Let’s Hit Pause on the Proposed Data Center in Dickerson
Updated May 28, 2026
Overview/ Summary/ Take Action
The debate over data centers in Montgomery County is entering a critical period. If you want to be informed and/or weigh in on this issue, now’s the time to gear up.
On Tuesday, June 16, the Montgomery County Council will hold a public hearing on two data center bills—one would impose a 6-month moratorium on data center approvals. The other would impose a two-year moratorium.
The hearing is being held as the Council continues to craft a zoning ordinance and companion legislation that would create rules and regulations on where data centers can be built and how they operate. That legislation is likely to be discussed on June 16 as well.
See here for background and information on how to sign up to testify, write or call in. Courtesy of Montgomery Countryside Alliance (MCA), this web page also has links to a recording and slides from a May 22 webinar on data centers sponsored by Climate Coalition Montgomery County.
See here for the latest version of the application for the Dickerson data center campus from Atmosphere Data Centers.
A May 23 media post on that submission can be found here, courtesy of Bethesda Magazine.
Our Position
We support a minimum six-month moratorium (or pause) on the assessment of any data center proposal, including the Atmosphere Project. The County Council should enact a moratorium in June.
We oppose Atmosphere being exempted in any way from the pending regulations the Council is drafting. That should include any “grandfathering-in” of the initial, and very preliminary, proposal on the Dickerson project submitted by Terra Innovations in late 2024.
The Atmosphere proposal, as is has evolved, is sufficiently different from the proposal Terra submitted and received approval for in 2024. To site just one profound difference: Terra agreed at the time to a condition that no diesel generators would be attached to the project. Atmosphere’s proposal is very clear that diesel generators will be used as back-up power should a grid disruption occur.
Most importantly, however: whatever data center regulatory framework the Council adopts will completely supplant the one that existed when the Terra project garnered initial approval. In 2024, the relevant county agencies granted preliminary approval under the rubric of “cable communications.” A data center campus is not in any way like a cable communications company—a fact now widely acknowledged by County officials, the County Council, and Atmosphere itself.
We urge the Council to recognize that the complexity of the data center proposal demands more information, time, and careful deliberation than was hitherto contemplated. Numerous issues have been raised that have not been fully addressed. Indeed, as of this writing, Atmosphere has not yet shared with the Council or the public a full set of facts on the project, despite its updated proposal. And the company has admitted its plans are still evolving.
Absent those facts, the Council is at a disadvantage in drafting regulations since most Council members and their staffs are just getting started on the steep learning curve of data center social, economic, environmental, energy supply, water use, and highly technical issues.
Background: Explosive growth
The data center train is fast moving—nationwide. That’s by intent. The industry is taking a rapid expansion approach for these reasons: (a) to leverage the hype around AI; (b) to garner as much investment as possible from venture capital firms and banks; (c) to counter mounting localized opposition to the potential environmental and land-use hazards associated with data centers; and (d) to meet perceived demand for AI and the power generation needed to support it.
On this last point, the data center industry is working hand-in-glove with the energy sector to dramatically ramp up power generation dedicated to data centers. This partnership threatens plans across the country to mitigate climate change through sharply reduced use of fossil fuels.
Some facts:
The U.S. has more data centers than any other country—some 5,400 (of all sizes) as of the end of 2025. Another 3,000 are under construction or in the planning stages. Of those, more and more data centers every year are large-scale (called “hyperscale” in the industry) with multiple buildings on large tracks of land (sometimes farmland).
Data centers now consume around 4.4% of all power in the U.S. That’s forecast to rise to 8% by 2030.
A report in January 2026 (by the North American Electrical Reliability Corporation, a non-profit) cited the mid-Atlantic as one of four U.S areas most vulnerable to electrical power shortfalls and blackouts over the next five years—largely due to data center power needs.
The data center explosion is monopolizing the construction industry and its workers—carpenters, electrical workers, certain engineers. In some states, that’s leaving fewer such skilled workers to build homes amid a nationwide shortage of affordable housing.
Water usage is a central concern. One study estimated that data centers in 2023 consumed some 17 billion gallons of water for cooling—some of that in states like Arizona where long-term water supply problems are dire.
Data centers contribute to rising rates for home electricity—though the magnitude of the impact differs from region to region.
The above issues require urgent attention. But the causes must be acknowledged. There’d be no explosive data center growth without the equally explosive growth of data use by government, industry and consumers—cell phones, tablets, computers, the internet, email, texts, streaming, cloud storage, and, of course, now AI.
