Maryland (the construction limit applies only in Baltimore City)

Utility RELIEF Act data center provisions (2026 ch. 353, HB 1532)

Enacted legislation or regulation

In effect This instrument is recorded as currently in effect as of the dataset date.

Scope

Chapter 353 of 2026 (House Bill 1532, the Utility RELIEF Act) adds Real Property 14-134, which applies only in Baltimore City and provides that a person may not construct a data center (defined in that section by a 5-megawatt aggregate demand and a load-factor test) in a development district subject to tax increment repayment on outstanding bonds, except the city-wide affordable housing development district.

Geographic scope
Maryland (the construction limit applies only in Baltimore City)
Jurisdiction
State
Authority type
Legislature
Issuing authority
Maryland General Assembly

Dates

Adopted
12 May 2026
Effective
Several dates apply; see the source
Scheduled expiration
See completion condition
Ended
Not recorded as ended
Completion condition
No expiration was identified for these provisions. 1 July 2027 (registry) and 1 October 2027 (first registry report) are deadlines, not end dates.
Source document
The source page states no document date
Last checked
23 September 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)

Summary

Maryland's Utility RELIEF Act, House Bill 1532 of 2026, was approved by the Governor on 12 May 2026 as chapter 353. Among many utility provisions, it bars construction of a data center in Baltimore City development districts that are still repaying tax increment financing bonds, except the city-wide affordable housing district. The act's sections take effect on different days, so no single effective day is stored.

What this does not establish

  • The chapter PDF renders amendment strike-outs as plain text, so this record describes only provisions that the Department of Legislative Services 90 Day Report also describes as enacted.
  • The act's effective-date sections appear in more than one numbering in the chapter PDF; which date governs each provision was not resolved, but all candidate dates (enactment on 12 May 2026, 1 June 2026, 1 July 2026) are past.
  • The same act's change to the general large load rate schedule in Public Utilities 4-212 (to 25 megawatts and a 60% load factor) does not by its own terms name data centers and is not treated as a data-center measure here.
  • Legislative-intent language in Public Utilities 4-212(G) addressed to data centers that are large load customers is not treated as a binding requirement.
  • The same act requires the Public Service Commission to establish a large load customer registry and a voluntary clean capacity rating program. Those provisions are written in terms of large load customers and do not name data centers, so they are not treated as data-center measures here.

Unresolved questions

  • Whether the Public Service Commission has opened the registry proceeding was not checked.

Relationships

Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.

  • No related action is recorded.

Sources

Primary source

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_353_hb1532e.pdf

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