How a Data Center Derailed $240k for Affordable Housing in Rural Maine

How a data center derailed $240k for affordable housing in rural Maine

In the Midcoast, nearly a quarter of a million dollars in federal money earmarked for housing was rescinded from a small town after local officials sought to use the funds for a data center.

How a data center derailed $240K for affordable housing

Protect Wiscasset co-founder Richard Davis points to the undeveloped land where the prospect of a $5 billion data center emerged. The town of Wiscasset had previously received $240,000 in federal funding to do a housing feasibility study on that property. Photo by Julia Tilton of The Daily Yonder.This story was originally published by the Daily Yonder.  On a crisp afternoon in early April 2026, Richard Davis walked to the end of a boat launch on…

How a data center derailed $240,000 for affordable housing in Wiscasset

Protect Wiscasset co-founder Richard Davis points to the undeveloped land where the prospect of a $5 billion data center emerged. The town of Wiscasset had previously received $240,000 in federal funding to do a housing feasibility study on that property. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder) This story was originally published in the Daily Yonder. For more rural reporting and small-town stories visit dailyyonder.com. On a crisp afterno…