Maryland governor signs executive order establishing new framework for data center development
Maryland governor signs executive order establishing new framework for data center development
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has signed an executive order creating strict guardrails for transparent and accountable data center development and announced plans to work with the General Assembly to repeal the state’s 2020 Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has signed an executive order creating strict guardrails for transparent and accountable data center development and announced plans to work with the General Assembly to repeal the state’s 2020 Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption.
The order establishes a Maryland Data Center Task Force to protect ratepayers, the environment and local communities. The framework sets one standard, one review process and one public record for any proposed data center of 25 megawatts or more. Projects will be evaluated on five principles: ratepayer and grid protection, economic benefits for Marylanders, community voice, environmental protections, and transparency and accountability.
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The task force will review each project, publish rules, maintain the public Data Center Dashboard, support local governments and coordinate with neighboring states. Members will come from multiple state agencies, including Energy, Commerce, Labor, Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Planning. Each project will receive a public determination of Aligned, Conditionally Aligned or Not Aligned.
The executive order also creates a Data Center Dashboard, updated monthly, that will serve as the state’s public record of data center development. It will list project locations, developers, parent companies, anchor tenants, projected power demand and water use, requested state actions, determinations, commitments and annual reports.
The Source: Information in this article comes from The Office of Governor Wes Moore and previous FOX 5 reporting.