Montgomery County, MD — Today, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich enacted a six-month data center moratorium at a press event in Rockville. The executive order is the most significant initiative to date to address large scale data centers proposed for Maryland’s most populated county, following a two-year moratorium proposal by Councilmember Will Jawando and a separate six-month moratorium proposed by Councilmember Evan Glass earlier this year. 

The executive order comes amidst widespread data center opposition, including against the controversial Terra Energy project in Dickerson. The developer has proposed to build a five-building data center campus on 700 acres of land co-located with an old coal power generation station. The facility would draw water from the Potomac River, which supplies 75 percent of drinking water to the region. The Potomac River has been impacted by droughts in the past few years.

In response, Food & Water Watch Maryland Organizer Jomar Lloyd issued the following statement:

“We need fresh water. We need reliable electricity. We don’t need AI hyperscale data centers — not in Dickerson, not in Montgomery County, and not in Maryland. Big Tech is spending big to push this development through with little resistance, but the verdict is out — Montgomery County residents do not support data center development in their communities. 

“County Executive Ehrlich’s Montgomery County data center moratorium will protect Marylanders from this invasive, exploitative industrial development that is threatening to reshape our homes and environment. Now, county officials must do everything possible to make sure the Dickerson data center campus is stopped for good.” 

In October, Food & Water Watch became the first national group to call for a data center moratorium. Over 500+ organizations have since joined the call.

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