Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Data Centers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Montgomery County hearing draws months of testimony on data‑center task force and zoning rules
Summary
Hundreds of residents, public‑health experts and environmental groups urged the County Council to tighten rules for data centers — including clean‑energy, water and noise limits — or pause approvals until a task force and state study complete. Industry representatives urged clear, predictable standards instead of a moratorium.
Council members heard more than three hours of public testimony on Feb. 18 about two related proposals to manage the county’s fast‑growing data‑center industry: Bill 4‑26, which would create a task force to study data‑center impacts, and ZTA 26‑01, a zoning text amendment that would define data centers as a conditional use and set design and operating standards.
In a series of presentations and public comments, climate, environmental and public‑health advocates urged the council to require stronger protections before approving new projects. “A 300‑megawatt facility…produces the same greenhouse gas emissions as 150,000 gasoline‑powered cars every year,” testified Prabhu Selvon, urging a task force mandate to require data centers to fund renewable infrastructure that offsets most of their energy use. Multiple speakers called for a temporary moratorium or “pause” while the county and the state complete studies and adopt enforceable standards.
Speakers from Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Sierra Club and other groups asked the council to require 100% clean energy, limits on potable and groundwater use for cooling, strict setbacks and monitoring for low‑frequency noise and infrasound, and routine reporting of energy and water consumption. Public‑health experts said elevated electricity demand and generator emissions could harm vulnerable residents and that cumulative regional impacts on the Potomac watershed and the PJM grid need fuller analysis. “Data centers likely do pose a range of significant public health risks,” said Ed Maybach, a public‑health professor, who submitted a peer‑reviewed paper supporting the call for stronger safeguards.
Industry and technology representatives urged regulations that permit responsible development while protecting communities. “ZTA 26‑01 takes a practical step by defining data centers as a distinct use and establishing minimum standards,” said Kelly Schultz of the Maryland Tech Council. Scott Wallace, counsel for Atmosphere (a developer proposing a Dickerson campus), said the Dickerson site is heavy industrial, will meet proposed setbacks and standards, and that a moratorium could derail projects already moving through approvals.
County Executive staff and the Planning Board urged the council to refine the ZTA to clarify size‑based definitions, make certain standards objective and add criteria to protect energy and water resources. Sarah Kogel Smucker, the county’s climate officer, said the executive supports conditional‑use review, noise and buffer standards, and would consider a limited moratorium if more time is needed to develop companion legislation addressing clean energy and water protections.
Council members did not take a final vote on the bills during the session. Several speakers requested that Bill 4‑26 and ZTA 26‑01 be considered together, that the task force membership balance industry and community voices, and that the task force be empowered to recommend bans or additional restrictions if justified.
Next steps: the council received written comments and scheduled committee work sessions for both measures. The public record for the bills remains open through the posted deadlines.
