Ellis/Andrews Campaign Announces Data Center Policy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 25, 2026
CONTACT: Andy Ellis
andy@gogreen2026.com
443-320-5296
The plan would stop new data centers on day one and impose the strictest rules in the nation on the ones already built.
BALTIMORE — Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews, the Green Party nominees for Governor and Lt. Governor of Maryland, today released the campaign's full data center policy at gogreen2026.com/data-centers. The plan would halt state permit approvals for new data centers on day one, ban new data center construction through 2027 legislation, and put existing facilities under the strictest regulation in the country.
"This policy was crafted by spending months traveling around the state and talking to people who are fighting against the data centers. It comes from the people and the movements on the frontlines, not the Annapolis advocacy organizations, the industry, or the establishment politicians," Ellis said. "The people in communities facing new data center projects don't want studies, regulations, or temporary pauses. They want to stop the data centers from coming."
Ellis has stood with residents fighting proposed projects in Frederick, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles, and Baltimore City. While Governor Moore promises to "supercharge the data center industry," those communities have been left to stop the buildout themselves.
"Our policy does not just focus on stopping the future data centers," Ellis said. "It also offers policies to address the ones that are already built."
On day one, an Ellis administration would stop all state agency permit approvals for data centers, prohibit state agencies from signing non-disclosure agreements with data center, AI, or surveillance firms, audit the Maryland Department of the Environment's enforcement record, and stand up a transparency task force to examine how prior administrations dealt with the industry. The 2027 legislative agenda goes further: a ban on new data center construction and permitting, an end to the state's data center tax breaks, repeal of the Critical Infrastructure Streamlining Act as applied to data center power generation, a ban on local government NDAs with data center operators, a ban on campaign contributions from data center operators, new taxes on AI and cryptocurrency transactions, and the strictest regulation in the nation on water, land, energy, sound, and emissions for facilities already operating.
"Our data center policy is comprehensive and centers around a statewide ban on new data center construction. We also understand that the billionaire class needs to pay their fair share, so we will remove tax exemptions for the existing data centers," said Taylor Frazier McCollum, the campaign's data center organizer. "There is only one candidate who has a truly people driven policy, and with grassroots groups in county after county winning local restrictions, it's clear that we have the power to truly shift the dynamics in Annapolis." Frazier McCollum is a leader in the fight against the proposed data center at the former Landover Mall site and a key advocate pushing the county council to pass a moratorium.
On Sunday, Ellis and Frazier McCollum rallied in Baltimore City as part of the People's Green Liberation Coalition, a grassroots coalition fighting to ban data centers in Baltimore City. This evening they will visit residents in Adamstown, in Frederick County, who are already living with existing data center projects in their backyards.
The full policy is available at gogreen2026.com/data-centers.
About the Ellis/Andrews Campaign
Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews are running for Governor and Lt. Governor on the Green Party ticket.The campaign has challenged Moore and Cox to a four-candidate debate focused entirely on data center policy, covering regulation, taxation, community impact, and the industry's future in Maryland.
Get more info at gogreen2026.com.