Howard joins growing number of Maryland jurisdictions pausing new data center development based on a groundswell of concern from county residents 

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – The Howard County Council unanimously approved, on Monday, June 1, a 17-month moratorium on new data centers in the county, joining several Maryland jurisdictions in working to address residents’ concerns by preventing potential environmental and community harms from the booming industry. The county will also appoint a task force of experts and residents to recommend long-term land use restrictions for data centers. 

“Council members are clearly hearing residents who are unnerved by uncontrolled data center growth and don’t want it in Howard County,” said Doug Siglin, a longtime Howard County resident. “It is critical that local officials are stepping up on this because federal officials clearly aren’t, and state officials have so far only passed voluntary measures.”

Councilmember Christiana Rigby introduced the legislation (CB31), which had a public hearing on May 18th. Several Howard County residents, including high school students, testified passionately about the environmental and other harms that large data centers have brought to communities in Northern Virginia and elsewhere. 

“Howard County just drew a line in the sand,” said Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of CCAN Action Fund. “Data centers can’t rush into the county at the expense of clean air, reliable energy, and local quality of life. This pause is a necessary step to put smart, enforceable safeguards in place before any new development moves forward.”

Proposals for large data center developments have sparked protests in Montgomery, Baltimore, Prince George’s, Charles, and other Maryland counties. In Frederick County, more than 21,000 citizens signed a petition to overturn the County Council’s expansion of a data center overlay zone. Large data center projects pose significant climate risks, often relying on fossil fuels and polluting diesel generators to power their facilities during outages. The data center proposed in Montgomery County would produce a million and a half tons of additional climate pollution every year, and the one proposed in Charles County would more than double that. Without 100% clean energy, data centers are incompatible with Maryland law requiring a 60% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2031 and “net zero” greenhouse gases by 2045.

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund is dedicated to driving change in public policies at the local, state, and national levels to address the climate crisis. Through voter education, lobbying, and participation in the electoral process, we seek to advance our country’s leadership in the global movement toward clean energy solutions — focusing our efforts primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. We know that a vibrant democracy is central to our success so we work to defend democratic integrity wherever we can.