Maryland Data Center Intel

Recent Maryland data center news

• Dec 18, 2025

  Calls for US Data Center Freeze Grow as Local Enthusiasm Melts

  Senator Bernie Sanders has called for a national moratorium on new data center construction, urging Congress to slow AI expansion and involve more people in decisions about AI’s future.

  • Main action and scope:Sen. Bernie Sanders publicly advocated a national moratorium on data center construction; more than 200 environmental organizations (via a letter) also called for a moratorium citing impacts on water resources, electricity consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions; Data Center Watch reports $64 billion in data center plans have been blocked or delayed by local activism in the last two years.
  • Background and additional details: Federal debate is split—Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Richard Blumenthal are investigating links between data center power usage and rising consumer bills and have sent letters to major hyperscalers (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, CoreWeave, Digital Realty, Equinix); the Trump administration and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright have pushed for accelerated permitting and less state regulation; a Carnegie Mellon University study projects data center and crypto growth could raise average U.S. electricity costs ~8% by 2030 (with regional spikes, e.g., >25% in Virginia).
• Dec 18, 2025

  MD lawmakers override climate, environmental bill vetoes

  The Maryland General Assembly has overridden Gov. Wes Moore’s vetoes to pass three climate and environmental bills during a special session.

  • Main action (override on Dec. 16, special session): Lawmakers passed legislation requiring a study of the cost to Maryland of greenhouse gas emissions (HB0128), a study of the economic, energy and environmental impacts of data center development (HB0270), and creation of an office to plan to meet the state’s energy needs (HB1037).
  • Background and implementation details: Gov. Moore had cited the state budget crunch when vetoing the bills and had characterized legislatively mandated studies as “a drag on state government.” A few days before the session he agreed to fund the climate-costs study but provided only half of the $500,000 the bill called for (the bill requested $500,000, implying ~$250,000 provided); advocates lobbied the legislature to override the vetoes. Kim Coble (Maryland League of Conservation Voters) publicly supported moving forward on revenue sources for climate impacts and energy planning.
• Dec 16, 2025

  How Researchers Are Driving Advances for Data Centers

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory outlines multiple initiatives to improve the energy and water efficiency of U.S. data centers that underpin AI and high-performance computing.

  • Berkeley Lab’s programs and tools – including the updated United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (2014–2028), NERSC liquid/direct-to-chip cooling retrofits, CoE tools (DC Pro, Air Management Tool Suite, Electrical Power Chain Tool), and the Modelica Buildings Library and MOSTCOOL – target reduced electricity use, cooling energy, and water consumption, e.g., 42% cut in non-IT power, >2 million kWh and 0.5 million gallons saved annually at NERSC, plus 8% cooling energy reduction and >1 million gallons saved via best-practice retrofits.
  • Industry collaboration and standards efforts span work with top AI companies, utilities, Meta, Carrier, Open Compute Project, Energy Efficiency High-Performance Computing Working Group, and BP Castrol, producing liquid cooling specifications down to chip level, guidelines for transfer fluids, workforce training via the Data Center Energy Practitioner Training Program, and stakeholder input (≈150 attendees at the 2025 OCP Global Summit listening session) to refine models showing data centers may reach up to 12% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2028.
• Dec 10, 2025

  Top Environmental Victories of 2025

  The Sierra Club announces a roundup of its top environmental victories in 2025.

  • Major announced actions: The article catalogs specific legal, legislative, and advocacy wins including: stopping a proposed public-lands sell-off after Congressional withdrawal; passage of the Climate Change Superfund Act in New York (following Vermont in 2024) and introduced bills in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Maine; legal victories blocking Commonwealth LNG (coastal use permit terminated) and two lawsuits creating guardrails on data centers in Kansas and Michigan; NEVI program restart unlocking $2.7 billion for EV charging; and a $744 million jury verdict against Chevron for coastal damages in Louisiana.
  • Background and additional details: The piece lists species and land protections (Northern Rockies wolves, Colorado bison, Rice’s whales), closure of Merrimack Station (final New England coal plant) and repeal of an Ohio coal-bailout that would have cost nearly half a billion dollars, passage of Utah’s balcony solar law allowing small plug-in systems without utility approval, a coalition delivering ~500,000 public comments to defend the Roadless Rule (including 40,000 from Sierra Club advocates), and a world-record origami action sending more than 86,000 paper fish to oppose Enbridge’s Line 5.
• Dec 2, 2025

