[Baltimore Sun] If Maryland must do data centers, they should be done right | READER COMMENTARY
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Beyond jobs and revenue, data centers will have significant environmental and quality-of-life impacts on Maryland. While I do not oppose data centers, it should be done in the best possible way. We must learn from the mistakes of Virginia and enact common-sense guardrails (“Maryland would be foolish not to embrace data centers,” Nov. 20).
While energy usage in not normally a concern of new businesses, these are not ordinary businesses. One data center can use as much electricity as more than half the households in Maryland. They may require new transmission lines and substations. Look at the community outcry for the installation of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project which is just to power data centers.
While we don’t know the full impact on electrical rates, we have examples. In Virginia, electrical rates are going to double in four years because of data centers. Many Maryland residents are struggling to pay their electrical bills now so this will truly exacerbate this problem.
A data center may have hundreds of diesel generators, each spewing out greenhouse gases and other pollutants during their monthly maintenance run cycles. However, imagine if the power went out and these generators had to run for 24 hours straight on a summer day. No one would want to live near these facilities.
Studies have shown that incessant noise disrupts people’s lives. These facilities make noise. And the computers and their cooling systems run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Plus, they have diesel generators that would run constantly if the power goes out. Imagine having that noise.
A data center could use a million gallons of water per day. Are we prepared to manage such water consumption in a drought? Who gets water first — the local data center or residents?
There is no cumulative effects management. Imagine 10 data centers being installed in close proximity. Virginia has this and there is an uprising of residents demanding that their state and local governments put up guardrails. But for many residents, it is too late.
Finally, there’s the challenge of meeting Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions’ goals. Coal plants are staying on line and new gas-fired power plants are being built to provide power. We would need over 15,000 acres of solar to power the data centers in Frederick County. Now, that would produce a lot of jobs, but that will only negate the impact of data centers and not necessarily help use to achieve our climate mandates.
— Dave Arndt, Baltimore
The writer is co-chair of the Maryland Legislative Coalition’s Climate Justice Wing.
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