Jay Data Center at Former Paper Mill
A developer proposed a data center at a former paper mill site in Jay, Maine, which cleared a legislative hurdle in April 2026 but was subsequently put on hold indefinitely after the company withdrew from the project in June 2026. It is reported; the record holds no sourced date for when it reached that stage.
How much water it would use and who would use it have not been disclosed.
How to read this page. Every fact links to the source it rests on; a number in brackets is its place in the source list. A figure no source gives reads Not disclosed, and nothing is estimated. Where sources give different figures, each is shown with who gave it, and another source's figure never stands in for the record's own. Entries are added and never overwritten; corrections are listed under What happened.
What is known
Each figure as its source gave it. The number in brackets is its place in the source list.
- Land
- Not disclosed
- Power it would draw
- 82 MW
- not disclosed
- Water
- Not disclosed
- Who leads it
- Sentinel / Tony McDonald
- as stated by the source
- Who would use it
- Not disclosed
- Jobs once it runs
- Not disclosed
- Tax each year
- Not disclosed
Every field, with who said it and when (Researcher view)
Impact figures
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How much power it needs | 82 MW | not disclosed | September 17, 2026 | |
| How much water it would use | Not disclosed | |||
| How loud it would be | Not disclosed | |||
| Jobs once it runs | Not disclosed | |||
| Tax it would pay each year | Not disclosed |
The record's fields
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who is building it | Sentinel / Tony McDonald | as stated by the source | September 17, 2026 | |
| Who is constructing it | Not disclosed | |||
| How much land | Not disclosed | |||
| Where its power comes from | Not disclosed | |||
| Grid connection | Not disclosed | |||
| How it is cooled | Not disclosed |
The developer's figure is what the company said; what a permit allows is the ceiling a permit sets; measured means observed. Water is in gallons a day or a year, whichever the source stated; a tax claim given as a range shows both ends, each linked to the source that gave it.
Still not public, and where it would show up
The record adds each the day a source gives it. Why these documents.
- Water useA state water right filing or a water supply agreement.
- Who would use itA lease announcement or a tenant named in a filing.
- Jobs and taxAn incentive agreement, a county's economic development filing or a fiscal note.
What happened
No dated entry is on the record yet.
8 corrections to this record
Every correction, with its reason
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
Every correction on the record is on the corrections page.
The site
Where in Franklin County is not in the public record. The pin marks the county seat, not a building, and the outline is the county.
Tap a pin for the data center, the parcel for its record
- This record: Proposed, ringed
- data center
- Dashed edge: the exact site is not in the public record
- Smaller pins: 3 other published records in Maine
Details
- this record's location, ringed
- parcel outline, from the county parcel record
- city limits, U.S. Census Bureau, on a town level record
- county boundary
The other pins are the published projects in the same state, each in its stage color. The imagery beneath is the USGS national orthoimagery, public domain, shown so the land around the site can be read.
- Where
- Jay, Franklin County, Maine
- How exactly it is located
- County level, the county seat
- The parcel
- No parcel outline in the public record
- Nearest homes
- Not computed for a record placed at a place center
- Nearest records
- Nearest records are not computed for a record placed at a county seat.
Questions about this project
5 questions answered from the record
How big is Jay Data Center at Former Paper Mill?
-
The record has one measure of its size: 82 MW (not disclosed). Its acreage is not disclosed.
Who is building Jay Data Center at Former Paper Mill?
-
Sentinel / Tony McDonald is the developer. No construction contractor is named on the record yet.
How much power and water does Jay Data Center at Former Paper Mill say it needs?
-
Power: 82 MW (not disclosed). Water: not disclosed by any source on file.
Where does Jay Data Center at Former Paper Mill stand today?
-
It is reported; the date it reached that stage is not sourced, only the day a page was read. No dated entry is on the record yet.
What has Jay or Franklin County decided about it?
-
No decision by Jay or Franklin County about data centers is on the record. The Franklin County page and the Maine scorecard list every rated row the day a person publishes one.
Sources
Reporting
- Developer halts plans for data center at former Jay paper mill - vermontpublic.org, vermontpublic.org, June 12, 2026, query feed
- Maine Legislature passes first in the nation ban on data centers - Vermont Public, Vermont Public, April 13, 2026, query feed
- Weird Town Begs for AI Data Center - Futurism, Futurism, August 8, 2026, query feed
- 'Incredibly disappointed' - environment group, bill sponsor dismayed at veto of data center ban - vermontpublic.org, vermontpublic.org, April 27, 2026, query feed
- Jay data center project at former paper mill put on hold after developer backs out - WMTW, WMTW, June 12, 2026, query feed
- Sentinel DC backs off paper mill data center project in Maine, www.datacenterdynamics.com, June 12, 2026, trade press
- Jay data center on hold indefinitely as company backs out, despite veto of statewide ban - Maine Morning Star, Maine Morning Star, June 18, 2026, local outlet
- After Mills vetoes statewide pause, Maine towns move to halt data center projects locally - WGME, WGME, June 12, 2026, local outlet
- Lure of data center derails needed housing project in rural Maine - Maine Beacon, Maine Beacon, May 28, 2026, local outlet
- Jay data center developer sought to give Janet Mills ‘cover’ for key veto, emails show - The Maine Monitor, The Maine Monitor, July 6, 2026, local outlet
- Jay data center can proceed after clearing legislative hurdle - The Maine Monitor, The Maine Monitor, April 29, 2026, local outlet
- Developer halts plans for data center at former Jay paper mill - mainepublic.org, mainepublic.org, June 12, 2026, local outlet
2 more sources
- After Maine data center moratorium veto, one project expected to move forward - IT Brew, IT Brew, May 4, 2026, local outlet
- Jay data center project pauses as developer withdraws from former mill site plan - newscentermaine.com, newscentermaine.com, June 12, 2026, local outlet
14 sources on file.
Cite this record
Data Center Record, "Jay Data Center at Former Paper Mill", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/jay-data-center-at-former-paper-mill-me, last verified September 17, 2026.
Cite this page
Data Center Record, "Jay Data Center at Former Paper Mill", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/jay-data-center-at-former-paper-mill-me. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY 4.0.
The structured rows are CC BY 4.0. Link to this page; that is what turns a reuse into a citation. Prose stays under copyright.
For researchers
- Slug
- jay-data-center-at-former-paper-mill-me
- Status value
- rumored
- Stage
- Proposed
- Tier
- skeleton
- Tags
- skeleton
- Place id
- us/me/franklin-county/jay
- Coordinates
- 44.66556, -70.14694
- Location precision
- county
- Location source
- County seat (Farmington), Wikidata, placed at county level
- Coordinate source
- wikidata county seat
- Location source number
- Not disclosed
- Location last verified
- September 16, 2026
- EPA registry id
- Not disclosed
- Use type values
- not_disclosed
- Tenancy value
- not_disclosed
- Cooling type value
- not_disclosed
- Capacity basis
- not_disclosed
- Water basis
- not_disclosed, gallons_per_day
- Acreage basis
- Not disclosed
- Interconnection value
- not_disclosed
- Capacity, if disclosed
- 82 MW, not disclosed
- Rating of the county's rows
- Not disclosed
- Published
- 2026-09-05
- Last verified
- 2026-09-17