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Key developments
Federal data-center oversight law may expire
WIRED reported that the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act, passed in 2023, is set to expire in September without a replacement from Congress or the Trump administration. The lapse would end reporting and efficiency requirements for federal data centers, including energy, water, sustainability and offsite contractor tracking. Current and former OMB and GSA staff told WIRED the Office of Management and Budget has not provided a plan for agencies to manage the sunset.
Why it matters
The expiration would reduce federal visibility into data-center efficiency, water use, cybersecurity and contract spending just as agencies are being pushed to expand AI infrastructure.
Sources & driving stories
WIRED
WIRED coverageMontgomery County pauses data-center permits
Maryland Matters’ Kate Ryan reported that Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich signed an executive order pausing acceptance and processing of permits for new data centers for six months. The county is working on Data Center Zoning Text Amendment 26-01, which would define data centers and restrict them to industrial zones under conditional-use review with noise, environmental and siting conditions. Elrich said no permit will be issued during the pause, including for Atmosphere Data Centers’ proposed facility at a former coal-fired power plant site in Dickerson.
Why it matters
The order adds a major Maryland county to the growing list of jurisdictions slowing data-center approvals while they rewrite zoning and infrastructure rules.
Sources & driving stories
MARYLAND MATTERS · Kate Ryan
Maryland Matters coverageProject Jupiter faces New Mexico water scrutiny
NPR’s John Burnett reported that Project Jupiter, a roughly 1,400-acre, 2.5 GW data-center development near Sunland Park, New Mexico, continues construction with Oracle and OpenAI identified as tenants. Developers purchased existing water rights from a sod farm and Oracle says the data center and fuel-cell system will use about 11 million gallons of non-potable water in closed-loop systems. Critics object to water impacts in the lower Rio Grande region and to Doña Ana County’s rapid approval of about $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds that function as tax abatements.
Why it matters
The project illustrates how gigawatt-scale AI campuses are colliding with water scarcity, tax incentives and regional compact obligations in the desert Southwest.
Sources & driving stories
NPR · John Burnett
NPR coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Lowell residents rally against Microsoft
WOODTV.com reported that residents and supporters rallied ahead of a Lowell Charter Township board meeting on a proposed Microsoft data center, citing public health, land, water and wildlife concerns after a prior 5-2 vote against a six-month moratorium.
WORTH NOTING
Maryland assigns large-load upgrade costs
The Daily Record reported that Maryland’s new Utility RELIEF Act requires data centers and other large-load customers to register with the Public Service Commission and pay for grid infrastructure upgrades needed for interconnection.
WORTH NOTING
Greenwood moratorium vote scheduled
Russ Fitzgerald wrote in the Index Journal that Greenwood County Council in South Carolina scheduled first reading of a 12-month data-center moratorium for June 16, with related data-center conditions set for later readings.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will moratoriums become default negotiating tools?
Montgomery County, Greenwood County and Lowell Township show local officials and residents increasingly using pauses, zoning rewrites and public hearings before accepting large data-center loads.
OPEN QUESTION
Who verifies water and grid-impact claims?
Project Jupiter’s revised water-use figures and Maryland’s large-load cost rules both point to a need for independent validation of developer projections before approvals proceed.