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Montgomery County considers 2-year data center moratorium bill
Councilmember at-large Will Jawando introduced legislation called the Data Center Moratorium, which would establish a 2-year moratorium on the issuance of building permits for data centers. FOX 5 D.C.'s Homa Bash has the story.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. - A new bill in Montgomery County could put the brakes on data centers for at least two years.
Councilmember at-large Will Jawando introduced legislation called the Data Center Moratorium, which would establish a 2-year moratorium on the issuance of building permits for data centers.
What they're saying:
Jawando said it would give the county time to put laws in place regarding clean energy use, noise pollution, even tax rates — because as it stands, a data center would pay the same rate as a single family home.
"We don't want to be first, we want to be right," Jawando said. "You can't unbuild these things. There are places across the country where they're saying please don't build these things. In Virginia, half their power is coming from data centers, and now areas are saying we don't want anymore."
Mike Tidwell with the Chesapeake Climate Action Fund supports the moratorium, saying a two-year pause gives the county time to move forward properly.
"There are too many unanswered questions about how exactly are we going to handle water use, how much is it going to raise our bills, can we do it with clean energy?" Tidwell added.
Montgomery County has been exploring ways to tackle data center expansion in Maryland for months now. The county is receiving proposals, similar to what is happening in Frederick and Prince George's Counties, and in Baltimore.
And one data center development is underway at the old Dickerson coal plant site that Jawando says would have the same emissions as a small city, and would impact noise, water use and climate.
"We need to slow this down," Jawando said. "This isn't about, No AI, no never. It's about doing it right. We need a commitment to clean energy. There have to be appropriate tools to tax these."
Dig deeper:
This comes as Maryland Governor Wes Moore this week demanded that PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, do more to protect ratepayers amid rising utility costs.
Earlier this year, Moore also signed the Utility RELIEF Act into law, requiring that data centers in the state pay their own electricity costs.
Big picture view:
For context, there are about 50 data centers in Maryland, according to Data Center Map, compared to more than 600 in Virginia, most of them concentrated in Northern Virginia.
The Data Center Coalition highlights the industry’s economic benefits, citing PwC research that estimates that for every one data center job created, six additional jobs are supported in the broader local economy.
Khara Boender, director of state policy at the Data Center Coalition, told FOX 5 D.C. that Montgomery County’s proposed moratorium would signal to the industry that data centers are not welcome, now or in the future.
"There is a large likelihood they will go to surrounding localities that are more welcoming to these projects," Boender said. "A PwC report found that in 2023, the industry contributed $6.3 billion to Maryland GDP, both directly and indirectly, and generated nearly $650 million in state tax revenues."
What's next:
A public hearing on the proposed moratorium is scheduled for June 16.
The Source: Information from Khara Boender, director of state policy at the Data Center Coalition, Councilmember at-large Will Jawando and Mike Tidwell with the Chesapeake Climate Action Fund, as well as the Frederick County local government, the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Association, Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s office, Data Center Map, PwC research and The Washington Post.