Johns Hopkins gets $9M for new data center as Baltimore debates a pause

Johns Hopkins University has gotten the green light to move forward with a 25,000-square-foot data science and computer center in East Baltimore.

The Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved a $9 million grant for the university without discussion, according to the Maryland Department of General Services. The project will expand the current Maryland Advanced Research Computing Center at the Bayview campus, which opened in 2015, Hopkins spokesperson Doug Donovan said in a statement.

Donovan said the grant will be used to design and build a new center that will support life sciences and biomedical research in East Baltimore; new academic buildings in data science and artificial intelligence at Homewood; and the fields of public health, engineering, physics and astronomy.

It will also support the university’s sustainability goals by “using advanced cooling technology that reduces energy waste,” he said.

The state board is composed of Gov. Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck Davis and Comptroller Brooke Lierman.

Approval of the grant comes as the Baltimore City Council continues to consider a one-year moratorium on data centers amid growing interest in building them around the city and state.

City Council President Zeke Cohen, a Democrat, introduced a bill on March 23 that would place a moratorium on new data centers that use more than 10 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 6,000 to 10,000 homes, energy analysts estimate. The bill was cosponsored by 11 of the council’s 15 members.

It would bar hyperscale facilities, known for having hundreds of thousands of square feet and consuming hundreds of megawatts, from operating within city limits and could put some enterprise-sized facilities at risk.

JHU’s data center would be less than 10 megawatts, though Donovan was unable to provide the exact wattage.

The moratorium would be used “to study impacts and develop conditional use standards,” Cohen said at a Land Use and Transportation Committee hearing on Thursday.

“The risks are real. Until it is made clear how Baltimore can unequivocally win from this new technology, we will not participate,” he said.

Maryland is currently studying the financial and environmental impacts of data centers. Gov. Wes Moore initially vetoed the study legislation, along with other climate-related bills, but state lawmakers overrode his veto in December. A final report will be filed by Sept. 1.

JHU’s data center development is one of several projects that have drawn concern from city residents.

Some residents have been contesting construction of the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute on its Homewood campus.

Last year, Cohen and three other members of Baltimore’s spending board voted in favor of two items that would allow the university to make specific changes to city infrastructure for the construction of the center — but only after getting reassurance from the university on certain details.

There was also interest in building a data center at the Baltimore Peninsula development in South Baltimore. But that plan was blocked by the Utility RELIEF Act that passed during the legislative session.