Data Centers In Maine: Challenges, Policy And Development Updates, And Permitting Considerations

Foley Hoag is publishing a series of articles on the legal and business issues confronting the data center industry. Part 1 examined energy usage challenges. Part 2 examined water, community, land use, and e-waste challenges. Part 3 will examine the policy landscape and innovations in data center development. A focus issue post examined emerging aspects of the industry, including cross-border interplays and the potential for data center development in space. As a further extension of this series, in this post, we are focusing on state-specific considerations for data center development in Maine.

Currently, data center capacity in the United States is concentrated in northern Virginia and in several large cities throughout the country, but continued demand for additional data center capacity may encourage developers to pursue development outside of those clusters and in less urban areas.