For the last year, residents and community members have been vocal and united in our opposition to AI data centers being developed in Prince George's County. Thanks to thousands mobilizing and taking action, County Executive Braveboy extended her moratorium until September 30th, 2026, and the Council passed a 2-year moratorium.

However, the fight is not over, as the Council’s 2-year moratorium has major loopholes. For example, it would not stop the proposed project at the Old Landover Mall site, the very issue that started this whole movement, from breaking ground. The project already received critical permit approvals back in 2024, so Braveboy’s moratorium is the only barrier preventing it from moving forward.

Yet Braveboys' 3- to 6-month incremental delays are increasingly looking like stalling tactics that would allow her to survive the elections in November without fully closing the door on Big Tech.

Also, the Council’s 2-year moratorium can end prematurely as soon as they pass comprehensive data center legislation. Within several weeks of passing the legislation, Councilmember Wanika Fisher already tried pushing a zoning text amendment through the Planning Board that would try to site AI data centers in the County’s rural and agricultural areas.

While moratoria are welcome, these legislative poison pills and half measures betray the people of Prince George’s County. They send a clear message to greedy developers that our land is still for sale. We will not stand by and let Big Tech pollute our air and water, raise our power bills, and overwhelm us with countless other existential crises.

Use this form to email all eleven councilmembers and the County Executive, urging them to enact a ban on AI hyperscale data centers and put the health of our communities over the profits of tech billionaires!

Facts about this issue:

❌ Environmental Degradation: PG County is already an environmentally degraded area. PG County is treated as the region’s dumping ground. We already have a disproportionate amount of landfills, power plants, and coal ash sites and are in the top 10% of communities negatively impacted by cumulative environmental threats in Maryland.

⚡ Electricity Use: AI data centers use as much electricity as entire counties and cities. This rise in demand strains our grid, disrupts electricity markets, and increases residential utility bills. Maryland’s residential electric bills have already jumped 50% since 2020 and could increase by hundreds of dollars a year if more AI data centers are built.

🧊 ICE and Surveillance: As ICE tries to expand its headquarters in Southeast D.C. and detention centers in Hyattsville, the agency is increasingly relying on these massive AI data centers to train facial recognition software and track our neighbors. This makes it easier for them to violently kidnap and terrorize our immigrant community members and anyone who tries to stand up for them.

🏭 Increased Air Pollution: Fossil-fueled power plants and diesel backup generators that power data centers emit pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter. They increase rates of respiratory diseases and cardiovascular conditions, and elevate cancer risk in nearby communities.

💧 Water Use: Data centers use vast amounts of water to cool their servers. Hyperscale data centers can use up to 5 million gallons per day, or about 1.8 billion gallons annually. This is enough water for a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. This could lead to increased water strain and higher water bills in our region.

🪖 War and Iran: The Pentagon is using AI data centers to create killing machines with zero human input. AI targeting was used for a U.S. bomb that killed over 150 young girls at an elementary school in Minab, Iran.

💼 Limited Job Creation: Data centers are highly automated and require a small workforce for daily operations. One example of many is a Microsoft data center in Illinois, which created only 20 permanent jobs despite receiving over $38 million in tax breaks and promising to create more.

⛔ Zero Net Tax Revenue: Due to recent bills passed by the state and PG County, respectively, data centers are exempt from both state sales tax and local personal property tax, unlike small business owners. Once construction is complete, data centers will net NO tax revenue, especially when taxpayer costs to manage water and electrical infrastructure are factored in.