County Councilmember Evan Glass wants to put a six-month pause on data center permits and introduced a bill to do so this week.
“Our climate is on the line. The cost of utilities are on the line and these decisions are irreversible,” Glass said during a press conference Tuesday.
Data centers are a growing point of discussion in Montgomery County. They pose environmental hazards like air pollution, and use a large amount of water and energy. But as Artificial Intelligence grows, some think data centers are a sign of progress and have economic benefits like creating tax revenue.
The purpose of the legislation is to give leaders time to make regulations for data centers in the county, according to the bill.
Large data centers are facilities that house computer equipment used to store and process digital information like documents, records and infrastructure for data backups. There are at least four data centers currently in the county, according to council documents.
Glass plans to try to make the restrictions he’s calling for in the bill retroactive. Glass and supporters want to make sure the policy will apply to a data center planned at the site of the former Dickerson Power Plant that has provisional approval.
“We’re not anti-data centers, but if we build them at breakneck speed, things are going to go wrong,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
Montgomery County Sierra Club Chair Darian Unger agreed, “We’re not trying to stop AI, but we just need it to be done sustainably, and we need to be able to plan for that, because you can’t build renewable energy overnight.”
The public can share their thoughts on the bill during a hearing June 16.
The developer for the Dickerson site is Atmosphere Data Centers.
Councilmember Evan Glass introduced bill to put 6-month pause on data center permits @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/CKzH935em5
— Maryam Shahzad (@maryam_mcm) May 6, 2026
