BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — On Thursday, Baltimore County staff presented a report on hyperscale data centers to the county's Planning Board.
Report on data centers in Baltimore County recommends strict regulations
This came as the county is on a pause on data center developments until January 1, 2027.
Through looking at the economic, public health, and environmental impacts of data centers, the report recommends strict regulations.
That includes banning data centers from being near schools, homes, parks, and day cares.
It's tentatively encouraging to a resident, Reed Cahill, who attended Thursday's meeting.
“I think a lot of these are intended to be placed in some already overburdened and underprivileged communities, so it sounded like there were some encouraging signs in terms of trying to pump the brakes a bit on what can feel like kind of an inevitable tide of corporate interests and big tech in our communities," Cahill said.
The report also seeks to put limits on how noisy centers can be.
It states that the backup generators at hyperscale centers can be louder than a motorcycle at 105 decibels.
The recommendation is to limit the noise to 55 decibels.
As far as cost to residents, the report found that data centers have raised energy bills and will keep at it for at least three years.
That could spell trouble for neighbors who are already dealing with high BGE bills.
A data center also could use more than 500,000 gallons of water.
"Water access is a relation to environmental racism; it's relation to wildlife," Cahill told WMAR-2 News.
The report recommends that the county explore requiring data center developers to enter into contracts that could contribute to community priorities like climate resilience funds, workforce development, and more.
Dr. Danita Tolson with the Baltimore County NAACP said that while all of this is a great start, there needs to be more research.
"But we need to look at other spaces, not just minority communities. There are other communities that it can be placed in. It needs to be in equitable spaces," Tolson said.
The Planning Board will hold a public board meeting on the report on September 3rd.
Head here to access the full report.
