Graded Light and steady. 1 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
No connection, own-power or reliability rule specific to data centers exists in the District.
No Pepco large-load tariff or data center cost rule; B26-0596 (Feb 2026) is general ratemaking and still pending.
No moratorium, siting or zoning rule for data centers exists in the District.
The District offers no data center tax incentive and has taken no action on one, so nothing to lose and nothing to gain.
No water, air permit or disclosure rule for data centers exists in the District.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
The District has no hyperscale campuses announced and is not a target market; regional data center growth sits in Northern Virginia and Maryland. Repeated searches turned up no District legislation, incentive, Pepco large-load tariff, moratorium or rule on self-supplied power that is specific to data centers. The District's exposure is on the bill side: Pepco customers pay PJM capacity costs driven by data center growth elsewhere in the region, a point Councilmember Charles Allen made at a March 2026 meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The Council's response so far is general ratemaking and affordability legislation, not data center rules.
Nothing specific to data centers was found pending in the District as of 23 October 2026. The Council bill to tighten Pepco's multiyear rate plans, B26-0596, was introduced in February 2026 and its progress since then has not been confirmed. The Public Service Commission's energy affordability investigation, opened after a November 2025 petition from the Office of the People's Counsel, is the other place regional data center costs could surface. The Council of Governments planned a further regional session on data center costs.
No. As of 23 October 2026 no statewide or local moratorium on data centers is in force in District of Columbia. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Steady. District of Columbia is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. No data-center rules or incentives; the District's issue is the power bill. The outlook above says what is pending.
District of Columbia sits in PJM. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. District of Columbia's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 23 October 2026.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) District of Columbia scores grid connection 1, power rates 1, siting and land use 1, tax treatment 3, permits and water 1, a mean of 1.4. The most regulated line is tax treatment: The District offers no data center tax incentive and has taken no action on one, so nothing to lose and nothing to gain.
1 item: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
Introduced in February 2026 by Councilmember Robert White, the bill would limit Pepco's multiyear rate plans, including by basing increases on historic costs instead of forecast budgets. The Public Service Commission also opened an energy affordability investigation after a November 2025 petition from the Office of the People's Counsel. Neither sets terms for data centers; they respond to rising bills that analysts link in part to regional data center demand. Status after February 2026 was not confirmed.
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