Data center application amended; petitioners seek ban on proposal

The preliminary proposal for an underwater AI data center off Eastport has been amended, and a group of residents in the city have petitioned for local ordinances that would prohibit the data center. The proposal for a 51-megawatt tidal energy and subsea data center in Western Passage had been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in February by Louis Wolfson, the managing member of DeepGreen Western Passage SPV LLC.

In a June 8 filing, Wolfson, who lives in Needham, Mass., amended the application for a preliminary permit, reducing the size of the proposal. The proposed 15-megawatt design for phase 1 is amended to a one- to five-megawatt design, and phase II is downscaled from 51 megawatts to 10 to 15 MW. The filing states, "This substantial scale reduction ensures that any future data-gathering, modeling or potential deployment under a preliminary permit remains low-profile, highly localized and designed strictly to serve regional community frameworks."

While the original application indicated that DeepGreen "is coordinating with the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik for environmental oversight," the company has since been told by legal counsel for the tribe that tribal leadership is not interested in any memorandum of understanding or any partnership related to the project, citing "historical opposition to private developer activity impacting their sacred waters, traditional fishing grounds and cultural resources." The amended filing states that DeepGreen respects the tribe's position and sovereignty.

DeepGreen is seeking a two-year preliminary permit from FERC to conduct environmental baseline studies and engineering work for the project. Following the filing of an application for a preliminary permit, FERC will issue a public notice with a 60-day deadline for public comments and requests for intervenor status. If a preliminary permit is issued, it does not authorize any construction.

Petitions for two ordinances

The petitions for two city ordinances were filed with the city clerk's office on June 15 by a petitioners' committee consisting of Birdy Velveteen, Suellen Hendrix, Joshua Nicholson, Laurie Stone, Stacey Spendlove and Sarah Duff.

One ordinance would prohibit large-scale data centers and the other one would require voter approval for commercial and industrial development that is greater than 25,000 square feet, if no part is in the coastal area or shoreland zone, or 10,000 square feet if any part is in the coastal area or shoreland zone. Voter approval would also be required for any industrial or commercial development that would discharge pollutants to the ground or water impairing its designated public use or altering the temperature of an existing water body, tributary stream or wetland. If approved, both ordinances would apply retroactively to any development pending on or after June 1, 2026.

A total of 128 valid signatures were on the data center petition and 106 on the voter approval petition. The city charter requires a total of at least 84 signatures on each petition, or 10% of the total number of voters in the last general election.

Under the city charter, following the submission of the petitions the city council must publish the ordinance and set a public hearing. The council can then adopt the ordinance, or, if the council fails to do so, the ordinance must be voted on at a city election. At its July 8 meeting, the council scheduled the hearing for its August 5 meeting.