Maryland
Maryland is in a moderate-stage data center backlash: 2026 bills, county moratoriums, and utility cost-shift fights are active, but the issue has not yet become a statewide election centerpiece.
IARM Domain Signals
Energy/Power is the dominant stressor: lawmakers and residents repeatedly cite rising electric bills, grid strain, and the need for data centers to self-supply or pay more for upgrades (WMAR, FOX 5 DC). Water/Geology is the secondary stressor: opposition in Prince George’s County and Baltimore City also emphasizes water use and environmental impacts, but the policy fight is still centered more on electricity and ratepayer burden than water supply (WTOP, WMAR).
IIKey 2026 Races
None identified. Maryland’s 2026 statewide and congressional contests have not produced a clearly documented data-center-specific campaign as of May 2026; the issue is showing up mainly in county councils and zoning fights rather than candidate platforms (POLITICO).
IIIMoratorium · Ban Status
Maryland has no statewide enacted moratorium or ban on data centers as of May 2026, but multiple pause/limit bills are active. HB0120, the “Moratorium on Construction of New Data Centers – Co-Location and Generation Contingency,” would prohibit new data centers unless co-located with generation and was in House committee hearing status as of early May (Maryland General Assembly HB0120). HB1534 would impose siting/operation standards including sound/vibration controls, backup-power rules, and limits on construction on certain agricultural land (Maryland General Assembly HB1534). Locally, Baltimore County has a temporary suspension on new data center permits, Baltimore City advanced a one-year pause bill, Prince George’s County has used a temporary moratorium/pause while studying recommendations, Howard County was considering a SMART siting pause, and Frederick County adopted tighter limits on where data centers can go (WMAR, WMAR).
IVRatepayer · Cost-Shift Legislation
Maryland’s most important cost-allocation fight is HB1082, which would make data centers subject to new large-load customer rate schedules and explicitly aims to prevent residential customers from bearing the financial risks of grid buildout for large loads; the bill also requires cost recovery from transmission/distribution buildout, load-ramp protections, collateral, exit fees, and other safeguards (Maryland General Assembly HB1082 first reader PDF). Separately, the 2025 data-center impact-analysis law required state agencies to assess impacts on utility costs paid by Maryland ratepayers and was overridden by the General Assembly after a veto, creating the first major statewide policy basis for subsequent 2026 bills (HB270 fiscal note, Maryland General Assembly SB0116 page). HB1595 would let counties and Baltimore City create a special personal-property tax subclass and special rate for qualified data-center property, but it is a property-tax tool rather than a direct utility cost-shift bill (Maryland General Assembly HB1595 first reader PDF).
VBallot Measures
None identified. Ballotpedia’s 2026 roundup lists several data-center-related ballot measures nationally and notes Maryland’s Frederick County as a proposed local referendum site, but no Maryland data-center measure was confirmed on the November 2026 ballot as of May 2026 (Ballotpedia, Ballotpedia).
VITop Contested Sites
1) Landover Mall site, Prince George’s County — proposed data center on the former mall site; strongly opposed by residents and county officials, with a county pause/moratorium debate and task-force review (WTOP, FOX 5 DC). 2) Frederick County data-center expansion / Monocacy-area buildout — county approved an expansion of data-center overlay land in late 2025, then the issue moved toward referendum challenge in 2026 (FOX 5 DC, FOX 5 DC). 3) Baltimore City new-data-center pause proposal — not a project, but a prominent contested policy fight affecting future projects in the city (WMAR).
VIIActive Opposition Organizations
Prince George’s County Sierra Club; Maryland Legal Aid; Maryland Legislative Coalition Climate Justice Wing; ShoreRivers; Sustainable Hyattsville; local resident coalitions and petitions led by Taylor Frazier McCollum around Landover (WTOP, Maryland General Assembly testimony PDF, WTOP).
VIIITalent · Workforce
None identified at the state political-surface layer as of May 2026. Talent and workforce dynamics in Maryland surface primarily at the sub-state and labor-market level — county and municipal proceedings on named projects, regional building trades council positions, and utility commission workforce testimony — which are out of scope for the tracker's state-political-surface read. Request a full RAIL briefing for sub-state and labor-market analysis.
IXData Center Cluster Size
Growing cluster. Maryland is not a mega-hub like Virginia, but it has a meaningful and expanding footprint, with repeated references to existing facilities in Montgomery and Frederick counties and county leaders treating data centers as a sizable tax base; Frederick officials cited roughly $55 million in revenues from existing projects (FOX 5 DC, FOX 5 DC).
XKey Quote
“It wouldn’t make sense to have data centers popping up all over the place while we are in the midst of an actual task force,” Prince George’s County Council member Wala Blegay said about a proposed county pause (WTOP).