  Data Center Jobs: Engineering, Construction, Commissioning, Sales, Field Service and Facility Tech Jobs Available in Major Data Center Hotspots

  Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza, posted a monthly roundup of active data center job openings on the Pkaza jobs board.

  • Main announcement: Data Center Frontier and Pkaza published a list of open roles (examples: Data Center Facility Technician, Electrical Commissioning Engineer, Construction Project Manager, Electrical Engineer, Critical Power Sales Associate, Sr Mechanical Engineer, Site Selection Manager/Director/VP, Electrical Project Manager, MEP Superintendent, Mechanical Commissioning Engineer, Engineering Design Director, Navy Nuke Facility Technician) posted on Pkaza’s jobs board; positions are available across many US cities including Ashburn, VA; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Montvale, NJ; Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; New Albany, OH; Phoenix, AZ.
  • Background and details: Roles are for mission-critical data center employers (developers, colo providers, contractors, commissioning firms) and frequently emphasize reliability, energy efficiency, sustainable design / LEED expertise and commissioning; some listings explicitly accept Navy Nuke / military veterans and many positions list multiple alternative locations or hybrid/remote options. Author: Kathy Hitchens (Data Center Frontier).
• Dec 2, 2025 · RMI

  The Five Types of Electro-Industrial States

  Rocky Mountain Institute presents a typology classifying US states into five electro-industrial archetypes.

  • Main announcement/action: RMI authors classify states into five archetypes — Momentum Hubs (Arizona, California), Fast‑Track Builders (Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio, Idaho), Policy Champions (New York, Michigan, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania), Open‑Door Starters (Vermont, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa), and Early‑Stage Starters (Missouri, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maine, Alabama, Louisiana, Indiana, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas). The typology is based on policy reliability, regulatory ease, economic capacity, physical infrastructure (power and interconnection), and market momentum.
  • Background and details: The analysis highlights that market momentum and policy reliability should operate in tandem; low regulatory burdens accelerate short-term investment but may strain local housing and infrastructure without accompanying policy ambition. The authors reference the report GREASE Lightning as a policy playbook for designing investment-led, state-driven electro-industrial strategies.
• Dec 1, 2025

  Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in the United States in 10 years

  U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of electricity interruptions in 2024, nearly twice the annual average of the previous decade.

  • Main finding: The EIA’s Electric Power Annual 2024 shows U.S. customers averaged 11 hours of interruptions in 2024; Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton accounted for 80% of hours without electricity, and interruptions attributed to major events averaged nearly 9 hours in 2024 versus nearly 4 hours (2014–2023). The report uses industry metrics SAIDI and SAIFI to characterize outages.
  • Details & state impacts: The report cites South Carolina averaged nearly 53 hours without power in 2024; Hurricane Beryl left 2.6 million Texas customers without power (July), Hurricane Helene left 5.9 million customers across 10 states (with at least 1.2 million in South Carolina), and Hurricane Milton left 3.4 million Florida customers without power; Hawaii averaged 4.4 interruptions, while several states (Arizona, South Dakota, North Dakota, Massachusetts) averaged less than 2 hours of interruptions.
• Nov 6, 2025

  IonQ och schweiziskt konsortium lanserar det första stadsövergripande kvantnätverket i Genève

  IonQ has launched the Geneva Quantum Network (GQN), a city-wide quantum communications network in Geneva connecting academic, government and industry partners using existing fiber-optic infrastructure.

