1 data center project in Unincorporated Montgomery County
Who decides here: the Montgomery County Council or Commissioners decides on zoning for land outside city and town limits.
In Unincorporated Montgomery County
Montgomery County public hearing on the updated plan. Anyone can come and speak.
Local votes and rules
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
The county council voted 11-0 to pause new data center permits for 18 months, until early 2028 (Expedited Bill 19-26). It replaces the county executive's six-month pause. Existing data centers are not affected. The developer of the Dickerson project said the pause applies to it.
🗺️ Zoning change
The county council passed a zoning change (ZTA 26-01) that sets a legal definition of a data center and closes loopholes. An advocacy group reports it also blocks data centers larger than 25 megawatts.
⚖️ Court case
Atmosphere Data Centers, which wants to build in Dickerson, appealed the county executive's six-month pause to the county's zoning hearings office. The council's 18-month pause later replaced the six-month pause.
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
County Executive Marc Elrich ordered the permits department to stop taking and processing permit applications for new data centers for six months. The council's 18-month pause replaced it in July 2026.
📌 Other
County Executive Marc Elrich proposed data center rules: stricter limits on diesel generator pollution and noise, data centers making at least 80% of their own power, industrial zones only, and public hearings.
What you can do
- Get told first.
We'll email you if anything changes in Unincorporated Montgomery County. - Go to county meetings.
Anyone can speak. Big projects usually need a public hearing. - Ask questions in writing.
Use our checklist.
🔔 Get told first
⚡ Your electric company
Depending on where you live in Unincorporated Montgomery County: Potomac Electric Power Co. (company) or The Potomac Edison Company (company) or Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. (company).
Big data centers need a lot of power. Who pays for new power lines depends on state rules. See the rules in Maryland.
🙋 Open tasks here
- Do the county's new moratorium and ban apply to the Dickerson project?
- Has the state decided on the Potomac River water withdrawal and discharge permits?
- Who would use the data center?