In case you were looking to better understand the contentious debate over the construction of data centers in Maryland, a recent vote by the Prince George’s County Council represents an accurate distillation of the controversy and the interests at play. Local leaders, including County Executive and Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks, looked to the data center construction boom in Northern Virginia that has sent tax revenues there skyrocketing and argued that Prince George’s County needs to jump on that gravy train. Local residents looked to the same Virginia data centers and said, “No, thank you.”

The residents won out, and the council voted to shelve, for the time being, a bill that would have streamlined the approval process for data centers to get built in the county. Depending on who you ask, the outcome was either a victory for the environment and Marylanders who want to live undisturbed and peaceful lives or a disappointing delay that will cost the county a financial lifeline as it faces down a potential $171 million deficit.

For Prince George’s County and the state as a whole, the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle. Data centers, whose construction has proliferated to meet the rising demand for artificial intelligence computing, represent a rapidly growing new industry that can produce enormous revenues for state and local coffers. Virginia, particularly in northern jurisdictions like Loudoun County, is taking advantage of the boom. Maryland has not.

“If you look at what Loudoun County has done, 42% of their local tax base is provided by data centers,” says Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Sidney Harrison, according to WTOP.

But the alluring tax revenue from data centers comes at a cost, and many in Virginia are feeling buyer’s remorse. Residents who live near some of the massive data center campuses scattered across the state have complained that the data centers have replaced picturesque landscapes with an eyesore and that their cooling fans and diesel generators produce skull-splitting noise.

They also consume a huge amount of power. That means greater demand placed on the electrical grid and higher utility rates for consumers. Disruptive infrastructure projects like the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project power line are also necessary to connect data centers to the grid.

We could name plenty more negatives associated with data centers. The question is whether Maryland, with increasingly daunting state and local deficits, can afford to miss out on the benefits from this industry. If Maryland’s local governments can’t find an effective compromise policy that allows data centers to take root in the state while protecting the interests of its nature and residents, they’ll have to make a difficult choice — between Maryland’s finances and its environment.

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.