Councilman Glass proposes 6-month moratorium on data center permits

County Council member Evan Glass on Tuesday proposed a six-month moratorium on new permits for data centers, in Montgomery County officials’ latest attempt to control their development.

It’s the first formal attempt, though, to pause their construction.

Glass has previously tried to rein in data centers. He filed a bill to create a task force to assess the potential impacts of future centers, but that bill did not make it out of committee.

Some critics called it unnecessary, given existing ways for the public to weigh in. Others said it could delay more substantive action on the issue, such as zoning policy.

If Glass’ new bill passes, it will apply only to new data center permits and could impact the planned center in Dickerson that has been at the center of controversy.

“We have to have meaningful community engagement,” Glass said as he introduced the bill during Tuesday’s council meeting. “This legislation allows that dialogue to happen. This is not about not having any data centers. It’s about doing it right.”

Data centers, in Montgomery County and across the nation, have alarmed communities.

Locally, residents and county officials worry that they will increase water and air pollution and raise energy bills. There are at least four existing data centers in Montgomery County, according to the planning board.

The prospect that the county might attract more of them has made the issue a talking point for the three council members running for county executive in the June 9 Democratic primary — Glass and council members Andrew Friedson and Will Jawando.

Other attempts to regulate data centers

A representative for Atmosphere, the developer behind the planned Dickerson data center, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In February, an Atmosphere attorney pushed back on the idea of a moratorium when County Executive Marc Elrich informally suggested one. Like Glass, he considered a six-month pause on permitting and contemplated asking the council to take action.

“A moratorium would significantly delay, and quite possibly derail, the project,” the attorney, Scott Wallace, told The Banner.

Council members generally agree that they should build guardrails around data centers but haven’t come to a consensus on strategy.

Jawando proposed a two-year moratorium on data center development in March but has not formally introduced a bill.

A bill introduced by Council President Natali Fani-González in February would determine where data centers can be built and which land-use regulations they must follow.

She, council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe and council member Laurie-Anne Sayles introduced amendments to that bill last month that would require data center developers to submit plans that demonstrate how they will minimize water usage and procure or produce 100% clean energy — meaning from sources that don’t emit greenhouse gases or pollutants.

Friedson said in a March statement that data centers should have to “pay their own way” by “protecting local ratepayers.” He hasn’t introduced related legislation.

Data center alley

As county officials and residents consider ways to restrict data centers, they often point west.

“We do not want to have the data center infrastructure that Northern Virginia has,” Glass said when introducing his bill.

Portions of Northern Virginia, including Loudoun County, have been dubbed “Data Center Alley” for managing roughly 70% of global internet traffic in more than 600 data centers.

A dispute over a planned Prince William County, Virginia, data center is headed to the state’s Supreme Court.

“What that has led to is increased utility costs for ratepayers, and it also will mean that we will not be able to meet our climate goals, which are very ambitious,” Glass said.

Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, spoke in support of the moratorium at Tuesday’s press conference, but said the county should go further.

“This moratorium is the beginning of the policy conversation, but not the end,” he said. “We may need more legislation to protect our county from becoming what we see across the Potomac.”