Jurisdiction Index / US — Maryland (BGE / Pepco / Delmarva Power / Potomac Edison — PJM)
US — Maryland (BGE / Pepco / Delmarva Power / Potomac Edison — PJM)
JCI composite · as of · methodology v0
US — Maryland (BGE / Pepco / Delmarva Power / Potomac Edison — PJM) scores 35.3/100 on the Compute Institute Jurisdiction Competitiveness Index (Tier 4, Constrained), ranking #39 of 39 rated jurisdictions with a negative outlook, as of September 7, 2026 under methodology v0. Its strongest dimension is Stability & Execution Risk at 7/10; its weakest is Power Cost at 1.8/10. 20 of 22 sub-factors are scored on E1–E2 evidence (data confidence A). The negative outlook is driven by 2 forward-looking signals (-0.81 net points, E3–E4 evidence): committed capital (E3) and ecosystem (E4).
Dimension breakdown
Seven dimensions, each 0–10, weighted per methodology v0. JCI = Σ(dimension × weight) × 10.
Power Availability & Deliverability
Power Cost
Speed to Build
Regulatory & AI Policy Environment
Fiscal & Incentives
Capital & Ecosystem Depth
Stability & Execution Risk
Outlook drivers — Negative (-0.81 net points)
Forward-looking E3–E4 signals. They move the outlook only — never the base score.
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Committed capital -1.00 pts as of
“LOW CONFIDENCE - our tracked-campus history for Maryland is thin and got thinner in 2026. The largest verifiable commitment remains Rowan Digital Infrastructure's Maryland hyperscale campus: $975 million of construction financing for phase 1 (announced January 16, 2025) and $1.24 billion for phase 2 (February 25, 2025), roughly $2.2 billion of committed project debt concentrated in one developer and one site. Against that, Amazon Web Services abandoned its proposed 2.4 million square foot multi-campus development at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant on August 4, 2026 - the state's largest prospective hyperscale anchor and its only credible second cluster - weeks after the June 2026 county primary turned on data centers. Maryland's committed capital is one project deep, and the marginal entrant has exited.”
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Ecosystem +0.19 pts as of
“DEVELOPER-SUPPLIED FIGURES (sponsored content, not independently verified): the Quantum Frederick site is marketed as a 2,100+ acre assemblage with a 600+ acre nature reserve, served by the QLoop ~40-mile fiber ring carrying over 235,000 strands across a ~3.5 square-mile development site and placing Frederick County 'less than a millisecond' from the Ashburn ecosystem. Adjacency to the world's densest interconnection market is Maryland's real ecosystem asset; the specific strand and latency counts come from the developer's own marketing.”
Source: Data Center Frontier (sponsored/advertorial article), 'Why Maryland for Data Center Development?' (www.datacenterfrontier.com)
Sub-factor scores and sources
Every base-scored input below carries E1–E2 evidence: a justification, an evidence-level grade, and a link to the underlying source document.
Power Availability & Deliverability — 2.9/10 (weight 20%)
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Sub-factor
|
Score
|
Justification
|
Evidence
|
Source
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grid headroom 40% of dimension | 2.5 /10 | PJM's 2026 Load Forecast Report lists BGE and PEPCO — the two zones covering most of Maryland's load — among the twelve zones whose forecasts had to be adjusted upward for 'growth in data center load', against an RTO summer peak forecast of 222,106 MW in 2036 (a 10-year increase... as of | PJM Interconnection, 2026 PJM Load Forecast Report (posted Jan 14, 2026), Resource Adequacy Planning Dept. www.pjm.com | |
| Time-to-power 35% of dimension | 2 /10 | Talen, PJM, the Maryland PSC, Maryland utilities and the Sierra Club settled a reliability-must-run agreement holding Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner past their May 31, 2025 retirement dates until May 31, 2029 — at $312/MW-day ($145M/yr) and $137/MW-day ($35M/yr) respectively — ex... as of | Talen Energy Corporation press release, 'Talen Energy, Other Parties Reach Reliability Must Run Settlement Agreement for Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner Power Plants' (Jan 27, 2025) www.globenewswire.com | |
| Energy mix & expandability 15% of dimension | 4.5 /10 | The Next Generation Energy Act of 2025 opened a solicitation (Oct 1-31, 2025) letting selected projects use an expedited CPCN decided within 295 days instead of the standard track, covering dispatchable generation with an ELCC rating of at least 65% that emits fewer greenhouse ga... as of | U.S. Energy Information Administration, Maryland Electricity Profile 2024 (secondary source; retain the Maryland PSC release for the solicitation terms) www.eia.gov | |
| Water availability 10% of dimension | 5 /10 | ICPRB reports data centers currently draw about 4 MGD average and 15 MGD peak inside the Washington Metropolitan Area (2025) — 1% of total withdrawals but 9% of annual consumptive use and up to 12% in summer — with under 0.1 MGD average upstream, and projects WMA data center dema... as of | Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB), 'Data Centers and Water Use in the Potomac River Basin' www.potomacriver.org |
Power Cost — 1.8/10 (weight 12.5%)
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Sub-factor
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Score
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Justification
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Evidence
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Source
