Prior Restraint for Student Newspapers, Data Center Pause, Replacement Ballot

[upbeat jazz music] Last week, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich issued an executive order directing the county's permitting services department to stop processing or accepting any data center applications in the jurisdiction for six months, thereby putting the issue beyond the general election on November 3rd, 2026.

Here is County Executive Elrich explaining his decision.

What this order does is create time for Montgomery County to establish clear rules and expectations before applications begin moving through the permitting process.

Right now, Montgomery County does not have regulations that specifically address data centers.

We have zoning and permitting rules that apply generally to development, but we do not have a framework that fully addresses the unique issues that are raised by data centers.

These issues include energy consumption, water use, environmental impacts, visual impacts on neighboring communities, effects on parks and natural resources, and the demands these facilities place on our infrastructure.

The county council has already held a public hearing and is in the process of considering what those rules should look like.

At the same time, the state of Maryland is conducting a comprehensive assessment of data centers and their impacts.

That work is expected to continue through this year.

I believe it makes sense to have those discussions and have them take place before permit applications move forward.

I do not want a project going through the county's review process before we've considered what the appropriate rules for a data center should be, and I especially don't want a project submitted before we have the new guidelines and then to have to be concerned about them getting an approval before the updated guidelines are in place.

We've seen too many examples in government where development gets ahead of policy.

Projects move forward first, and then the government is left to try to figure out how to deal with the issues that are left behind that should've been considered in the beginning.

That approach doesn't serve residents well.

The responsible approach is to establish the rules, understand the impacts, and make the decisions within a clear framework.

Data centers are becoming an increasingly important part of our economy.

They support cloud computing, artificial intelligence research, communications, and countless services that people use every day.

At the same time, local governments across the country are grappling with questions about their long-term impacts on energy demand, energy costs, land use, environmental stability, and the quality of life.

Those are all legitimate questions, and residents deserve answers.

The council deserves the opportunity to complete its legislative work and to not have to race against a project trying to get through the approval process before they finish.

And applicants deserve to know what standards will be applied before they invest significant time and resources in a project.

Montgomery joins Howard and Harford Counties.

Harford, which is conservative and Republican, has enacted a permanent ban on data centers, and Howard has a 17-month moratorium.

Meanwhile, Frederick, Calvert, and other counties are seeing pitched battles between local leaders and residents opposed to data centers.

Data centers have emerged as a leading issue in the state in this election cycle.