Maine voters are pushing back against proposed AI data centers as the state's Senate race becomes one of the most expensive per capita in US history, according to a report from The Verge.
A man at the final debate of the midterms told Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, "I'm terrified," and said, "AI data centers are destroying our climate. They are poisoning our water." Collins tied the man to her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson.
The report says Democrats are projected to spend $81 million and Republicans $114 million in the race. It says much of that money has come from the data center industry.
In April, the Maine Legislature passed what would have been the nation's first statewide moratorium on large data centers. Gov. Janet Mills vetoed the bill 10 days later. The report says towns across the state have adopted temporary moratoriums or plan to put data center expansion to a vote in November.
A September poll by UMass Lowell and YouGov found that 76 percent of Mainers oppose building a data center in their community, and 58 percent are strongly opposed.
Molly White, the researcher behind Tech Influence Watch, told The Verge that voters link data centers to rising utility costs. She said many Mainers are also dealing with record-high heating oil costs this fall. White said the crypto industry used a similar playbook in the 2024 election.
The report cites economic research indicating that most data centers create virtually no net employment once construction ends. Mark Brewer, who chairs the political science department at the University of Maine, said former mill towns want new tax revenue but remain wary after past boom-and-bust cycles. He said, "the jobs part of it's not there."