Baltimore City Council President to introduce one-year data center moratorium

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen plans to introduce legislation on Monday proposing a one-year moratorium on new data centers within Baltimore City. The initiative seeks to temporarily halt the development of large-scale data center infrastructure. The proposed bill specifically targets facilities defined as "used for remote storage, processing, and distribution of data" that have an electrical demand of 10 megawatts or greater. Should the legislation be enacted, these high-energy-consuming data centers would be designated as prohibited zoning use anywhere in Baltimore City for a period of one year. This move by Council President Cohen signals an effort to control or re-evaluate the impact of data center development on the city's resources and urban planning.