Peru Voters Will Weigh In on Town-Wide Datacenter Moratorium in November
Voters in Peru, Maine, will decide in November on a proposed 180-day moratorium on data center construction. The temporary ban aims to allow local boards to study potential impacts on water usage, the electrical grid, noise, and environmental resources. This comes despite there being no current plans for a data center in the town.
Voters in Peru, Maine, are set to cast their ballots in November on a proposed 180-day moratorium on data center construction. The town's Select Board approved placing the moratorium on the ballot, which, if passed, would immediately halt new data center development.
The stated purpose of the temporary moratorium is to provide the Selectboard and the Planning Board with adequate time to assess the potential impacts of data processing facilities on local water usage, electrical grid capacity, noise levels, and environmental and government resources. The proposed ban would stop the acceptance, approval, or processing of any related building applications, site plans, or permits, though routine upgrades to existing telecom facilities would be exempt.
Despite these proactive measures, there are currently no announced plans for a data center to be built in Peru. This local initiative follows a broader, though unsuccessful, attempt by the Maine state legislature to pass a statewide data center moratorium earlier this year, which was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) in April.