Here’s one eye-popping forecast: total digital data generated worldwide is projected to grow from 182 zettabytes in 2025 to 394 zettabytes in 2028—within just three years! A zettabyte is 1 trillion gigabytes. One zettabyte is roughly equal to as much bits and bytes of data as there are grains of sand on all the world’s beaches.
At the highest level of concern is this question: will the much-touted economic and social benefits predicted from AI be worth the risks it poses? No one knows. With this technology, we are building the airplane as we fly it.
Our region—Now at the leading (bleeding?) edge
A big chunk of the national data center explosion is right in our neck of the woods. Northern Virginia is home to the highest concentration of data centers in the country (665) and is one of the busiest data hubs in the world.
It was thus only a matter of time before the industry cast its eye across the Potomac River. That began in earnest in 2021 with a proposal for a 2,100-acre data center campus near Adamstown in Frederick County. The proposal included 43 miles of underground fiber optic cables beneath the Potomac River linking the proposed campus to the Loudoun County hub.
So, in large part, the Adamstown location is an expansion of Loudoun County’s infrastructure.
Amid growing opposition, Frederick lawmakers in late 2025 adopted new zoning that expanded the potential footprint of the Adamstown campus to 2,615 acres. Meanwhile, the under-river cables were laid in 2023-2024 and construction has started on several data center buildings. A few of those are projected to start operating this year. The entirety of the $25 billion Adamstown project is expected to be completed in the mid-2030s. It’ll end up as one of the largest industrial projects in the mid-Atlantic region.
The Dickerson Project
By comparison, the proposal for a 110-acre, 5-building data center campus in Montgomery County, near Dickerson, is relatively small. However, if approved, it would be one of the larger industrial projects in the County in years. Notably, it, too, is tied into Loudoun County’s infrastructure via a portion of the under-river fiber optic cables.
These VA-MD interconnections could prove significant over time. The current federal (under Trump) and Maryland state (under Wes Moore) administrations are data center-friendly. They may see economic advantage in the linked infrastructure being created in the Virginia-Maryland area. A further concern is whether the federal government or Maryland state will push to usurp county authority on where data centers can be built and what rules they must follow.
In August 2022, a company called Terra Innovations (also known as Terra Energy) bought 740 acres in Dickerson that includes a decommissioned (in 2020) coal-fired power plant. About 255 of the 740 acres are zoned “heavy industrial” (where the power plant was). Most of the remaining 485 acres is zoned “AR” for Agricultural Reserve.
Nearby, also on industrial zoned land, are the County’s trash incinerator, a natural gas power plant, and a 100-acre yard waste compost facility.
Notably, the entire area’s access to electrical infrastructure makes it highly desirable for industry.
Terra’s owners have kept SCA and Montgomery Countryside Alliance (MCA)—as well as County officials—apprised of some of their plans since 2023.
In January 2024, Terra submitted an application for conditional use approval of the data center site (not the actual data center) to Montgomery County’s Office of Planning and Development. MCA and SCA communicated with planning staff and Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich at that time that the conditional use application did not satisfy the legal requirement for the permit.
In October and November 2024, planning officials held initial internal sessions and hearings on the proposal. At those, Terra acknowledged the proposal was a preliminary land use submission and did not contain any final specifications for a data center campus.
Caroline Taylor, MCA’s executive director, was the only community member who provided testimony at the October 2024 quasi-judicial hearing before the Montgomery County Office of Zoning and Administrative Appeals (OZAH). She did so on behalf of MCA and SCA. Ms. Taylor raised concerns that the proposal lacked sufficient detail to grant any kind of final or near-final approval. For example, Terra provided no site plans, specific details about energy/power use, or the use of Potomac River water for cooling purposes. Terra indicated they or a data center company would provide all that in due time.
Ms. Taylor asked if the OZAH hearing examiner had ever granted such a preliminary permit. The answer: No. Ms. Taylor further asked whether the public would be afforded participation when Terra would return to modify the permit with the missing details. The examiner said it could be considered a minor modification not requiring a hearing. Ms. Taylor pushed back, asserting that the follow up-regulatory filings should constitute a “major modification,” triggering a public hearing.
In late 2024, the OZAH hearing examiner granted Terra a conceptual “conditional-use” approval for placement of an as-yet undetermined number of data centers on the land. The rulings made it clear that Terra (or a data center company, or both) would need to apply for a “major modification.” (“Conditional use” means a project does not have any automatic path to facilitated approval and will be judged entirely on its merits and details, and will most likely be approved with conditions county regulators place on it.)
