Prince George’s County leaders and advocates are urging lawmakers and developers to prioritize the needs and safeguard the well-being of the community and the environment when considering the construction of data centers in the area, as more proposals appear in Maryland.
With the possibility of a hyperscale data center being built at the former Landover Mall site, the recent zoning approval in Frederick County that would allow for the construction of data centers across a 2,600-acre plot of land, and the suggestion to use the former Six Flags property in Bowie for these kinds of facilities, many hope that any approved proposals proceed responsibly and sustainably.
“This isn’t an anti-technology fight,” Staci Hartwell, founding member of the South County Environmental Justice Coalition (SCEJC) and member of Prince George’s County’s Qualified Data Center Task Force, told The Informer. “It’s a pro-people, pro-ratepayer, pro-public health fight.”
Many residents, activists, and leaders were displeased with the proposed hyperscale data center at the former Landover Mall site, and the development was paused after an eruption of public objection to the development in September 2025. Two months later, the Qualified Data Center Task Force published the findings of the research it had conducted since April, exploring community input and how these structures would impact energy demand, the environment and residents’ quality of life.
Lawmakers also voted in favor of increased research on the matter in December 2025, as they overturned Gov. Wes Moore’s veto on Maryland House Bill (HB) 0270, the Data Center Impact and Analysis Report. The bill requires the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Maryland Energy Administration and the University of Maryland School of Business to analyze data centers’ environmental, energy and economic implications in the state and submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly by Sept. 1, 2026.
“I think it is so important for communities to keep letting their legislators… know that this is something that they care about,” Angie McCarthy, the Maryland Conservation Advocate for environmental organization Nature Forward, told The Informer. “We’re going to continue pushing for statewide legislation, and we hope that community members continue to stay involved because there’s a big conversation that’s happening at the state level that we need people to pay attention to.”
Safeguarding a Fragile Energy Grid
One of Prince George’s Councilmember Wala Blegay’s (D-At-large) biggest concerns about proposed data centers in the region– especially those that are hyperscale– is their high energy demand.
These structures, which are usually 10,000 square feet or larger, require a power draw of more than 100 megawatts. One megawatt is equal to one million watts, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission states is the amount of electricity annually consumed by 400 to 900 homes.
On a greatly strained energy grid, which has caused utility bills to surge, such a tremendous energy requirement can pose a serious problem for consumers in the area.
“We can’t have them get in on our power. They’ve got to bring their own generation,” Blegay, who is a Qualified Data Center Task Force member, told The Informer. “We want to make sure there’s a use of clean energy with data centers… [and] that any location is not close to people’s homes.”
As a possible solution to the high power draw these facilities require, the Task Force’s November report suggests that the county could convince the Public Service Commission to implement a surcharge on data centers that encourages the use of energy-efficient building guidelines and cooling technologies.
This proposed solution would go hand in hand with HB 1035/ Senate Bill (SB) 937, the Next Generation Energy Act, which promotes the increase of power generation and battery energy storage within the state, while also protecting consumers by reducing costs through the limitation of how utilities can spend ratepayers’ money. The Task Force also suggests the country encourage an expansion of the bill to include that customers with consumption exceeding 100 megawatts pay their own transmission and distribution costs.
“We just really have to end the practice of treating Black and brown communities as acceptable sacrifice zones,” Hartwell told The Informer. “There are smarter ways to move forward– ways that people can be proud of.”
Alternative Options for Economic Growth
Prince George’s County is currently in the midst of a budget deficit of $130 to $170 million for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), which is why many in favor of expanded data center development say these structures are needed to bring in economic opportunity to the region. With projects that are so demanding of resources and are drivers of air, noise and light pollution, advocates wonder if this is the smartest path to go down.
Northern Virginia holds the highest concentration of data centers in the world, as its lack of taxation on the structures is attractive to developers. In the Commonwealth’s 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), it was revealed that the amount of abated taxes in the state amounted to $1.6 billion.
“Without transparency and without the data points, we don’t actually know how Maryland is going to economically benefit from data centers,” McCarthy told The Informer. “Every community is really different, so it’s hard to brush all data center concerns over with one simple clause of… [making] so much money in taxes.”
People like Tolson Banner, executive director of the Prince George’s County Community Development Corporation (PGCCDC), believe that ideas like the proposed Medical Innovation Campus in the southern part of the county are more beneficial and sustainable ways to fuel economic growth.
The campus, which would be located in Clinton, would be centered around the MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital. It would feature an expanded hospital and create a mixed-use area that includes access to retail, healthy food options, recreation, green spaces and housing opportunities. Such a campus could potentially create a multitude of jobs for residents while efficiently addressing their needs.
“Everyone started believing that data centers would be the cure-all for their fiscal ills, when, in fact,…. It’s turning out not to be that,” Banner told The Informer. “Let’s take a step back and see how we can simultaneously deal with these ills and not just focus on… increasing the commercial tax base.”
Since the Landover site was once a shopping center bustling with customers and offering job opportunities, many, including Blegay, believe that the plot of land has the potential to truly benefit the community. The council member, other Task Force members, advocates and residents alike, do not want to see a data center built there.
“It’s a whole campus. We can do mixed development there,” Blegay told The Informer. “Instead of putting a data center there, I think there are other things we can do.”