By Aaron Knishkowy, CCAN’s Executive Operations Associate and Special Projects Coordinator

Data centers. The hottest topic these days in discussions about climate, technology, and energy affordability. The water-guzzling, land-devouring, city’s-worth-of-electricity-consuming mega-campuses are seemingly popping up faster than lawmakers can regulate them. Big companies rushing to build infrastructure that harms communities is nothing new. The good news is that there’s a playbook for communities that want to fight back, and it’s playing out in different ways across the region. And we’re starting to stack up a few wins.

Across the country, state legislators are scrambling to address the energy, water, and land-use crises caused by data centers. In Virginia, over 60 data center-related bills were introduced in 2026! And in Maryland, lawmakers and community activists passed new legislation that would incentivize, but does not require, data center developers to bring their own clean energy sources, like solar, a first-of-its-kind policy in the nation. The movement to rein in reckless data center development is growing, but taking on both the fossil fuel industry AND Big Tech is no small task.

In addition to our state-level work, CCAN Action Fund and our volunteers have spent countless hours organizing, rallying, and petitioning in local battles. Why? Local government plays a tremendous role when it comes to data centers. While states should require that data centers run on 100% renewable energy, local governments have the power to make that same demand. 

Frederick County, MD

Frederick County is Maryland’s data center capital. Back in 2021, a data center developer announced plans to build Maryland’s first gigawatt-scale data center campus. For reference, one gigawatt of electricity is enough to power every Frederick County resident’s home, several times over! 

More recently, the Frederick County Executive and Council chose to expand the section of the county zoned for data center development by over 1000 acres, cutting into Frederick County’s Agricultural Reserve. Community advocates quickly sprang into action. A coalition led by local environmental organizations and CCAN Action Fund worked tirelessly to collect petition signatures to trigger a ballot referendum on the expansion. Petitioners had just 60 days to collect more than 14,000 signatures. 

Thanks to weeks of tireless volunteer organizing, word of the petition spread like wildfire. I was lucky enough to join canvassers in Downtown Frederick twice to help collect signatures. The second time I went, which was in the final days of the campaign, a dozen petitioners lined the main intersections in downtown Frederick, flagging down shoppers, dog walkers, and restaurant-goers. In the end, not even the “snowcrete” could stop the coalition from collecting over 21,000 signatures – easily enough to trigger a referendum. This people-powered effort represented democracy at its best. 

Montgomery County, MD

Montgomery County is facing a different type of challenge: a single data center proposal from a company named “Atmosphere.” Atmosphere claims to build the “greenest and most energy-efficient data centers on Earth.” (Yes, that’s an actual quote!). And yet news reports say that there are no plans to use renewable energy sources to power the proposed campus in Dickerson. Public data shows that Atmosphere’s data center would emit over 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. It would be the County’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases by a wide margin and would, for all intents and purposes, put the County’s climate goals out of reach. 

And yet, here again, grassroots activism has had an unquestioned impact. Residents flooded the Montgomery County Council hearing in February to demand that the data center only be built if it would run on 100% renewable energy. Weeks later, at a Montgomery County Executive Candidate Forum hosted by NPR, a CCAN Action Fund rally outside the venue grabbed headlines. All three leading county executive candidates addressed reporters and dozens of community members, pledging to protect the county’s climate goals and to fight to ensure that data centers run on 100% clean energy.

A New Battle in Charles County

New data center battles continue to arise in Maryland. TeraWulf, a cryptocurrency company with a history of dubious data center projects, is the latest foe. With the help of Governor Wes Moore’s administration, TeraWulf is seeking to build a methane gas pipeline, power plant, and data center in Charles County that would allegedly be given “expedited” environmental review. 

CCAN Action Fund quickly mobilized and hosted a press conference with local and state-level advocates, where we pledged to employ mass rallies, lawsuits, press conferences, and whatever it takes to stop the project. 

The playbook to protect our communities and climate is out, and Big Tech doesn’t want you to know about it. In the first 3.5 months of 2026, there have already been more local rejections or restrictions on data centers in the US than in all of 2025! When corporations try to set up shop in our backyard, Marylanders, along with communities across the country, have shown that they’ll do whatever it takes to win.