MCA and SCA submitted written testimony requested that the testimony be added to the hearing record. Those concerns covered issues related to water, energy, and how this large power draw and carbon emitter will fit in with County and State zero emissions policies and goals.
We also pointed out that the county regulatory structure under which the conditional land-use was granted was not appropriate to the task. That structure was created years ago for “cable communications” companies. A data center is not a cable communications company. Digital infrastructure is an entirely new land use category.
In addition, we noted that Terra had not yet produced a comprehensive site plan that answered basic questions about the actual data center project.
Terra’s attorney called these concerns immaterial and asked that they be given no consideration and be stricken from the record.
The hearing examiner did not grant the applicant’s request to strike the community testimony. When faced with the possibility of an appeal of the OZAH approval by MCA and SCA, Terra agreed to two conditions to their preliminary approval: (a) that the sole source aquifer that supplies water to much of the up-county area be off bounds for data center cooling, and (b) that generators not be used as back-up power for the data centers. (See below for how that has now changed.)
The examiner added the conditions to the conditional use permit.
As best as we can make out, Terra and Atmosphere spent most of 2025 sealing a deal as Atmosphere did due diligence on the Dickerson property and their prospects for regulatory approval and success. With data centers, that includes key conversations and initial agreements with a client or clients who would actually install the servers (computers) and other equipment in the buildings. Atmosphere also would have had to scope out a construction company to build the buildings. During this period, Atmosphere filed with the Maryland Department of the Environment for both withdrawal and discharge permits to/from the Potomac River upstream from the WSSC water intake serving millions in the Washington metropolitan area. We are monitoring those submissions.
Fast Forward to December 2025--and 2026
Atmosphere submitted an application in December for a major modification to its Data Center plan to the Montgomery County Planning Commission. That proposal is now public. The application and related materials can be found here. A May 23 media post on the submission can be found here, courtesy of Bethesda Magazine.
A preliminary schedule of hearings has been set. On July 30, the planning board is due to review Atmosphere’s application. Public testimony will be part of that proceeding. The board can and likely will offer recommendations for the project.
Hearings on the application before the County’s Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings are scheduled for September 10 and 11, starting at 9:30am. Public testimony will be heard at those sessions as well. (The meetings take place at the Davidson Memorial Hearing Room in the County Council Office Building in Rockville at 100 Maryland Avenue.)
Atmosphere has hinted in recent weeks that it will divulge further details on its plans soon—to County officials and to the public.
County Government Gets Engaged
County Executive Marc Elrich and the County Council have since early January 2026 become actively engaged on the data center issue. In January, several Council Members proposed a draft zoning ordinance that would establish a regulatory framework for data centers.
On February 3, Elrich convened a public forum on the issue. Some 100 to 125 people attended. Before the session, Elrich told a media outlet he favored a six-month moratorium on approval of any data center until the Council approved regulations. Council president Natali Fani-Gonzalez told the same outlet she opposed a moratorium.
Roughly half the 40 or so attendees who spoke at the February 3 session supported a moratorium. Altogether, a majority of speakers opposed data centers outright or expressed skepticism they would be beneficial to the county and its residents.
ADDENDUM – A BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM
A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is also being proposed for an approximately 17 acres piece of land near the proposed data center site. Terra has contracted with RWE Clean Energy LLC (rwe.com), the third largest renewable energy company in the U.S., to build this facility.
The facility would take energy from the regional electricity grid and store it in state-of-the-art batteries. That energy would then be provided to utility companies as needed, especially during peak hours of use. This is a rapidly growing technology in the U.S. that is viewed generally positively (but with projects needing to be carefully vetted and sited due to known risks).
A Maryland state law passed in 2025 streamlines the evaluation and approval of BESS facilities. It gave jurisdiction of such facilities to the Public Service Commission (PSC). Thus, the RWE facility is highly likely to win approval this year. If it does, construction is expected to begin in the late summer or fall.
The Montgomery County Planning Board is expected to review RWE’s application for the BESS on July 23. The board has no purview over the facility’s approval or denial of approval. But it can raise questions.
We’ll be closely watching the regulatory process on the BESS and update you as needed.
CRITICAL UPDATES
As of March 1, 2026
Major updates have surfaced regarding the environmental, water, and energy impacts of proposed data centers in Dickerson. Review the recent documents below and read SCA’s position on pending data center legislation in Montgomery County, Maryland. Then take two minutes to send a personalized letter to county officials calling for a temporary moratorium on data centers while stronger protections are finalized.
