Maryland order established data center task force to track projects, water use, power demand<\/p>\n
ANNAPOLIS, Md. \u2014<\/p>\n
A state executive order<\/a> establishes guidelines that companies must follow when building data centers in Maryland. <\/p>\n Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday signed an executive order that establishes an advisory task force to steer policy around data center growth and take steps to create a dashboard for tracking data center projects across the state. <\/p>\n The governor said the executive order addresses concerns about transparency, environmental impacts and effects on the power grid. <\/p>\n “The data centers were calling the shots. The data centers and corporations were the ones writing the rules. And today, that ends because, today, I am signing executive order to make sure that when data centers come to the state of Maryland, that Marylanders always come first,” Moore said. “We knew these facilities required enormous amounts of electricity and water and infrastructure, and without clear guidelines and guardrails, our people ended up paying more, our communities felt left out of a process.”<\/p>\n Governor: Order establishes 5 principles for data centers<\/p>\n The governor said the executive order establishes five principles that include:<\/p>\n 1. Ratepayer and grid protection<\/p>\n The governor wants data centers to pay their own way. <\/p>\n “Maryland families should not pay more for utilities because a large corporation is choosing to strain the grid,” Moore said. “Data centers have got to pay their own way. They need to pay their own way, or they need to go away. Ratepayers should not be the ones left holding the bag.”<\/p>\n 2. Economic benefits for Marylanders<\/p>\n “Marylanders will be able to see what a company has proposed, how much electricity and how much water it expects to use and how it plans to meet those needs,” Moore said.<\/p>\n 3. Community voice<\/p>\n The governor said communities must have a voice, saying they need to know what is being planned before decisions are made. <\/p>\n 4. Environmental protections<\/p>\n The order addresses environmental protections that include air, water use and backup power generation. <\/p>\n 5. Transparency and accountability<\/p>\n The new order establishes the Maryland Data Center Task Force to review projects for large data centers, maintain a public dashboard and support local governments. The group, will be composed of members from the Maryland Energy Administration and the departments of Commerce, Labor, Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Planning.<\/p>\n The task force will review proposed large data centers that required more than 25 megawatts. The review process will occur when projects request a state permit, incentive or letter of support. Following the review process, projects will be qualified as: aligned, conditionally aligned or not aligned.<\/p>\n This content is imported from infogram. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.<\/p>\n Why the governor says the order is necessary<\/p>\n The governor said the order addresses federal rollbacks of safeguards.<\/p>\n “If the federal government has decided that they want to just just take away all the guardrails and just do giveaways to big tech, because as part of the president’s personal portfolio, then that is not going to stand inside of the state of Maryland. And so, that’s why it was necessary for us to be able to to pull together this executive order,” Moore said.<\/p>\n Moore said the order ensures utility ratepayers and the environment are protected, communities are empowered, and transparency and accountability are enforced. <\/p>\n “They need to pay their own way or … go away. Ratepayers should not be left holding the bag.”<\/p>\n “I want Maryland to be the best place in the world to change the world. I want Maryland to lead an innovation in this era. I want businesses to invest here,” Moore said. “But our families come first and our children come first. Not a developer’s timeline and not a corporation’s bottom line. And we will use every tool that we have at our disposal to make sure that no family and no community is left behind.”<\/p>\n Baltimore Gas and Electric and its sister utilities released a statement praising the order and describing its efforts to address energy usage and costs.<\/p>\n BGE’s statement reads, in part: “We applaud the governor’s focus on transparency and customer protections as Maryland’s energy needs grow. As demand from large energy users increases, it can drive up supply costs across the region \u2014 costs that are ultimately borne by customers. That’s why we have long supported a simple principle: Large new energy users should pay for the infrastructure needed to serve them, rather than shifting those costs to families and existing businesses.”<\/p>\n Raw video below: Gov. Wes Moore signs executive order on data centers<\/p>\n Other actions<\/p>\n According to the Governor’s Office, a new statewide dashboard will show the location of new projects. The website will also disclose the developer, the projected power demand and water use and “every state action the project has requested and its status.”<\/p>\n In the next legislative session, the Governor’s Office said the administration will seek to repeal a 2020 tax exemption that allowed certain data centers to be exempt from paying sales and use tax with the condition the centers would create at least five net new jobs for the duration of the benefit.<\/p>\n The 2020 program was intended to incentivize data center investment and job creation in the state.<\/p>\n What’s the state of data centers in Maryland?<\/p>\n According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,<\/a> lawmakers in 16 states \u2014 including Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware \u2014 are considering moratoriums or bans on data centers.<\/p>\n Last year, four Republican Maryland state delegates \u2014 including Baltimore County Delegate Kathy Szeliga, R-District 7A \u2014 introduced House Bill 120 to prohibit the construction of data centers in the state. The bill was discussed in a January hearing, but was not taken to a vote.<\/p>\n In the Baltimore metro area, multiple counties have passed moratoriums on data centers until 2027.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Baltimore County County voted to extend<\/a> its data center moratorium through December 2027. Last month, the Baltimore City Planning Commission discussed a bill that proposes new rules and restrictions for data centers<\/a> in the city.<\/p>\n