Calvert County Rejects Data Center Pause as Riley County Implements One

Local governments in Maryland and Kansas took opposing actions on data center development on Monday. In Calvert County, Maryland, commissioners defeated a proposed two-year moratorium on data center development in a 3-2 vote. Mike Hart, a county commissioner, proposed the pause to study noise and environmental impacts, arguing that the county was moving too fast. However, commissioners Earl Buddy Hance, Todd Ireland, and Mark Cox blocked the measure, contending that environmental impacts cannot be accurately studied until formal project plans are submitted.

The debate in Calvert County is driven by interest from Amazon Web Services, which wants to build a campus of up to eight buildings on 2,000 acres, and Natelli Holdings, which proposed a facility on 133 acres of land originally intended for a public park. Residents expressed concerns over community character and the secrecy of confidentiality agreements between the county and developers.

Simultaneously, the Riley County Board of Commissioners in Kansas implemented a temporary moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems. Officials there intend to study potential impacts, specifically high electricity consumption that could raise utility bills and the significant water requirements for cooling systems, before establishing a permanent policy.