Maryland Data Center News

Mar 11, 2026

General Assembly Budget Conferees Need to Invest in Quality of Life, Not Big Tech

The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) has called on Virginia lawmakers to eliminate or substantially limit the sales tax credit on data center equipment to redirect revenue to public services.

Main action: PEC submitted a letter to General Assembly leadership and budget conferees requesting elimination or phased reduction of the sales tax exemption on data center equipment, arguing the exemption cost more than $1.9 billion in FY2025 and could have raised state revenue from $31.2 billion to $33.1 billion if collected. The letter identifies priorities for redirected revenue: water supply and wastewater treatment, transportation and transit, schools, childcare, and food security.
Background and details: PEC cites Dominion Energy data that it is receiving requests for ~10 additional data center applications monthly totaling 2–3 GW, bringing cumulative demand to 70 GW, while current peak demand is 24 GW with >36% electricity imports. PEC estimates Dominion will need to invest over $100 billion in generation, transmission and substation infrastructure (including nearly $30 billion for transmission) to meet the backlog over the next ten years.

Mar 6, 2026

President Trump Issues ‘Rate Payer Protection Pledge’ Proclamation

President Trump signed the “Rate Payer Protection Pledge” proclamation requiring hyperscalers and large tech firms to supply on-site energy and pay for necessary grid infrastructure upgrades to prevent electricity rate hikes for ratepayers.

Main action: The proclamation, first announced at the State of the Union, was signed with executives from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI committing to provide on-site energy and cover costs of grid upgrades to avoid passing electricity rate increases to consumers.
Background and context: Experts warned of capacity shortfalls and long interconnection/permitting timelines (example: “5 years” in the interconnection queue plus additional permitting time), making it unlikely new generation can meet data center demand by 2027–2028; the proclamation is nonbinding (no force of law) and Sen. Mark Kelly described it as effectively a “handshake deal”.

Mar 6, 2026

AI Infrastructure Brief: Power, Capital, and Silicon Collide in the Next Phase of the Data Center Buildout

Data Center Frontier summarizes multiple AI infrastructure announcements and projects scaling to gigawatts across North America.

Main announcement/action: The article reports an industry-wide acceleration of hyperscale AI data center development, including CoreWeave’s plan to add roughly 5 GW of capacity by 2030, xAI’s $659 million permit filing for Memphis “Colossus,” Nebius’s $150.6 billion Chapter 100 bond approval, and a $2.4 billion B&W/Base Electron design-build agreement to deliver 1.2 GW of natural-gas generation to supply Applied Digital AI campuses; it also cites La Caisse’s C$240 million commitment to Cologix’s MTL8 and Google’s $40 billion investment pipeline in Texas through 2027.
Context and additional details: The report documents wider trends: institutional capital flows (Blackstone exploring a public data-center vehicle; HighBrook targeting 300 MW), growth in dedicated/behind-the-meter generation (the “power island” trend), and rising political and community scrutiny (Birmingham 180-day moratorium, Oregon HB 4084 proposal, project withdrawals/controversies in Apex NC and West Louisville).

Mar 4, 2026

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, has posted the latest roundup of data center career opportunities on the Data Center Frontier jobs board.

Main announcement: Data Center Frontier and Pkaza published 13 current data center job listings across the United States (examples include Electrical Applications Engineer, Electrical Commissioning Engineer, Production Architect – Data Center Facilities Design, Director of Construction, and Data Center Facility Operations Director), with many roles offering remote options or multiple city locations (e.g., Pittsburgh, Dallas, New York, Ashburn, Columbus, Boulder, Chesterton, Augusta).
Background and details: Listings are provided by/for mission-critical and colo/hyperscale sectors and emphasize reliability, energy efficiency, sustainable design and LEED expertise; roles cover engineering design & commissioning firms, electrical contracting, general contracting and data center developers, and include positions supporting AI/HPC infrastructure and brownfield conversions.

Mar 4, 2026

Capital Power reports fourth quarter and year-end 2025 results

Capital Power Corporation released its 2025 financial results and published its 2025 Integrated Annual Report, and highlighted strategic actions including a ~C$3.0 billion acquisition in PJM, MOUs for U.S. growth and a 250 MW Alberta data centre ESA.

Main announcement: Capital Power reported full-year 2025 results (AFFO C$1,066 million; net income C$159 million) and published the 2025 Integrated Annual Report; completed acquisition of Hummel and Rolling Hills for approximately C$3.0 billion (US$2.2 billion) and issued C$2.3 billion of senior unsecured notes (including ~C$1.7 billion U.S. private offering). The Company also entered MOUs: (a) with Apollo Funds for an investment partnership with up to US$3.0 billion of potential committed equity (including US$750 million from Capital Power), and (b) with an investment-grade data centre developer for a 250 MW Alberta ESA (10+ years) anticipated to start in 2028.
Background and other details: Capital Power raised C$667 million of equity, completed a C$600 million medium-term note offering (4.231% interest, maturing Jan 14, 2033), redeemed C$300 million January 2026 notes, and reached commercial operation of ~60 MW of contracted projects plus 170 MW battery storage in Ontario. The Arlington Valley tolling agreement was extended to Oct 2038, with an expected full-year adjusted EBITDA uplift of ~US$70 million by 2032 and an uprate contributing ~US$8 million/year starting 2027.

