Loudoun County official shares data center lessons as Washington County uses moratorium to study its options
Washington County, Maryland, is using a 12-month moratorium on new data center applications to study potential impacts on water, electric infrastructure and community planning. Loudoun County Deputy Administrator Joe Kroboth shared lessons from Loudoun’s extensive data center growth, including tax benefits as well as noise, transmission and siting problems.
Joe Kroboth, deputy county administrator for Loudoun County, Virginia, told the Greater Hagerstown Committee about the benefits and costs of his county’s data center expansion. Loudoun has 233 operating or under-construction facilities, approximately 17,000 jobs and projected fiscal 2027 data center revenue of $1.3 billion, but Kroboth identified noise and high-voltage transmission infrastructure as major sources of public concern.
The presentation came as Washington County, Maryland, evaluates its own options under a 12-month moratorium on data center applications approved by commissioners in June. The pause followed resident concerns about water and electric capacity and is intended to give officials time to address data centers in the county’s comprehensive plan and zoning rules. Officials said the moratorium is not a permanent ban, while Commissioner Neil Parrott warned it could discourage potential employers. Loudoun supervisors have separately approved a plan to pause final votes on data center and substation applications for a year, though discussion of that proposal was deferred.