Jay data center on hold indefinitely as company backs out, despite veto of statewide ban

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 18, 2026

Plans for a data center at the former paper mill in Jay are on hold after the data center company pulled out of the project — just two months after Gov. Janet Mills cited the project as her reason for vetoing a statewide data center moratorium. Town officials posted on Facebook that the company that owns the mill, JGT2, notified the town that Sentinel Data Centers would not be moving forward with the project. Rep. Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport), who sponsored the moratorium bill, said she never saw evidence to back up the promises made by developers for jobs and other benefits to the area. Sachs said the benefits of the project seemed “overstated at best,” and now residents across the state are left without the protections of a statewide moratorium.