BANGOR — Bangor has placed a temporary ban on data centers.

On Monday, city councilors voted unanimously to place a six-month moratorium on any developments. 

According to the ordinance, the city “is suddenly experiencing increased development pressure from data centers.”

Councilors said the freeze is necessary to allow time to learn more information about the data centers. 

“These data centers are sort of new territory for us in this area, and we just don’t want to move too quickly in a way that’s going to have any kind of negative impact,” said Councilor Susan Faloon. “We don’t want to rush into something without considering any unintended consequences.”

The ban will also give the city time to develop and implement any necessary amendments to the Land Development Code.

“Existing ordinances and development standards do not adequately address the unique infrastructure demands, environmental impacts, impacts to neighboring property owners, and operational characteristics of data centers,” the moratorium ordinance reads, in part.

The ban comes as the state is considering a statewide moratorium on data centers set to be the first of its kind in the country. 

Bangor councilors fast-tracked the ban Monday night by waiving the requirement for two readings on the issue.

“These data centers do use a lot of electricity. That’s a concern. As well as they use a lot of water for cooling. So that’s another concern, we just need to make sure that we have adequate resources,” said Faloon.

Faloon added that the moratorium could last longer than six months if councilors need more time.

“We could extend it. That’s the maximum that we can do right now according to state laws,” said Faloon. “We could extend it if we think that we need more time.”