#EastportME Council unanimously adopts moratorium on #DeepGreen #UnderwaterDatacenter proposal
By Melissa S. Razdrih, August 13, 2026
EASTPORT — "The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to enact a 180‑day moratorium that halts all progress on a proposed underwater artificial intelligence data center planned for waters off Eastport.
"Councilors said the move gives them time to consult with the Eastport Planning Board on the zoning impacts of two citizen-initiated ordinances designed to prevent data center projects in the city by amending the city’s Zoning and Shoreland Zoning ordinances.
"At the heart of the controversy is a project proposed by #LouisWolfson, a #LuxuryRealEstateDeveloper from Needham, Massachusetts, and the managing member of #DeepGreenHoldingsLLC.
"The company formed in Delaware one month before applying for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or #FERC, preliminary permits to build tidal‑powered, underwater artificial intelligence data centers for both #DeepGreenWesternPassageSPV in #Maine and a second project in the #UpperCookInlet in #Alaska.
"The Alaska proposal has also faced #resistance from the local community.
"In February, DeepGreen filed a 48‑month preliminary permit application with FERC to begin engineering and environmental tests in Maine, a required first step toward developing an underwater #AIDatacenter in the #BayOfFundy .
"The application drew an almost immediate response from residents and #Passamaquoddy tribal officials, who strongly oppose the development. Among the most vocal opponents is the #EastportCoalitionForHealthyOceans, or #ECHO, which submitted two citizen petitions for ordinances intended to prevent the project and protect what the group describes as 'the character of the city.'
"FERC found multiple deficiencies in DeepGreen’s application, including failure to identify all Tribes affected by the project, failure to specify all physical dimensions and configurations required by statute, inclusion of maps that extended beyond the required project boundaries, and a lack of detailed technical explanation for a 400‑acre 'operational envelope' despite a much smaller active infrastructure footprint.
"In its response to FERC, DeepGreen supplied the requested names and contact information for Tribal leaders. The company also provided an updated map and revised technical specifications showing a significantly smaller proposal, reducing the original 400‑acre operational envelope in the Western Passage to an active infrastructure footprint of 27.1 acres.
"The company also told FERC that the 'total proposed project operational capacity has been scaled down to a maximum of 15 MW (megawatts) to align with revised commercial modeling,' compared to an earlier proposal that envisioned up to 51 MW. In the revised Phase I, DeepGreen projects installing 16 marine hydrokinetic turbines, increasing to 34 in Phase II. The original proposal called for 170 turbines.
"The permit application for the Alaska project received a similar letter of deficiencies from FERC, but the company has not indicated that the Alaska proposal is being scaled down."
Read more:
themainemonitor.org/eastport-adopts-moratorium-underwater-data-center-proposal/
#UnderwaterDatacenters #NoAI
#NoAIDatacenters #WaterIsLife
#OceansAreLife #BigTech #MainePol #PassamaquoddyNation #CenterForBiologicalDiversity
#Whales #EndangeredWhales #EndangeredSpecies