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial electricity price 60% of dimension | 1.5 /10 | EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.B puts Maryland's average industrial retail price at 15.10 cents/kWh year-to-date through June 2026, against a U.S. total of 8.89 cents and neighbouring Virginia at 10.08 cents — Maryland industrial power costs roughly 70% more than the nation... as of | U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B — Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State (YTD through June 2026) www.eia.gov | |
| Price trajectory & exposure 25% of dimension | 1.5 /10 | The same EIA table shows Maryland industrial prices moved from 11.99 cents/kWh (YTD June 2025) to 15.10 cents/kWh (YTD June 2026) — a 25.9% rise in twelve months — while the U.S. industrial average rose only from 8.38 to 8.89 cents (6.1%). Maryland is absorbing PJM capacity and t... as of | U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B — Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State (YTD through June 2026) www.eia.gov | |
| Cost certainty / contractability 15% of dimension | 3.5 /10 | Chapter 625 of 2025 (SB 937, Next Generation Energy Act) required every investor-owned electric company and every electric cooperative to submit a specific large load rate schedule to the PSC for approval on or before September 1, 2026. The statute does not itself dictate the ter... as of | Maryland Laws of 2025, Chapter 625 (Senate Bill 937), Next Generation Energy Act - enrolled chapter law, Sec. 4-212(c)-(e) (same URL as dossier; text extracted locally with pdftotext, the fetch summarizer cannot parse this PDF) mgaleg.maryland.gov |
Speed to Build — 2.7/10 (weight 17.5%)
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Sub-factor
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Score
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Justification
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Evidence
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Source
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permitting regime 40% of dimension | 1.5 /10 | On July 28, 2026 the Montgomery County Council passed Expedited Bill 19-26, an 18-month moratorium barring the Department of Permitting Services from issuing any data center permit - reaching applications filed before or after the effective date, pending regulatory review, or app... as of | Calvert County, MD (official), 'Calvert County Commissioners Enact Six-Month Data Center Moratorium' (Aug 18, 2026); with Frederick County executive order of July 1, 2026 (frederickcountymd.gov CivicAlerts AID=5845) and the existing Montgomery County release www.calvertcountymd.gov | |
| Observed construction velocity 35% of dimension | 2 /10 | LOW CONFIDENCE - Maryland has no completed hyperscale campus to measure against. The only in-flight benchmark is Rowan Digital Infrastructure's Maryland campus, financed at $975 million for phase 1 (announced January 16, 2025, 'phase one construction is well underway') and $1.24... as of | Frederick County, MD (official), 'County Announces Pause on New Data Center Development Following Maryland Supreme Court Decision' - executive order signed July 1, 2026 www.frederickcountymd.gov | |
| Labor & supply capacity 25% of dimension | 5.5 /10 | BLS state employment data for July 2026 (preliminary) shows Maryland with 165.7 thousand construction jobs out of 2,815.9 thousand total nonfarm employment and a 4.2% unemployment rate, with construction up only 0.9% over twelve months against 0.0% total nonfarm growth. A sizeabl... as of | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economy at a Glance — Maryland (July 2026, preliminary) www.bls.gov |
Regulatory & AI Policy Environment — 3.4/10 (weight 12.5%)
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Sub-factor
|
Score
|
Justification
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Evidence
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Source
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI-specific law in force 35% of dimension | 6 /10 | Maryland's enacted AI statutes govern the state's own use of AI and narrow sectors, not compute or model development: the Artificial Intelligence Governance Act of 2024 (SB 818, Ch. 496) makes state units inventory AI systems and creates the Governor's AI Subcabinet, joined by th... as of | State of Maryland, AI Maryland — Legislation (official state AI portal) ai.maryland.gov | |
| DC-specific regulation 35% of dimension | 2 /10 | Chapter 353 of 2026 (HB 1532, Utility RELIEF Act) writes a dedicated 'Part III. Large Load Customers' into the Public Utilities Article: a large load customer is any commercial or industrial retail customer with aggregate monthly demand of at least 25 MW and a load factor above 6... as of | Maryland Laws of 2026, Chapter 353 (House Bill 1532), Utility RELIEF Act — enrolled chapter law, §§ 7-232 to 7-234 mgaleg.maryland.gov | |
| Regulatory predictability 30% of dimension | 2 /10 | Chapter 353's strike-and-insert text shows the large load threshold moved from '[at least 100 megawatts]' and '[load factor of over 80%]' to 25 megawatts and more than 60% — a four-fold tightening of who is captured, enacted May 12, 2026, roughly twelve months after Chapter 625 s... as of | Maryland Laws of 2026, Chapter 353 (House Bill 1532), Utility RELIEF Act — enrolled chapter law, §§ 7-232 to 7-234 mgaleg.maryland.gov |
Fiscal & Incentives — 5.4/10 (weight 10%)
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Sub-factor
|
Score
|
Justification
|
Evidence
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Source
