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Data center campus · 21200 Martinsburg Road, Dickerson (former GenOn Dickerson power plant property), Montgomery County, Maryland

Dickerson Data Center Campus

Paused by moratorium as of Aug. 17, 2026

A five-building data center campus proposed on about 110 acres of the former Dickerson power plant property, now stopped by Montgomery County's moratorium and zoning ban. Also known as: former Dickerson Generating Station site.

Cite← Maryland data centers
Allegany CountyAnne Arundel CountyBaltimore CountyBaltimore (city)Calvert CountyCaroline CountyCarroll CountyCecil CountyCharles CountyDorchester CountyFrederick CountyGarrett CountyHarford CountyHoward CountyKent CountyMontgomery CountyPrince George's CountyQueen Anne's CountySomerset CountySt. Mary's CountyTalbot CountyWashington CountyWicomico CountyWorcester CountyDickerson Data Center Campus · Paused by moratorium · 360 MW
Power360MW reported · stated
Site110acres

Who is behind it

ProjectDickerson Data Center CampusAlso: former Dickerson Generating Station site
Developer and teamAtmosphere Data Centers (contract purchaser)
Terra Energy LLC (property owner and original conditional-use holder)
End userNot found in the recordsNot yet named in any record or credited report we have found.

The record, newest first

  1. The council enacted an 18-month permit moratorium (Expedited Bill 19-26) covering pending and approved-but-unpermitted data centers, and adopted ZTA 26-01, which bars data centers from all zones from Aug. 17, 2026. (Montgomery County Council, July 28, 2026; Montgomery County Council (District Council), July 28, 2026; Montgomery County Council, July 28, 2026)

  2. Atmosphere appealed to the county Board of Appeals, arguing that the permitting department changed how it classifies data centers because of the executive order and wrongly stopped reviewing the project's remaining plans, as Bethesda Magazine reported from the filing; DatacenterDynamics also reported the challenge. (Bethesda Magazine, July 16, 2026; DatacenterDynamics, July 21, 2026)

  3. County Executive Marc Elrich paused data center permit processing for six months (Executive Order 109-26). (Montgomery County Executive, June 12, 2026)

  4. Atmosphere Data Centers filed a revised plan (CU 24-13AA) for five data center buildings on about 110 acres of the 750-acre property. (Atmosphere Data Centers, 2026; Montgomery County Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings, Oct. 25, 2026)

  5. County planning staff recommended approval of Terra Energy's conditional use CU202413 for data centers and a battery storage facility on the former power plant land. (Montgomery County Planning Department, Aug. 2024)

Conflicts and open questions

  • The 2024 staff report described a smaller first plan (two data center buildings on a first land bay of about 47 to 68 acres, with later land bays); the hearing examiner's 2024 decision was not opened.

The full record

Status note
A revised conditional-use application is before the county's hearing examiner, but the county has stopped data center permits for 18 months and its zoning now prohibits data centers.
Power note
360 MW for five buildings as reported by DatacenterDynamics; the developer's fact sheet reviewed gives no MW figure.
Evidence
Primary public records
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.