Overview
- The legislation, introduced Monday, would halt new facilities that draw at least 10 megawatts citywide and move to committee with informational hearings planned.
- Zeke Cohen says the timeout lets the city study health, neighborhood, and environmental effects and require large-load users to pay for the power lines and equipment they drive.
- BGE said it will make big energy users cover needed grid upgrades and provide financial assurances, and it has paused a South Baltimore transmission plan after officials raised concerns.
- State leaders, including Senate President Bill Ferguson and Gov. Wes Moore, have advanced an energy package that would make data centers fund grid upgrades and limit sites in certain zones.
- Developers have eyed the Baltimore Peninsula site for a potential center, and residents warn that data centers use heavy power and water and can raise bills through new transmission costs shared by customers.