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enacted incentives 40% of dimension | 6.5 /10 | Maryland's Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption gives a 10-consecutive-year exemption on qualified data center personal property, extendable to 20 years where the operator invests at least $250 million within the first 10 years; the entry bar is low — $2 million of qualified p... as of | Maryland Department of Commerce — Data Center Maryland Sales and Use Tax Exemption Incentive Program commerce.maryland.gov | |
| Headline tax burden 40% of dimension | 4.5 /10 | Maryland levies corporate income tax at 8.25% of net income allocable to Maryland and a 6% sales and use tax, with no state tax on business personal property — but most counties (all except Caroline, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot) tax depreciated b... as of | Maryland Department of Commerce — Business Taxes commerce.maryland.gov | |
| Incentive durability 20% of dimension | 5 /10 | The exemption rests on Chapter 640 (Senate Bill 397) and survived live repeal pressure in the 2026 session: HB 560, which would have repealed both the sales and use tax exemption and the county authorization to abate qualified data center personal property, received a February 12... as of | Maryland General Assembly, HB 560 (2026 Regular Session) - Data Centers, Repeal of Tax Exemptions; first reading Ways and Means 1/28/2026, hearing 2/12/2026, no further action (retain the Commerce program page for the annual-renewal term) mgaleg.maryland.gov |
Capital & Ecosystem Depth — 2/10 (weight 12.5%)
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Sub-factor
|
Score
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Justification
|
Evidence
|
Source
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Committed capital 40% of dimension | — | Excluded — no E1–E2 evidence available; weaker evidence cannot enter a base score. | — | — |
| Ecosystem 30% of dimension | — | Excluded — no E1–E2 evidence available; weaker evidence cannot enter a base score. | — | — |
| Sovereign/anchor capital availability 30% of dimension | 2 /10 | There is no sovereign or state-balance-sheet anchor vehicle for compute or generation in Maryland, and the state says so explicitly: PSC Chair Frederick H. Hoover framed the Next Generation Energy Act solicitation as 'a pathway to encourage new generation development and improve... as of | Maryland Public Service Commission, 'Maryland PSC Seeks Solicitations Under Next Generation Energy Act' (Sept 30, 2025) psc.maryland.gov |
Stability & Execution Risk — 7/10 (weight 15%)
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Sub-factor
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Score
|
Justification
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Evidence
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Source
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political/policy continuity 40% of dimension | 4.5 /10 | Executive continuity is intact: official Maryland State Board of Elections statewide returns show Wes Moore and Aruna Miller taking the Democratic gubernatorial primary with 558,768 votes (88.26%) across all 1,979 election-day precincts ahead of the November 3, 2026 general elect... as of | Maryland General Assembly, SB 116 (2025 Regular Session) - Data Center Impact Analysis; vetoed May 16, 2025, veto overridden December 16, 2025, enacted as Chapter 10 of the 2025 Special Session mgaleg.maryland.gov | |
| Currency, transfer & convertibility 35% of dimension | 9.5 /10 | Maryland transacts in US dollars, which the BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey (April 2025) found on one side of 89.2% of all foreign exchange trades — up from 88.4% in 2022 — within $9.6 trillion of daily global FX turnover. There are no capital controls, repatriation limits or c... as of | Bank for International Settlements, Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange — April 2025 www.bis.org | |
| Physical & geopolitical risk 25% of dimension | 7.5 /10 | The Maryland Geological Survey finds the state's earthquake hazard 'is still low for the vast majority of the state', with only 7 of 105 grid sites exceeding the 1997 NEHRP 0.25g short-period threshold (maximum 0.28g), and only northeastern Maryland — Harford and Cecil Counties —... as of | Maryland Geological Survey, Open File Report 99-03-01 — Earthquake Hazard Maps for Maryland www.mgs.md.gov |
Signals
Recent ingested source documents linked to this jurisdiction via extracted claims or triage mentions, newest first.
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· pv magazine USA · relevance 0.40
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· Data Center Knowledge · relevance 0.70
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· POWER Magazine · relevance 0.75
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· Area Development — News · relevance 0.20
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· Google News Business · relevance 0.70
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· Canary Media · relevance 0.70
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· Data Center Dynamics · relevance 0.90
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· Renewable Energy World · relevance 0.65
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· Calvert County Government · relevance 0.70
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· Data Center Knowledge · relevance 0.70
Scores are reproducible from the frozen inputs snapshot recorded at computation time (2026-09-07T05:00:03+00:00). See the full methodology for rubrics, weights, and the evidence ladder.