Lewiston Rejects Secretive $300M Data Center Proposal

City officials say developers need to be more transparent about environmental impacts of data centers

Apr. 6, 2026 at 1:07pm

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A proposed $300 million data center project in Lewiston, Maine's historic Bates Mill building was abruptly rejected by the city council after details were only made public about a month before a scheduled vote. The rushed timeline and lack of public engagement sparked backlash from residents concerned about the environmental impacts of the facility.

Why it matters

The Lewiston case highlights the growing tensions around data center development across Maine and the US, as local communities push back against secretive proposals that can have significant effects on water, energy, and the environment. This has led to stalled projects and new state-level legislation to impose moratoriums on data centers.

The details

The data center proposal was first brought to Lewiston officials last spring, but details were not shared with the city council until about a month before a scheduled vote in December. This gave councilors and the public little time to review the 19-page proposal, which included a 90% tax break for the first 10 years. After two closed-door meetings, the council released details to the public just six days before the vote, sparking immediate backlash from residents concerned about the environmental impacts. The council ultimately voted unanimously to reject the project.

  • In June 2025, Lewiston city administrator Bryan Kaenrath signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore the data center project.
  • In September 2025, the developer submitted a concrete proposal for the $300 million AI data center to the city.
  • In November 2025, city councilors said they first saw the detailed proposal, about a month before the scheduled vote.
  • On December 16, 2025, the Lewiston City Council unanimously voted down the data center proposal.

The players

Bryan Kaenrath

Lewiston's city administrator who signed the initial non-binding letter of intent for the data center project.

Bill Johnson

The developer who proposed the $300 million data center project in Lewiston's Bates Mill building.

Scott Harriman

A Lewiston City Councilor who initially approached the project with an open mind but grew more skeptical as the council reviewed the details.

David Chittim

The Lewiston City Council President who said the rushed timeline of less than a month for the council to review the proposal was "a killer" for the project.

Sarah Demarest

An independent project manager in Lewiston who helped organize citizens to protest the data center proposal due to concerns about its environmental impacts and downtown location.

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What they’re saying

“If a developer is looking to bring a major project to the community, the onus is on them to educate the necessary city boards and committees and the community about the impacts of the project. If they had had four, five, six town meetings, maybe things could have been different.”

— Bryan Kaenrath, Lewiston City Administrator

“Lewiston is tight-knit and people showed up in droves when they heard about it. I'm 45 and I remember driving over the bridge and holding my breath because it smelled so bad. It felt like the data center plan was a contradiction to everything we had worked for.”

— Sarah Demarest, Independent Project Manager

“I think the underlying lesson here is that developers need to stop planning these data centers in secret and then complaining about how much they've invested in the process once the public finally becomes aware of it and pushes back.”

— Scott Harriman, Lewiston City Councilor

What’s next

The Lewiston City Council has heard from a few other prospective data center developers since the mill project was voted down, but a moratorium bill being considered in the Maine Legislature and the city's now-longer review process has scared them away. The city says it will be "quite cautious" about future data center proposals.

The takeaway

The Lewiston case highlights the growing backlash against secretive data center development plans across Maine and the US, as local communities demand more transparency about the environmental impacts of these energy-intensive facilities. This has led to stalled projects and new state-level efforts to impose moratoriums, underscoring the need for developers to engage the public early and often.