Data Centers in Montgomery County

A data center complex to be sited in Dickerson, MD was recently granted a provisional conditional use approval to Terra Energy for construction by the Montgomery County Office of Zoning and Administrative Appeals.

Terra Energy received this rarely used provisional approval without their submission of standardly required documents, such as a site plan. Concern was raised about how the hearing examiner could make such a determination as to the effects of the facility based upon the submitted information. In 2025, both Frederick County and Prince George’s County had moratoriums on data center progress to allow for the implementation of appropriate regulations to govern how data centers are developed.

Climate Coalition urges Montgomery County to enact a similar moratorium to provide an opportunity to develop a regulatory framework that will protect our environment and utility rates.

Montgomery County Government initiatives in 2026

County Executive's Draft Recommended Policies for Data Centers

Recommendations developed by County staff based on best practices, research, and numerous conversations to guide the development of local data center legislation and policy

Read here

Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 26-01, Commercial Uses - Data Center

Legislation introduced by Council President Fani Gonzalez, Councilmember Balcombe and Councilmember Sayles. The Bill would amend the Zoning Ordinance to define data center as a new use subject to zoning requirements, specify the zones where data centers may locate as conditional uses.

Read here

Bill 4-26, Buildings - Task Force on Data Centers

Legislation introduced by Councilmember Glass, which would establish a task force to study the potential risks and benefits of data centers in the County, require the task force to produce a report that identifies the impacts of data centers and evaluates the feasibility of potential legislative changes.

Read here

How can you get involved and be heard?

Thank you to all who sent written testimonies to MoCo Planning Board before the hearing on Feb 12th and everyone who spoke up at the council hearing on Feb 24th! Next, listen in to the Council T&E Committee work session on March 9th.

Click below to use Montgomery Countryside Alliance action alert by March 5th and email your councilmembers and the Planning Board about your concerns!

MCA Action Alert here

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Below are some the outstanding issues about the data center proposal:

Energy Use: The energy demands were not provided. New transmission lines are sometimes built to meet the demands of data centers, with the costs of that infrastructure charged to all electricity users, not only the owner of the data center.
Water Use: Most data centers are cooled by water. For example, the data centers in Virginia use an estimated 5 million gallons a day. This Terra Energy data center will be pulling water from the Potomac River. However, it is unknown how much water will be drawn, how much will be lost to the evaporative cooling process, and what is the elevated temperature of the water returned to the river.
Carbon Footprint: What will be the carbon emissions of the data center? How do these align with the County Climate Action Plan for no emissions in the county by 2035?
C&O Canal: The property line is only 110 feet from the C&O Canal towpath. What are the local environmental impacts? How might this affect the million annual visitors to the C+O Canal National Historical Park and its annual economic impact of $96M.
Tax Revenue and Incentives: What are the potential tax revenues from the data center? With their request for the county to provide a tax incentive, such as an exemption from the fuel energy tax that we all pay as residents, what is the overall impact regarding tax revenue?