While Montgomery County sits next to Virginia’s Data Center Alley, the world’s largest concentration of the digital infrastructure behemoths, it hasn’t yet seen much data center development, and it currently has no hyperscale data centers. The 18-month moratorium extends a six-month pause on data center permits, enacted through an executive order by Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich in June. Next door to Montgomery County, both Prince George’s and Frederick counties also enacted data center development pauses this month. Prince George’s County approved a two-year moratorium on hyperscale development, while Frederick County is pausing new data center development through the end of the year. Kathy Hochul signed a yearlong freeze on large data center construction on July 14.