Maryland Added a Data-Center Review. Frederick Still Needs to Know What It Changes.

Maryland now has a statewide review process for large data centers.

It does not have a statewide pause.

That distinction matters in Frederick County, where the largest questions are no longer hypothetical. Data-center construction is underway, other properties hold prior development approvals, and the county has stopped accepting new applications only through July 1, 2027.

Governor Wes Moore’s executive order, signed September 23, is intended to standardize how Maryland reviews major data-center projects. The order covers projects of at least 25 megawatts, creates an interagency Maryland Data Center Task Force, and calls for a public dashboard tracking development across the state.

Those are potentially useful steps. They are not, by themselves, proof that a project will be safer, cheaper, or more beneficial to the public.

The real test is what the review can change.

A Review Is Not a Moratorium

Several Maryland counties have paused some or all new data-center development while officials write rules or study the consequences. Moore's order takes a different approach.

It establishes a common state process for covered projects seeking permits, incentives, or state support. It does not prohibit those projects from moving forward statewide.

That may be a reasonable choice. A uniform review could replace fragmented agency decisions with a single record of power demand, water use, environmental impacts, workforce commitments, public subsidies, and community benefits.

But “review” is an elastic word.

A review can expose facts. It can coordinate agencies. It can recommend conditions. Or it can become one more procedural stop that a project passes without a clear public standard.

The signed order is now public. The remaining test is how Maryland writes and applies the implementation rules.

Frederick Is Already Operating Under Different Rules

Frederick County says it is not accepting new applications for data-center developments. County Executive Jessica Fitzwater extended that pause through July 1, 2027.

The county also makes clear that the pause has limits. It does not stop projects already under construction. It does not apply to properties that received qualifying development approvals before the County Council considered its data-center zoning bill on June 17, 2025.

That means the statewide order should be judged partly by how it treats projects already beyond the earliest stages of local review.

If a previously approved Frederick project later seeks a state environmental permit, a tax benefit, a power-related approval, or an official letter of support, does it enter the new process? If it does, can the task force impose conditions or only issue advice? If the review identifies an unacceptable cost to ratepayers or the environment, which official has the authority to say no?

Those are not procedural details. They determine whether the order changes outcomes or simply changes paperwork.

Maryland Already Enacted Part of the Framework

The executive order also arrives after the General Assembly enacted the Utility RELIEF Act earlier this year.

That law lowered the threshold for mandatory large-load utility treatment to 25 megawatts under specified load conditions. It directed the Public Service Commission to consider costs attributable to large-load customers and created a registry for large projects. Frederick County now requires proof of registration as a condition of its own development-review process.

The law also states the General Assembly's intent that data centers locating in Maryland on or after July 1, 2026, use in-state workers to the maximum extent possible, help provide capacity for their demand, engage communities, and publish a written plan.

Intent is important. Enforceable performance is more important.

The new task force should show, project by project, whether those commitments are binding, how they are measured, and what happens when a developer misses them.

The Dashboard Must Be More Than a Project Map

A statewide dashboard could become the order's most valuable public feature—if it reports information people can actually compare.

At minimum, each covered project should have a record showing:

• Projected and actual electricity demand
• New generation, storage, or demand-response commitments
• Grid upgrades and who pays for them
• Projected and actual water use
• Air permits and backup-generation capacity
• State and local tax exemptions or incentives
• One-time payments separated from recurring revenue
• Temporary construction jobs separated from permanent jobs
• Promised community benefits and their delivery status
• Permit applications, agency decisions, conditions, and compliance findings

The dashboard should also preserve changes over time. A projection submitted before approval should not disappear when a project revises its design, power request, ownership structure, or construction schedule.

Transparency is not merely publishing the latest number. It is preserving enough history to test whether the earlier promises came true.

The Tax Question Remains With the Legislature

Moore has also pledged to work with lawmakers to repeal Maryland's sales-and-use-tax exemption for qualified data centers.

That exemption is still current policy. The Department of Commerce describes benefits lasting 10 years for qualifying projects and 20 years for projects meeting the higher investment threshold.

Repeal would require legislative action. It should therefore be evaluated separately from the executive order.

Lawmakers will need to decide whether ending the exemption applies only to future applicants, how existing certificates are treated, and whether any replacement incentive is tied to measurable public benefits.

Until then, a promise to seek repeal is a policy position—not a completed safeguard.

What Accountability Should Look Like

Moore's order can improve Maryland's handling of data centers if it creates a shared factual record and gives state agencies clear responsibilities.

But Frederick residents should ask a narrower question than whether the state now has a task force.

They should ask whether the new process reaches the decisions that still matter here.

Does it cover later approvals for projects already in motion? Does it disclose who pays for power infrastructure? Does it distinguish projections from verified results? Does it create conditions that can be enforced? Does it preserve local authority rather than treating local support as a box to check?

A review process is useful only when the public can see the evidence, understand the standard, and identify the official responsible for the decision.

Maryland has built the frame for that work.

Now it must show what the frame can hold.

Sources And Notes

• Official signed executive order, Executive Order 01.01.2026.16
• Governor's Office announcement and framework summary
• Frederick County data-center status and application pause
• Frederick County announcement extending the pause through July 1, 2027
• Maryland General Assembly, HB 1532 / Chapter 353, Utility RELIEF Act
• Maryland Department of Commerce, Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption
• Christine Condon, Maryland Matters, “New data centers in Maryland to get additional scrutiny under governor's order,” September 23, 2026