The full Montgomery County Council meets Tuesday, to vote on an 18-month freeze on building permits for large data centers and a zoning change that would permanently ban them countywide. If approved, no new data center permits could be issued anywhere in the county, including Bethesda's commercial corridors, until January 2028.

The two measures on the agenda are Expedited Bill 19-26, which would replace County Executive Marc Elrich's existing six-month executive-order pause with an 18-month legislative moratorium, and Zoning Text Amendment 26-01, which for the first time defines a "large data center" in county code and prohibits such facilities in all zones.

Under the ZTA, a large data center is any building or group of buildings with a monthly electricity demand of at least 25 megawatts. Until now, data centers had no formal definition in the county's zoning code and could be classified as a "cable communications facility."

The moratorium is a compromise. Councilmember Evan Glass introduced a six-month pause bill on Wednesday, May 6; Councilmember Will Jawando proposed two years on May 12. The Economic Development Committee merged the bills into an 18-month timeline on Wednesday, voting unanimously to send the measure to the full council.

"We're doing this because we truly love this county," Council President Natali Fani-González said at the July 22 committee meeting. "We're going to take our time to make sure that the decision for a large data center is done the right way, in that we have the right setbacks and protections for the environment, for communities."

The committee also stripped an exemption that would have allowed a proposed 360-megawatt, five-building data center campus in Dickerson to proceed during the pause. That project, backed by California-based Atmosphere Data Centers on a site owned by Florida-based Terra Energy, was the catalyst for the moratorium push.

For Bethesda businesses and residents, the stakes are practical. Councilmember Jawando said in a Thursday, July 23, statement that during the moratorium the county should develop a dedicated data center tax rate, noting that under current rules a data center pays the same property tax as a single-family home. Supporters also cite concerns about rising utility costs: environmental groups warned at a Friday, press conference that large data centers' energy and water demands could drive up bills for existing ratepayers.

The Data Center Coalition, an industry group, pushed back in a statement to FOX 5, warning that moratoriums signal the area is "closed for business" and could cost the county investment and jobs.

The council session begins at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, July 28, and can be watched on County Cable MoCo, Facebook, or YouTube. A county Office of Legislative Oversight report on data center impacts is also on the consent calendar for release. A fuller OLO study is expected in fall 2026, and no date has been set for public hearings on permanent regulations.