“People Over Data Centers” Maryland’s First Statewide Conference on Confronting the Data Center Crisis

A day-long conference bringing together residents, advocates, community leaders, and public officials for discussion, training, and organizing to protect communities from dirty and dangerous data centers.

BALTIMORE, MD – With a bipartisan wave of data center opposition sweeping Maryland, two top nonprofits today unveiled plans to host the first statewide conference aimed at confronting the crisis in all its many forms. The daylong gathering on November 7 at the Baltimore Convention Center will feature everyday Marylanders and state and national leaders working to safeguard our water, air, health, climate, and insulate power bills from Big Tech’s alarming infrastructure agenda.

Nearly 80 percent of Marylanders already live in a county or city that has imposed a temporary moratorium on new data center permits, in what is perhaps the biggest and fastest grassroots rebellion in state history. Now leaders of those local fights – combined with top state officials, experts, and activists of every stripe – will bring their expertise to Baltimore to debate new ideas and offer practical next steps.

“With riveting local and national speakers, plus panels covering everything from water pollution to AI to local moratorium victories, journalists and policymakers will be able to hear and interact with everyday Marylanders working to defend their communities at the municipal, county, and state level in Maryland,” said Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

“For the first time, community leaders, organizers, and advocates from across the state will gather to share what’s working in the fight against dirty and dangerous data centers,” said Lydia Lawrence, Director of Conservation, Nature Forward. “People from urban and rural communities and across the political spectrum are uniting to protect our communities from the harmful impacts of unchecked data center expansion. This conference will send a clear message to elected officials at every level: data center reform can’t wait.” 

WHAT: Maryland’s first statewide conference on the dangers of unfettered data center growth and the practical actions communities can take to fight back

WHEN: Saturday, November 7, 2026, 10 AM – 5 PM. 

WHERE: Baltimore Convention Center, downtown Baltimore, Maryland

WHO: Prominent Maryland political leaders, activists, and everyday Marylanders

ENTRANCE: To obtain a press pass, please contact: kc@chesapeakeclimate.org

HOSTED BY: Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) and Nature Forward. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit peopleoverdatacenters.org 

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Throughout its history, Nature Forward, first established in 1897 as the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia, has championed nature for all by playing a pivotal role in conserving our region’s iconic natural places from development, including the C&O Canal, Dyke Marsh, and, most recently, Ten Mile Creek. Past member and board president Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, is credited with launching the now global environmental movement. Nature Forward’s nature experts provide hundreds of opportunities each year for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy, learn about, and protect the environment.   

Data centers and AI are gouging ratepayers

LTE by Gita Lefstein, a CCAN Volunteer from Baltimore, initially published in the Baltimore Sun.

I was glad to see The Baltimore Sun address the question of data centers in the Nov. 7 article, “Why are Maryland power bills spiking? Is AI to blame?” On Nov. 19, members of PJM, the unelected nonprofit that regulates the electrical grid for our region, will meet to address the explosive growth of data centers. Demand for energy growth in the PJM region is expected to grow by 32 gigawatts by 2030, 30 of which can be attributed to new data center growth. PJM needs to ensure that Marylanders are not left with higher bills and a dirtier grid.

At a minimum, PJM should require new data centers to bring their own (clean) energy online with them, so that they pay the costs for the new energy, rather than having residential customers pay the costs. Bringing on new solar, wind and battery storage is better for our health, more affordable and quicker to bring online than fossil fuels.

Unfortunately, PJM has a record of mishandling the grid, causing our rates to spike. Last year, PJM forced two coal plants, whose owner was trying to retire them, to stay online due to PJM’s lack of transparent planning — all while clean energy projects sat in the queue waiting to be approved. Today, Marylanders are paying more to keep those dirty, expensive coal plants online.

These choices aren’t accidents. PJM is governed by a body of companies — mostly fossil fuel generators and utilities. Most of them directly profit from fossil fuel projects, and PJM’s bias has been clear in their decision-making for years. Now, with the rise of Big Tech, their biases toward data centers are just as clear.

Bringing data centers online immediately would come at a direct cost to Marylanders. Average household electric bills are predicted to rise as much as $70 per month by 2030 if data centers don’t pay their own costs. They would also strain the grid, which would give power companies an excuse to revert to their usual biases and bring more fossil fuels online. It’s a deadly cycle.

AI, and the data centers that make it possible, are to blame for worsening this cycle of fossil fuel-bias by PJM. We have to break the cycle now by telling Gov. Wes Moore to make it clear to PJM: If we’re going to bring more data centers online, they need to bring clean energy.

LTE by Gita Lefstein, a CCAN Volunteer from Baltimore, initially published in the Baltimore Sun.