THE CRUNCH
Data centres have exploded into one of the most volatile issues in Maine's Senate race, days before voters head to the polls. During the final debate, an audience member interrupted Republican Sen. Susan Collins to shout that AI data centres were "destroying our climate" and "poisoning our water"; Collins tied the man to her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson. The race, expected to be the most expensive Senate contest per capita in US history, will help decide which party controls the Senate.
The money flowing in comes largely from the industry itself: Democrats are projected to spend $81 million and Republicans $114 million, much of it from tech companies and private equity firms tied to data centres and AI. Maine is an attractive target because it offers cheap land, vacant mills and plentiful water access as cities elsewhere run short on both land and power.
Local resistance is strong. A September poll by UMass Lowell and YouGov found 76 percent of Mainers oppose building a data centre in their community, with 58 percent strongly opposed. Towns across the state have adopted temporary bans this summer, and in April the Legislature passed what would have been the nation's first statewide moratorium on large data centres before Gov. Janet Mills vetoed it ten days later.
Researchers tracking the spending see a familiar pattern. Molly White of Tech Influence Watch says the playbook resembles the one the cryptocurrency industry used in 2024, and notes that voters connect data centres to rising utility bills at a moment when heating oil costs are at record highs. Economists add that the promised jobs rarely materialise: research indicates most data centres create virtually no net employment once construction ends.