Mar 3, 2026

Climate research is global — risks and responsibilities should also be distributed

The US National Science Foundation has sought proposals to privatize NCAR’s Mesa Laboratory and announced the transfer of NCAR’s supercomputing centre to a third party.

Main announcement: The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has sought proposals for privatizing NCAR’s Mesa Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, and has announced the transfer of NCAR’s supercomputing centre in Cheyenne, Wyoming to an unnamed third party.
Background/details: The actions are reported as part of broader plans by the administration of US President Donald Trump to dismantle NCAR; the report is published in Nature (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00680-z) and references an earlier DOI link https://doi.org/qsk2 (2025).

Feb 20, 2026

Trading Classrooms for the Capital: Students Lobby for the Environment

Loyola University Maryland (via its Environmental Action Club and Office of Sustainability) organized a delegation of students to travel to Annapolis and lobby with Maryland Catholics for Our Common Home (MCCH) in support of six pro-environment bills for the 2026 Maryland legislative session.

Main action: Loyola sent 34 students (led by Sustainability Director Brigid Gregory and Dr. Paola Pascual-Ferrá) to Annapolis on Advocacy Day to meet with state delegates, senators, and staff and lobby on six bills covering topics from bottle redemption and affordable solar to data center construction. The 2026 Maryland legislative session runs Jan. 14–Apr. 13, 2026, and MCCH reviews bills in January–February to choose which to lobby for.
Background/details: This was the fourth consecutive year EAC partnered with the Office of Sustainability for Advocacy Day and the first year a course (Communication for Environmental and Social Justice) prepared students to become bill experts. MCCH frames its advocacy in the Laudato Si’ tradition; the article references the Trump administration’s ongoing federal deregulation of the EPA as context for the state-level lobbying.

Feb 13, 2026

The 50 States of Power Decarbonization: States and Utilities Navigate Large Load Customer Demand in 2025

The N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) released its 2025 Annual Review and Q4 2025 edition of the 50 States of Power Decarbonization report.

Report release & headline findings: The NCCETC released the 2025 annual review and Q4 2025 quarterly report, finding 49 states plus Puerto Rico took a total of 667 actions on electric power decarbonization and resource planning in 2025; 37 states took 104 actions related to large load customers. The report highlights top trends including new large-load tariffs, increased natural gas capacity additions, state-led procurement of energy storage, and consideration of advanced nuclear.
Background & concrete details: The release documents integrated resource plan filings showing planned capacity additions of 144,405 MW solar, 125,016 MW natural gas, 58,581 MW storage, 58,381 MW wind, and 56,475 MW planned coal retirements in 2025; it notes 400 actions tracked in Q4 2025 plus more than 270 introduced bills, and calls out surging data center development driving large-load policy responses.

Jan 29, 2026

Air pollution: A silent killer lurking in our skies

The EPA has moved to stop including health benefits in cost-benefit analyses for pollution regulations.

Main action: The article reports that the EPA (under the Trump administration) plans to stop factoring health benefits into cost-benefit analyses for pollution rules, a policy change described as potentially weakening standards that have underpinned decades of air-quality gains (e.g., 37% reduction in PM2.5 and 18% decrease in ozone since 2000).
Context and details: The piece cites economic figures including $106.5 billion annual cost to China, $29 billion annual cost to the United States, and $350 million in annual economic benefits tied to reduced asthma inhaler use; it also highlights local concerns such as Denver’s fast-growing data center industry increasing power demand and the potential for more power plants held to lower pollution standards.

Jan 28, 2026

Proposed West Virginia power plant raises pollution risks for Tucker County and nearby residents and could cost $35 million annually in health damage, independent analysis finds

Tucker United commissioned an independent analysis finding the proposed Ridgeline gas- and diesel-fired power plant and associated data center complex could impose up to $35 million annually in health-related damages.

Main finding and analysis: The independent study, led by a Harvard-affiliated environmental health scientist (Michael Cork), used the EPA’s COBRA health-impact model and PM2.5 dispersion estimates sourced from Fundamental Data’s air permit application; it estimates $19 million–$35 million in annual health-related damages and increased PM2.5 exposure for more than 250,000 people across West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. The report is available at http://www.tuckerunited.com/study.
Context, assumptions, and procedural details: The study was commissioned after the WVDEP granted the air permit in August 2025 while declining to perform air dispersion modeling; the analysis assumes the facility operates within permitted emission limits, does not account for additional pollutants, non-routine operations, or frequent temperature inversions in Canaan Valley (which could increase real-world exposures). Tucker County currently generates $85 million annually from tourism, noted as background economic context.

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