Maryland lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to override Gov. Wes Moore’s vetoes of three climate and energy-focused bills, a step that comes after his administration has drawn criticism for its leadership on some green priorities.

During a brief special session Tuesday in Annapolis, lawmakers voted to reapprove bills aimed at establishing an energy planning office, analyzing the risks of a burgeoning data center industry and assessing the total cost of climate change for Maryland.

The veto overrides come as Maryland lawmakers prepare for the start of a legislative session next month in which growing energy demand and ballooning utility bills promise to dominate policy debates. Electrification and the rise of data centers have put new strains on the mid-Atlantic electric grid, even as ratepayers face surging costs for other reasons.

“With this override, the legislature is sending a clear message that protecting ratepayers can’t wait,” said Sen. Katie Fry Hester, a Baltimore County Democrat who sponsored the energy planning office bill and the climate study.

Moore’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, but Moore argued in May that study and planning bills like these would put undue burden on state resources while the state manages a strapped budget. The Democrat vetoed the trio of energy and climate proposals along with almost two dozen other bills.

Hester originally sponsored many of the vetoed bills, a coincidence that raised eyebrows among her colleagues in Annapolis. Asked why her legislation had seemingly been targeted, Hester said she didn’t know. She added that she met with Moore’s new chief of staff, Lester Davis, Tuesday morning.

“He’s a brilliant guy,” Hester said. “He can’t answer that question either, but it is a new day, and we are committed to working collaboratively going forward.”

Whatever Moore’s reasons for the vetoes, he reversed course on one item last week. He opted to fund Hester’s proposed climate study, earmarking almost $500,000 in state funds to finance an assessment of climate damages over the next year.

Though lawmakers and climate activists cheered the governor’s support for the study, they opted to go ahead with the veto override vote. Advocates hope that the study will lay the foundation for Maryland to charge global fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil and Chevron for the local damages of climate change, a step already taken by two Democrat-controlled states.

“We are really excited that lots of really good pieces of legislation are going to go into law, including the RENEW Act, which is going to bring billions of dollars into the State of Maryland to pay for the cost that climate change is costing all of us today,” said Jamie DeMarco, who lobbies for groups that fight climate change.

Also approved by lawmakers Tuesday was a vetoed bill to establish a “Strategic Energy Planning Office,” a division tasked with analyzing Maryland’s electric grid and ratepayer challenges and recommending policy changes.

The bill, sponsored by Hester and Del. Brian Crosby, was the only piece of Democratic leadership’s sweeping energy package that Moore chose not to sign into law last session.

The office would cost as much as $6 million per year and consist of 21 staff members, including engineers, economists and attorneys, according to a legislative analysis.

Ballooning utility costs and growing pressures on the regional electric grid have become issues of urgent concern to Maryland leaders. But not all agree on how to address the problem, and supporters of the energy planning office argue that Maryland will need its targeted analysis to navigate new energy challenges.

One big driver of new demand on the grid is the rise of data centers, so Moore’s decision to veto a bill studying the financial and environmental side effects of this industry for Maryland has added to the frustration of some climate and ratepayer advocates.

Data centers already consume thousands of megawatts of energy in Northern Virginia alone, and their presence is only expected to grow over the next decade. Big tech giants are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure this year alone, while PJM Interconnection, the mid-Atlantic grid operator, projects that demands on its system will surge 30% by 2035.

“My constituents want more information. This body needs more information so we can legislate,” said Crosby, a Democrat from St. Mary’s County who introduced the House version of the data center study bill.

Some Republicans came out in favor of further examining data centers. Sen. William Folden, of Frederick County, railed against a facility slated for construction near Carroll Manor Elementary School in Adamstown. Residents are worried that the generators used by the centers could increase air pollution at the school and lower property values for nearby homes.

“These concerns are real,” Folden said.

Banner reporters Brenda Wintrode and Pamela Wood contributed to this article.