A state lawmaker and local water district official have confirmed new details about the proposed development of a large data center in southern Maine.

David Parent, superintendent of the Sanford Water District, said developers are eyeing parcels of land along the Mousam River on the eastern side of town.

Those parcels have been owned by New England Energy Co. for several decades, according to local property records.

Sen. Matt Harrington, R-York, first described the proposed data center in a legislative hearing last week. But the discussion was light on details. Among the few tidbits he offered: The center would be located in his district, which includes Alfred, Lebanon, Sanford and Waterboro; and it would include independent power generation.

Harrington confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the project is slated for Sanford and that he was briefed by representatives of the Northern New England Energy Corporation. He said that it plans to build a power generation facility “needed to serve a co-located data center.”

But Energir, Northern New England Energy’s parent company, denied having any connection to the Sanford project. Spokesperson Elaine Arsenault said it “does not conduct any business in Maine” one day after Harrington named the company.

“There may be some confusion between NNEEC and New England Energy Corp., which is not affiliated with NNEEC and is a real estate company that owns land in Maine,” Arsenault said.

It remained unclear who was behind the broader data center development.

When asked about his statement linking the project to Northern New England Energy Corp. at a legislative meeting Thursday, Harrington said, “I might have messed it up.”

Stakeholders, including Sanford officials and representatives of the developer behind the project, were expected to appear before the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee Thursday afternoon, according to a spokesperson for the Maine Senate Republicans Office.

Harrington said he had agreed not to discuss the project until the developers were ready to announce it, but “was surprised” when his legislative colleagues began discussing a data center moratorium at least week’s hearing. He said he worried that talk of a ban could kill the project before it could even be considered.

“As we all learn more about this project, public input will be an imperative part of the process,” Harrington said.

Large data centers, especially those centered on artificial intelligence, can consume massive quantities of water. That’s led to criticism in some parts of the country.

But Parent said the water district could easily accommodate the project’s needs. He said daily water usage has dropped by more than one million gallons since the early 2000s, leaving a significant amount of excess capacity.

The proposed center could use between 300,000 and 500,000 gallons of water per day, he said.

“We try to stay neutral on the politics,” Parent said. “But we’d like to sell them some water.” 

Editor’s note: This story was updated Feb. 19 with comment from the parent company of Northern New England Energy Corp.