Maryland orders full study of data center impacts

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland lawmakers have ordered a comprehensive study of the impacts of data centers on the environment and economy — a move that’s in line with many in the communities that would be most impacted by the massive, energy-sucking complexes.

What we know:

The old Landover Mall site — nearly 80 acres of vacant land now called Brightseat Tech Park – is one of the properties in Prince George’s County that may one day see a complex of data centers coming to life. But not without some scrutiny.

A current moratorium has put plans on hold. A Prince George’s County Data Center Task Force has just come up with a host of recommendations before any future site is approved.

"The leadership in the state and the leadership here in Prince George’s County are going to do things differently. And we are not just looking at the dollar signs and saying move tomorrow. We’re saying we have to do our due diligence. We have to look at this. We have to understand the environmental justice. We — that cost. We have to understand these factors. We can’t just look at the proposed revenue and not look at long-term impacts of our community," 

"I see data centers as possible but they just have to be done right. People actually know how to do it right. Prince George’s County has come up with a set of guidelines and Frederick has. We’re gonna be proposing a set of guidelines and we’ll have a public hearing on this, but we think it’s — you know — there are ways to do this in a way that’s responsible," said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. "We don’t wanna make the mistakes that were made over in Northern Virginia with people — they’re not very happy with the citing — but we’ve got places we can put them and we think there’s a way to go forward and do them in a way that’s responsible."

On Tuesday in a special session, the Maryland General Assembly ordered a comprehensive study of the economic, environmental, and energy impacts of data center development here in Maryland. That study is due next September.