  • Main announcement: IonQ, together with UNIGE, CERN, Rolex SA, HEPIA and OCSIN, implemented the Geneva Quantum Network (GQN) using hundreds of kilometers of existing fiber-optic infrastructure; the architecture uses IDQ’s QKD and quantum detection systems, White Rabbit timing (from CERN), Rolex optical rubidium atomic clocks for precise timing, and HEPIA-installed distributed temperature sensors. Early experiments will distribute entangled photons between UNIGE, CERN and HEPIA to test long-distance quantum information transfer.
  • Background and other details: The initiative builds on IonQ’s recent partnerships including Q-Alliance with the Italian state, IonQ’s designation as primary quantum partner to South Korea’s national quantum center, and establishment of an Oxford EMEA office; company technical milestones cited include 99.99% two-qubit gate precision in 2025 and a goal to deliver 2 million qubits by 2030.
• Nov 4, 2025

  Constellation Offers Maryland a Menu of New Generation Options to Meet Rising Demand, Including 5,800 Megawatts of New Power Generation and Battery Storage

  Constellation Energy Corporation has proposed a long-range plan to invest in up to 5,800 megawatts of power generation and battery storage in Maryland.

  • Main announcement/action: Constellation submitted proposals to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) and offered a menu of options including >1,500 MW near-term fast-track projects (up to 800 MW battery storage, >700 MW of existing gas-fired generation in six units, and 350+ MW of extended-use existing plants) and up to 4,000 MW of new and existing nuclear projects (including relicensing Calvert Cliffs for 20 years to preserve nearly ~2,000 MW, a 10% uprate/190 MW potential, and exploring 2,000 MW of new advanced nuclear). The company submitted battery and gas proposals to the PSC on October 31 as part of a state fast-track permitting program.
  • Background and additional details: Constellation says it has invested over $1 billion in Maryland wind, hydro and nuclear to date and cites a historic agreement to extend the Conowingo Dam life while investing $340 million for wildlife/ watershed preservation. The plan includes using AI to build a 1,000 MW “virtual power plant”, states Constellation will bear 100% of investment risk, will not seek electricity rate increases, and requests enabling legislation plus faster grid connections; the proposal is framed within the PJM competitive market and linked stakeholder policy proposals.
• Oct 29, 2025 · Hensel Phelps

  Hensel Phelps: ABC’S Top Perfromers 2025

  Hensel Phelps announces recognition in ABC’s 2025 National Contractor Rankings, highlighting sector-specific placements and portfolio scale.

  • Main announcement: Hensel Phelps earned #6 among ABC’s Top General Contractors and #9 in ABC’s Top 250 Performers in the ABC 2025 National Contractor Rankings; notable sector placements include #1 Airport Contractors, #3 Government Contractors, #3 Hospitality Contractors, #6 Office Contractors, #6 Healthcare Contractors, #7 High-Tech/Data Center Contractors, #9 Education Contractors, and #18 Infrastructure Contractors. The company cites a portfolio of more than 380 aviation projects at over 40 airports totaling more than $29 billion in value and 55 million square feet, more than $4 billion delivered across education projects, more than 230 office buildings, and more than 280 healthcare projects; data center projects with individual sizes from 30,000 sq ft to 1,200,000+ sq ft and capacities exceeding 200 MW are also highlighted.
  • Background and details: The release describes project types and examples (e.g., San Ysidro Land Port of Entry – Phase 2; Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility; Kilolani Spa at Grand Wailea Maui; Four Seasons Resort Hualalai; Montgomery/Meta data center project; UC and Caltech university projects) and lists repeat clients and partners such as Four Seasons, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Universal Parks & Resorts, Disney Parks & Resorts, Kaiser Permanente, UCHealth, City of Hope, Banner Health, Sharp Healthcare, and the National Institutes of Health. The statement emphasizes operational capabilities (working in active airports, live healthcare environments, mission-critical data centers), use of BIM and VDC, formal Methods of Procedure (MOPs), and compliance with security and sustainability standards. No implementation timelines or monetary commitments beyond portfolio/value figures are provided.