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Prince George's County council hears task force report urging stricter controls, community benefits for data centers
Summary
A task force report presented to the County Council recommends a menu of land‑use and operational measures — special exceptions, plan development reviews, sustainability standards and community benefit requirements — to address environmental, utility and equity concerns about large data centers.
Prince George's County Council members heard a detailed briefing on Jan. 27 from the Qualified Data Centers Task Force and planning staff that lays out policy options to manage future data‑center development in the county.
The task force co‑chair, Anthony Jones, told the council that the group completed a 400‑plus page report after four community meetings and thousands of public comments and concluded that the county should require higher energy‑efficiency standards, stronger community benefits and meaningful public input for proposed sites. "Data centers should be held to high energy efficiency standards, and data centers that locate in the county should also provide community benefits to the county," Jones said during the presentation.
Why it matters: Residents and council members cited worries about rising utility rates, water usage, generator emissions and neighborhood impacts. County planners and consultants from…
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