Baltimore data center moratorium signed by Mayor Brandon Scott

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott has signed into law a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, targeting facilities projected to use 10 megawatts or more of electricity annually. The measure, which passed the City Council in early May with significant sponsorship, was enacted on June 16.

This temporary ban is intended to provide city leaders with time to analyze the findings from a statewide study on the economic and environmental impacts of data center development. The Maryland General Assembly initiated this study in December, overriding Governor Wes Moore’s veto. The report, led by the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Maryland Energy Administration, and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, is due to the governor and General Assembly by September.

In addition to the state report, Baltimore's ordinance mandates a city-specific study to examine how data centers could affect local energy demand, infrastructure, and job creation. Baltimore is among a growing number of Maryland jurisdictions, including Prince George’s, Montgomery, Queen Anne’s, and Baltimore counties, that have paused data center development, with Harford County recently enacting an outright ban.

The moratorium will not impact planned upgrades to the existing Maryland Advanced Research Computing Center at Johns Hopkins University's Bayview campus, for which the Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $9 million grant in May.