Prince George’s County’s pause on data center development is set to expire at the end of the month, and it’s not clear what will happen next.
Much of the long-term future for data centers in the county hinges on next week’s primary election. While most council and executive candidates agree that massive data centers have no place in the county because of environmental and community concerns, some are leaving the door open to building the facilities.
Council member Jolene Ivey said she used to think that data centers could benefit the county and help bring in needed revenue. She even helped the council pass tax exemptions in 2020 to make it easier to develop them. Now, she’s more skeptical and hopes to pass legislation repealing the tax incentives.
As Ivey continues to learn about data centers, she thinks it’s more important for the county to take community members’ worries into account. But she still doesn’t think she knows enough about data centers to take a strong position for or against them.
“From what we know right now, I think we need to be cautious and consult with the community, especially the community that a data center would be in,” said Ivey, who is running for reelection in the at-large race. “I don’t think any of us is educated to the point we need to be on data centers.”
According to the Sierra Club, new research has shown that data centers consume large amounts of energy and typically rely on fossil fuels, which can contribute to increased air pollution. Ordinary residents often bear the economic brunt of data centers as localities raise electricity costs to compensate for heightened energy demand.
Another at-large candidate, Sydney Harrison, said he doesn’t think data centers are necessary for the county’s economy, but he didn’t rule out their possible development. The county needs to listen to the community and work to determine if data centers are feasible, where they would be constructed and what their impacts would be, the current District 9 council member wrote in The Banner’s voter guide.
There are two at-large seats up for election, and voters can select up to two candidates in the race.
Other candidates have taken firmer stances against the development of data centers in Prince George’s County.
Educator and activist Laura Gilchrest, another candidate in the at-large race, wrote that the county should impose a permanent moratorium on additional data centers. She added that the majority of county residents oppose their construction.
“Until we have long-term structural solutions, regulatory safeguards, and appropriate infrastructure to justify data centers, they simply cannot be part of Prince George’s County’s economic development,” she wrote.
Lawyer and former state Rep. Victor Ramirez, who is running for the District 2 seat, said the negatives of large data centers outweigh the positives. There could be some short-term job creation, Ramirez told The Banner, but there are also serious environmental concerns, like water and electricity usage.
“In the long term, it’s not a job solver. It’s not a revenue generator,” he said. “From an economic perspective, it doesn’t make sense.”
Amid these ongoing debates, the county established a Qualified Data Center Task Force in the spring of 2025 to study the risks and benefits of developing the facilities. It was tasked with identifying a potential location for a data center and proposing policy recommendations.
The group’s final report recommended changing zoning laws to ensure that data centers aren’t built in residential areas and that the county focuses on protecting the environment and listening to community feedback.
The recommendations from the task force and concerns from residents should be used to create a binding county policy for data centers, Ramirez said.
There are already five smaller-scale data centers in Prince George’s County, but a recent proposal to build a larger, hyperscale data center in Landover was met with outrage from residents. The proposed center would require more space and energy than the existing data centers in the county combined. Residents said the county did not consult community members about building the facility in a residential area.
Over the past year, almost 24,000 people have signed an online petition urging officials to stop the development of the data center in Landover.
Incumbent District 5 council member Shayla Adams-Stafford, whose district includes Landover, opposed the proposal. She wrote in her response to The Banner’s voter guide that data centers can play a role in economic development, but they should not be the centerpiece of the county’s economic development plans.
“Growth is important, but it must be responsible, transparent, and aligned with our long-term vision for the county,” she explained. “If we pursue data center development, it should not be a residential area and should come with strong community benefits.”
The opposition from residents helped push the county government last September to pause data center approvals and development until it received the task force report. The report was released last November, but the moratorium was extended through June 30 to give the council more time to review it and pass legislation in response to its recommendations.
Despite issuing the moratorium herself, incumbent County Executive Aisha Braveboy expressed openness to the idea of developing more data centers in Prince George’s County in her response to The Banner’s voter guide. She pledged to follow the guidance outlined by the task force.
“Data centers can play a role in Prince George’s County’s economic development but only if they are planned responsibly and in partnership with our communities and not in residential areas,” Braveboy wrote.
A number of candidates think data centers are far from the best way for the county to further economic development. They’ve proposed other ideas, such as investing in health care and providing incentives to small businesses.
District 9 candidate Tamara Davis Brown opposes hyperscale data centers in residential areas but is more open to putting them in industrial areas. Even so, she thinks the county should instead pursue medical innovation districts to generate revenue.
Ramirez agreed that data centers are not the county’s most effective path to economic growth. If elected, he said he would focus on retaining existing businesses and attracting new ones to Prince George’s County to generate well-paying jobs and expand the commercial tax base.
“That is our task for the next four years,” he said. “To bring good companies to relocate and open up businesses here in Prince George’s County that are not like data centers, that don’t bring harmful things to our county.”
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