESS, substations, cooling towers, and on-site generation accessory to a data center) adopted by town meeting vote to allow the town to develop permanent land use regulations.

Westbrook

• Type: City
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-06-01, City Council adoption, Order 2026-66, vote 6-0 (Councilor Faulkingham absent)
• Normalized date: 2026-06-01 (exact)
• Duration: 180 days from effective date
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: me-westbrook-2026
• Legal basis: Order 2026-66, Adopting a Data Center Moratorium Ordinance, under 30-A M.R.S. sections 3001 and 4356
• What prompted it: Statewide pattern of concern over grid strain, water/energy use, and environmental impact from data centers; the item was first discussed by the Housing & Economic Development Committee on 2026-05-18 before Council adoption
• Affected projects: None named; enacted preemptively
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31 (180-day window runs to approximately late November 2026). The Council simultaneously referred a review of data-center definitions and regulations in the Land Use Ordinance to the Planning Board for permanent rulemaking.
• Outcome: 180-day moratorium ordinance adopted 6-0

Source: moratorium_inventory.csv · Methodology · Codebook.

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