Maryland will investigate the impacts of data centers, stand up a new energy office and devote more money to a climate study after lawmakers this week overrode several vetoes by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore.
Lawmakers met Tuesday for a special session in which the Democratic-controlled legislature enacted more than a dozen bills vetoed by Moore, who earlier this year said Maryland’s budget shortfall necessitated a more disciplined approach to “expensive and labor intensive” initiatives.
One of those bills called for studying the energy and economic impacts of data centers. Lawmakers overrode Moore’s veto with bipartisan votes: 109-21 in the House and 44-0 in the Senate.
Some opposition came from House Republicans who said rising energy costs are the fault of Maryland’s anti-fossil-fuel policies, not data centers. But other Republicans, citing constituents’ concerns, supported the bill — or opposed it because they said it went too easy on data centers.
