Data centers in Baltimore, Maryland: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Baltimore City has paused large data centers before any big one has been proposed inside its limits. The fight began over the Baltimore Peninsula, formerly Port Covington. The head of the company that led its development said in 2025 that the site was getting "a lot of data center interest." BGE and its parent Exelon, meanwhile, plan $537 million of new distribution and underground transmission lines through South Baltimore to serve the peninsula, on a route through the narrow historic streets of Otterbein and Ridgely's Delight. In March 2026 Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, filed a bill barring data centers on city land that benefits from tax increment financing, which covers the peninsula. It also required state regulators to judge whether such transmission lines are needed and cost-effective. "BG&E has created a scenario with this transmission line that is wholly unacceptable," Ferguson said. According to Technical.ly, the Utility RELIEF Act that passed the General Assembly that spring halted efforts to bring a data center to the peninsula.

The city then acted on its own. Council President Zeke Cohen's bill, sponsored by 12 of the 15 council members, passed in May 2026 and was signed by Mayor Brandon Scott. It bars new data centers using 10 megawatts or more for one year from June 16 and orders a city study of their effects on the grid, ratepayers, the economy and public health, due by March 2027. An existing Johns Hopkins research computing center at Bayview, which the state granted $9 million to expand, is expected to stay below the threshold.

The next argument is over what replaces the pause. Councilmember Phylicia Porter has proposed Bill 26-0174, which would require any data center to win conditional-use approval by council ordinance, with a health equity assessment and public input. She warned that "the moratorium is not public policy; that means we are fully unprotected," and that it could be challenged. At a packed Planning Commission meeting, residents urged the city to let the study finish first. "We can see how upset everyone is at even the mere thought of a data center coming to Baltimore," said Hillary Gonzalez. The commission declined to support the bill but agreed a health equity assessment should be added to the study. The bill goes to the City Council this fall.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.