Baltimore moves closer to pausing data center construction in the city

The Baltimore City Council is considering a bill that proposes a one-year moratorium on data center construction within the city. The bill successfully moved out of a committee Thursday morning and will now proceed to the full City Council for further discussion and a vote. Supporters of the moratorium, including local residents, argue that it would help control utility bills, mitigate climate impact, and alleviate strain on the electrical grid. Concerns have been raised about the significant power consumption of data centers, with one facility potentially requiring 10 megawatts. The proposed moratorium comes amidst calls for an investigation into a BGE transmission line project at the Baltimore Peninsula, where council members believe a new data center could be built, potentially negatively impacting South Baltimore residents. Council members emphasize the importance of studying the impacts of data centers and developing conditional use standards during the proposed one-year pause. This approach is similar to actions taken by Baltimore and Carroll counties in February. While the moratorium bill progresses, Johns Hopkins University received approval for a grant exceeding $9 million from the Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday to develop a new 25,000 square foot data center on its Bay View campus, an existing project that is exempt from the proposed city-wide moratorium. Residents continue to express feelings of powerlessness over rising energy costs, while BGE states that the majority of new data center costs would be borne by the developing company. Community meetings are planned to provide residents with information about potential data center developments in their areas.