Next Door To Data Center Alley, A Community Debates Whether To Welcome The Booming Sector
News ClipBisnow·Dickerson, Montgomery County, MD·3/10/2026
A data center developer called Atmosphere Data Centers is seeking approval to build a 300-megawatt data center campus on a 110-acre site in Dickerson, Maryland. This proposal has become a point of debate in Montgomery County over how to regulate the data center industry, with concerns around issues like climate change, conservation, equity, jobs, and economic vitality. The Montgomery County Council is considering a zoning text amendment to create specific land-use rules for data centers, which currently can be built almost anywhere in the county.
zoningenvironmentalannouncementgovernmentelectricitywater
Gov: Montgomery County Council, Montgomery County Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles, Montgomery County Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe
Northern Virginia has long held the title of the “data center capital of the world,” handling 70% of global internet traffic across just 30 square miles. In recent years, the sector has pushed outward throughout the rest of Virginia and the country. But right across the river from Data Center Alley