Maine county rescinded $240k in affordable housing funds after town proposed using it for data center

The town of Wicasset, Maine lost nearly a quarter of a million dollars in federal funding earmarked for affordable housing after town officials proposed using the money to conduct a feasibility study for a data center instead, reports Julia Tilton in The Daily Yonder.

The case centers on a 300-acre undeveloped parcel that the town was considering for new housing. In 2024, Lincoln County decided to allocate $1.5 million in ARPA funds to housing projects, including the one in Wicasset. "But by November of 2024, a different plan was taking shape in Wiscasset, without the public’s awareness" as officials started a dialogue about a potential $5 billion data center on the same site, which could significantly increase the town's tax base. The town manager signed a nondisclosure agreement with the unnamed private company interested in developing the data center that obscured information about how much electricity and water the project would use. 

Once the county got wind of the new plans, it decided to reallocate the funding to housing in other nearby towns. "We were only concerned with the housing issue, and we weren’t interested in helping a private developer build a multi-million, if not multi-billion, dollar facility," said Lincoln County commissioner Evan Goodkowsky. The data center project stalled, and so did any plans for new housing. "When a powerful industry comes in and exercises its financial might, it’s often up to local elected leaders to balance attractive economic prospects with a community’s existing needs for other kinds of developments."