JAY — Town and school officials are hoping a plan to redevelop the former Androscoggin Mill site into a data center clears its final hurdle.
Wednesday is “Veto Day” at the State House in Augusta, when lawmakers are expected to vote on whether to override Gov. Janet Mills’ veto of a bill that would have barred state, local and quasi‑governmental agencies from approving new data centers until 90 days after the legislative session ends.
The bill, L.D. 307, sponsored by Rep. Melanie Sachs, D‑Freeport, would have created a Data Center Coordination Council to study the effects of data centers in Maine and given the group time to review their potential impacts.
Overturning a veto requires a two‑thirds vote in each chamber, and the bill previously passed the House of Representatives 79-62 and the Senate, 21-13 — both short of that threshold.
Tony McDonald, a principal with JGT2 Redevelopment LLC, which owns the site, told the Jay Select Board on March 24 that “the moratorium would kill this project.”
On Monday, McDonald said he was “very, very satisfied with her veto.”
In her April 24 veto message, Mills wrote that Sachs’ bill “establishes (a) council for the purpose of ‘protecting ratepayers, maintaining electric grid reliability, minimizing environmental impacts and maintaining responsible and appropriately sited economic development.’”
She added, “I support these goals and I intend, by executive order, to establish a commission to pursue this important work.”
Mills also wrote, “I believe it necessary and important to examine and plan for the potential impacts of large-scale data centers in Maine.”
She added, “Given the serious conversations about data centers here and around the country, I believe this work should commence without delay.”
Word of the governor’s veto spread quickly Friday afternoon, usually a slow news day.
This week, Terry Bergeron, chair of the Jay Select Board, said he was “pleased” with the governor’s veto. He thanked those who joined the board in writing letters supporting the data center.
“The county commissioners really did help,” he said.
Three Franklin County commissioners submitted a letter supporting the project and urging Mills to veto LD 307. The signers were Jeff Gilbert, whose district includes Jay; Tom Saviello, whose district borders Jay; and Tom Skolfield, whose district covers much of northern Franklin County.
In a statement following the veto, Saviello said: “Janet Mills displayed exceptional resolve in vetoing the data center bill, a decision that ensured the Jay data center could proceed. By staying connected to her Franklin County roots and disregarding the panic fueled by certain legislators, she showed a deep commitment to the community’s and the county’s future.”
Jay Selectman Gary McGrane was the only board member who did not vote to send a letter of support. He abstained, telling McDonald he needed more information before backing the project.
On Monday, McGrane said: “I was pleased with the veto. It buys us time.”
Both the Town of Jay and Regional School Unit 73 stand to benefit from the expanded tax base that redevelopment of the Androscoggin Mill site could bring.
Shari Ouellette, chair of the RSU 73 board of directors, said, “The proposed data center would help the schools because it would increase the tax revenue for the town of Jay.”
Looking ahead to “Veto Day,” Sachs said, “Roll calls taken in previous votes did not reach the two-thirds threshold needed to overturn the governor’s veto, so a successful override vote appears unlikely.”
Sachs urged that opponents of data centers “contact their legislators before Wednesday to ask them to vote to override the veto.”
“A vote to sustain the veto means that data centers can be established anywhere in Maine, with no guardrails,” she said. “If the veto is sustained, it unfortunately falls to individual communities to regulate or force transparency into the process.”
She noted that in Festus, Missouri, voters defeated all four City Council members who had approved a data center. The Festus project was about 12 times larger than the Jay proposal.
Like Jay, Festus has lost its historic economic base; it was a center of lead mining until lead was found to be toxic in most uses.
Sachs said Mills, in addition to establishing a commission to research data centers, can still impose her own moratorium.
“Given the statements in her veto letter,” Sachs said, “Gov. Mills should … also institute a temporary moratorium on permitting by state and quasi-state agencies so that Maine does not see unregulated proliferation of these centers without adequate protections for Maine ratepayers, our natural resources and all of our residents.”
McDonald said Monday that remediation of the mill is nearly complete. Workers are dismantling the paper machines and shipping them to Pakistan, a process he expects to finish by July 1. After that, crews can begin “selective demolition” of the old mill structure.
McDonald said JGT2 Redevelopment “needs to deliver the building (to the data center company) by the end of the year.”
The company has been identified as Sentinel Data Centers LLC of New York City. Sentinel is expected to spend 2027 developing the site and plans to open early in 2028, McDonald said.
Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said: “The immediate role is to continue as we have in support of asking the state to allow this project to move forward. Once the Legislature is adjourned and we know that outcome, then the board can determine a path forward.”
Saviello said, “I am optimistic that Andro (mill) and Jay will experience a resurgence, rising from adversity and embracing new opportunities for growth.”
Like McGrane, Ouellette said she wants to be cautious about developing data centers.
“We do need businesses to move here,” she said, “but the problems that go along with a data center are something Jay residents should consider carefully.”
In his presentation to the Select Board, McDonald emphasized the distinction between data centers and artificial intelligence. In short, all artificial intelligence relies on data centers, but not all data centers host AI operations. He cited Instagram as an example of a data center that does not involve AI.
He said his company is “not the bogeyman the drafters of L.D. 307 are worried about.”
“That bill just isn’t about us,” McDonald said. “It’s about something else.”
