Artificial intelligence is already changing defense, medicine, agriculture, manufacturing, and small business. In Harford County, where these industries are part of our economic backbone, the question is not whether AI is coming. It is whether we will shape the infrastructure behind it, or watch other counties capture the investment and tax revenue while we live with the economic disruption.
That is why the Mountain Branch Energy & Compute Campus deserves a serious, fact-based conversation. At full buildout, Mountain Branch represents an estimated $20 billion private investment in Harford County, among the largest private infrastructure investments in Maryland history. It would generate thousands of skilled-trade jobs, hundreds of permanent technical and operations roles, and substantial recurring tax revenue for Harford County schools, public safety, roads, and services.
But size alone does not justify approval. My brother and I, along with our family, have owned and operated the Mountain Branch property in Joppa for years, and we intend to remain part of the ownership group. We are not outside developers passing through. We live with the consequences of what happens here.
We understand why residents are skeptical of the words "data center." People are rightfully worried about projects that drain public water, strain the electric grid, create noise, and erase rural landscapes. We share those concerns.
That is why we did not take a standard data center blueprint and try to force it onto Joppa. Knowing the concerns our neighbors have raised, we engineered this campus from the ground up around strict, enforceable environmental and community standards. Every major technical decision was designed to protect the residents who live here.
Take the electric grid. Maryland residents already see grid pressure in their rising electric bills, and a conventional data center adds massive new load to the system. We designed Mountain Branch to do the opposite. It generates its own power on-site, behind the meter, using advanced fuel-cell technology. The project is designed not to draw operating power from the local BGE grid, and ratepayers will not fund grid upgrades for our operating load.
Water is another deep concern for a county that values its watersheds. That is why Mountain Branch was designed around closed-loop or air-cooled systems. We are proposing enforceable standards that prohibit public water use for cooling, prohibit discharge to the public sewer system, and include strict protections against PFAS pathways.
For noise, we engineered a strict nighttime limit of 45 dBA at the nearest occupied home, along with a 300-foot residential setback and a separate 500-foot setback for power generation equipment.
Most importantly, to protect Harford County's rural character, we built a five-to-one preservation commitment into our framework. For every acre developed, five acres would be permanently preserved through qualified entities like the Harford Land Trust. At the scale of the Mountain Branch property, that commitment could preserve land approaching 1,400 acres. That is a net gain for farmland and open space, not a loss.
We are not asking the County for a blank check. We are asking to be held to these standards through a Special Development designation and a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement. This agreement would run with the land and bind future owners, funding local priorities like schools, fire and EMS, workforce training, broadband, energy assistance, environmental monitoring, AI readiness programs at Harford Community College, and apprenticeship pathways for local students.
Every month of delay on a project of this scale risks postponing millions of dollars in future tax revenue for Harford County schools, public safety, roads, and services, and millions more in paychecks for local construction workers, skilled tradespeople, and their families.
The County Council is currently considering Bill 26-005, which would impose a 90-day moratorium on data center development. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 212 S. Bond Street in Bel Air.
A 90-day moratorium should not become a substitute for governing. The concerns are not mysterious. Counties in Maryland, including Harford County, and Northern Virginia have studied data centers for years. Many have already tightened rules and learned from earlier mistakes. The issues are known: grid impact, water use, noise, setbacks, land preservation, and community benefits. Harford County can draw from those lessons now and adopt stronger protections before any project moves forward. A moratorium does not answer those questions. Standards do.
While the desire for caution is understandable, a blanket pause is not a solution. Moratoriums do not fund schools, preserve farmland, or train apprentices. Harford County does not have to choose between approving everything and banning everything. There is a better path: strict standards, local control, and enforceable commitments.
The infrastructure for the next economy will be built somewhere. Mountain Branch gives Harford County a chance to lead: protect the grid, protect our water, preserve our farmland, strengthen the tax base, train the next generation of workers, and ensure the AI economy creates lasting value for the people who live here.
I urge residents to attend the May 19 hearing and ask the Council to reject Bill 26-005 as introduced. Let's demand strict, enforceable standards and a Community Benefits framework that give only the most responsible, locally designed projects a clear path forward.