Maryland's Moratorium on Data Centers

Data centers are driving up our electricity bills and increasing our air pollution. According to Monitoring Analytics, between 2025 and 2028 data center demand will increase costs on Maryland’s regional electricity grid by $23 billion That comes out to an average of $343 for every person on our grid, including children, so a family of 3 is paying over a thousand dollars more in their electricity bill over that period because of data centers. Legislative leadership in Maryland took great steps in 2026 to shield Marylanders from higher costs caused by data centers in the Utility Relief Act, but those policies are still being implemented and in the meantime we are paying those higher costs today. Given that data centers are significantly increasing electricity bills, it is no surprise that the backlash to data centers has been so intense and universal. In fact the pushback is so strong that recent months have seen a proliferation of local data center bans and moratoriums. This will come as shocking news to most listeners, but these local acts have added up to what is almost a de facto moratorium on data centers throughout the state. Already 80% of Marylanders now live in a municipality with a moratorium or ban on data centers. This happened almost overnight, where a data center moratorium went from being a fringe idea to being reality all within the past few months. This runaway grassroots momentum is likely to take Annapolis by storm in 2027, and to talk about what that would look like I am joined by Mike Tidwell who is the founder and Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and a leader in data center grassroots organizing. Click Here to get a ticket for the People Over Data Centers conference on November 7th in Baltimore