By Doug Kelly:
Maine’s proposed moratorium on new data centers sends exactly the wrong signal at the wrong time (“Maine Poised to Halt New Data Centers,” U.S. News, April 3). Maine has lived through the loss of its industrial base, from paper mills to its manufacturing economy. Why would state lawmakers now turn their backs on building the infrastructure of America’s future?
Data centers aren’t speculative projects: They are the core infrastructure of the modern economy, supporting small-business productivity, advanced manufacturing, healthcare innovation and more.
A blanket freeze risks sidelining Maine from the fastest-growing sector in the country. Data-center projects bring significant local benefits: high-paying construction jobs for electricians, pipefitters and skilled trades; long-term tax revenue for schools, roads and first responders; and investment in local communities, often in underutilized industrial sites.
Concerns about energy demand are real, but a moratorium doesn’t solve them. Instead, it delays the very investments needed to strengthen the grid. Across the country, data-center developers are helping finance new generation, modernize transmission and improve system reliability. Two-year freezes don’t pause development; they redirect capital to states ready to build. Once those investments leave, they rarely return.
Continue reading at the Wall Street Journal.