Montgomery County, MD — Today, a packed room of residents along with advocates urged the Montgomery County Council to pass a 2-year data center moratorium. Though County Executive Marc Elrich announced a six-month data center pause last Friday, residents testified over fears that council could move forward with new zoning changes that would allow data centers in the county without a legislative moratorium. 

Residents across Maryland’s most populated county have been sounding the alarm on data center development, including in Dickerson where there are plans to develop a five-building data center campus on 700 acres of land co-located with the community’s old coal power generation station. 

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

“Data centers are like invasive weeds, popping up where they’re unwanted and threatening to wreak havoc on their surroundings. Today, Montgomery County residents and advocates urged council to ensure Marylanders are prioritized over the Big Tech giants looking to take Montgomery County and our resources for all they can. 

“We fear that the council is still rushing to allow data centers via amendments to zoning rules, even though County Executive Elrich put a pause on data centers. Council needs to take more time and hear the community’s concerns and weigh the negative impacts of these AI hyperscale data centers on local communities. That’s why we need a two year moratorium.”

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.