ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland organizations are coalescing around a common concern: the growing presence of data centers.
Six organizations focused largely on land use recently combined their efforts to form a Maryland Data Centers Analysis Group. The focus is to provide information “from verified sources” to local groups looking to learn more about the potential impacts of data centers and possible policy solutions to concerns that arise.
“It is imperative at this critical point in the process that Maryland counties have a complete, factual understanding of the impacts of data centers. Both the benefits and costs of this new industry need to be understood,” said Steve Black, president of the Sugarloaf Alliance, which is part of the analysis group.
Hyperscale data center projects are already underway or in the planning process in Maryland’s Frederick, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
Maryland is home to about 44 data centers of varying sizes, according to the industry-run Data Center Map. Yet the market there is still nascent compared to neighboring Virginia’s which — with 637 data centers, according to the same map — is home to the world’s largest concentration.
But the data centers of the present and future use far more energy than those of the past, and local environmental and land use organizations are beginning to share notes on how to voice their concerns. About 14,000 people have signed a Change.org petition opposing a data center proposed for Landover, MD, for example, saying the energy-intensive project would strain drinking water supplies and the electrical grid, among other concerns.
Another group, the Maryland Data Center Reform Coalition, formed earlier this year to help address data center concerns as they come up in the state’s General Assembly starting next year. That group has more than 40 members from across the state, said Lydia Lawrence of Nature Forward, who helped start it.
Nature Forward is also launching a course to educate citizens and advocates on data center impacts and how to take action in their communities. The 10-week course will mostly take place on Zoom in October and November but is kicking off with a tour of Virginia’s Data Center Alley on Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, the Maryland Tech Council has launched and is seeking steering committee members for a Data Center Alliance focused on promoting the industry’s economic development potential.
“This is a critical time in Maryland for ensuring that Maryland leaders are informed and engaged,” Lawrence wrote in an email to the Bay Journal.