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Baltimore County seeks state and university help modeling data-center greenhouse gas impacts
Summary
County sustainability staff asked MDE whether the state is planning for future greenhouse gas emissions from data centers and requested technical assistance for the countys 2026 climate action-plan update; MDE offered contacts and noted BEPS, PSC and MEA roles.
Greg, a staff member in Baltimore Countys Office of Sustainability, told MDE staff the county is updating its climate action plan and needs help forecasting emissions from potential data-center development. "Baltimore County is updating, our climate action plan in 2026 and looking at the next 5 years and and thinking about how to model those emissions scenarios," he said, noting that Frederick Countys update moved a data-center share of emissions from about 3% to 40% after one large development.
Zach said balancing emissions, energy affordability and grid impacts is complex and pointed to the Public Service Commission and Maryland Energy Administration as the experts on grid and energy impacts. He also noted that if a data center brings its own clean energy it may be covered under BEPS and that MDE could connect county staff to University of Maryland modelers and the agencys air team for technical assistance.
