Rockville, MD – Today, in response to grassroots data center opposition, two key Montgomery County Council committees voted to advance an 18-month moratorium on new facilities. The moratorium would codify and expand protections from County Executive Marc Elrich’s June executive order which paused data center development for six months. Council committee members also approved zoning text amendments to the county’s current zoning ordinances that would block any data centers larger than 25 megawatts from being built in the county. A final moratorium vote by the full council is scheduled for July 28.

Advocates are also calling on the county to develop a comprehensive plan for engaging county residents and weighing the full impacts that data centers would have if allowed in the future.

Groups have urged the county to pass a comprehensive moratorium given the threats of several projects, including a hyperscale data center in the community of Dickerson.

“AI data centers threaten to increase pollution and run our utility bills through the roof. Big Tech’s land and resource grab is all in favor of corporate profiteering, not community benefit,” said Jorge Aguilar, Southern Regional Director for Food & Water Watch. “The people – not data center developers – need protections. The full Montgomery County Council must vote to pass the commonsense 18-month data center moratorium.”

Caroline Taylor, Montgomery Countryside Alliance, said, “the massive impacts of hyperscale data centers affect our regional water supply and air quality, biological health, grid stability and wallets. Providing the appropriate time and expertise to address the myriad issues is precisely the right thing to do. We pledge to help the process.” 

“We now have the time to fully consider where hyperscale data centers can be appropriately located and how they will impact the County’s climate goals, the health of our square wearing residents and the well-being of historically burdened communities. We look forward to having the county gather input from residents and experts to inform the standards these facilities will have to meet,” said Kevin Walton, representing the Climate Coalition Montgomery County.

“Our faith communities understand that the voices of our most impacted neighbors must prevail in data center decisions, and we applaud today’s decision by the Council and every effort to slow down this AI-driven rush and heed real human wisdom, instead,” said Joelle Novey, Director of Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA). 

“The data center industry is driving some very disruptive social change including over-running any possibility of controlling climate change. Data centers consume our water and energy resources in ways that are not sustainable and that our community cannot afford,” said Karen Metchis, representing the Montgomery County Sierra Club. “We need thoughtful decision making to manage the downsides of this new wave of technology. The Sierra Club will work with Council and the County Executive to craft clear and transparent protections for our neighborhoods and our environment.” 

“We expect that our governmental bodies will choose to put the well-being of humans, wildlife, and the environment ahead of expediency or profit so we are gratified by the County Council’s principled action with this moratorium,” said Lee McNair, The Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice Ministry. “We anticipate with pleasure a thorough, detailed, multi-expert analysis of the issues around data centers with full community inclusion resulting in knowledge and resources that enable the Council to ensure an enviable quality of life for all within our county.”

The Climate Coalition and Allied Organizations is a network of over 30 groups that have banded together to protect Montgomery County from the potential harms of data centers in the county.