Amazon drops Calvert data center plan
Amazon has withdrawn its application to build a large data center complex in Lusby, Calvert County, following public opposition and ahead of a scheduled public hearing on a potential data center moratorium. County officials and residents continue to discuss implementing a moratorium and reversing previous zoning changes that designated the area as heavy industrial.
Amazon Data Services Inc. has withdrawn its application for a large data center complex near the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland. The decision was announced late Monday night to county officials, just three months after the initial submission and two weeks before a scheduled public hearing on a potential six-month moratorium on data center projects.
The withdrawal comes amidst significant public opposition, with residents consistently voicing disapproval of data center developments in the area. The announcement also follows a primary election where three incumbent county commissioners—Todd Ireland, Earl F. “Buddy” Hance, and Mark C. Cox Sr.—who had previously voted against a moratorium, lost to candidates who oppose data centers.
Despite Amazon's withdrawal, citizens like Nancy Ellwien of Lusby emphasize the continued need for a moratorium and advocate for rescinding what she described as "illegal re-zoning" that reclassified the area around the power plant as "heavy industrial." Commissioner Hance, a lame-duck official, has now publicly stated his support for a moratorium of two to five years and for action to remove data centers as an allowed use anywhere in Calvert County. A public hearing on the proposed moratorium is set for August 18.