Frederick County Data Center Expansion
A Frederick County data center expansion is the subject of a referendum challenge that was shut down by the Maryland Supreme Court, with residents expressing concern about the county becoming a new data center hub. It is reported; the record holds no sourced date for when it reached that stage.
How much power it needs, how much water it would use and who would use it have not been disclosed.
How to read this page. Every fact links to the source it rests on; a number in brackets is its place in the source list. A figure no source gives reads Not disclosed, and nothing is estimated. Where sources give different figures, each is shown with who gave it, and another source's figure never stands in for the record's own. Entries are added and never overwritten; corrections are listed under What happened.
What is known
Each figure as its source gave it. The number in brackets is its place in the source list.
- Land
- Not disclosed
- Power it would draw
- Not disclosed
- Water
- Not disclosed
- Who leads it
- Not disclosed
- Who would use it
- Not disclosed
- Jobs once it runs
- Not disclosed
- Tax each year
- Not disclosed
Every field, with who said it and when (Researcher view)
Impact figures
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How much power it needs | Not disclosed | |||
| How much water it would use | Not disclosed | |||
| How loud it would be | Not disclosed | |||
| Jobs once it runs | Not disclosed | |||
| Tax it would pay each year | Not disclosed |
The record's fields
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who is building it | Not disclosed | |||
| Who is constructing it | Not disclosed | |||
| How much land | Not disclosed | |||
| Where its power comes from | Not disclosed | |||
| Grid connection | Not disclosed | |||
| How it is cooled | Not disclosed |
The developer's figure is what the company said; what a permit allows is the ceiling a permit sets; measured means observed. Water is in gallons a day or a year, whichever the source stated; a tax claim given as a range shows both ends, each linked to the source that gave it.
Still not public, and where it would show up
The record adds each the day a source gives it. Why these documents.
- Water useA state water right filing or a water supply agreement.
- Who would use itA lease announcement or a tenant named in a filing.
- Power the campus would drawA utility or public service commission docket, an interconnection filing, or an air permit for an on site plant.
- Who is behind itA land record, a zoning application or a company's own announcement.
- Jobs and taxAn incentive agreement, a county's economic development filing or a fiscal note.
What was decided
Acts of Frederick County and the cities in it about data centers, on the record with their source. A rule about the area is not a decision about this record.
| Date | Who | Decision | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick County | Frederick County has a temporary pause on new data center applications through December 31, 2026 | wfmd.com | |
| Frederick County | Catellus would provide 433 acres as a nature reserve | wfmd.com | |
| Frederick County | Catellus would cut potable water use by 80 percent | wfmd.com | |
| Frederick County | Catellus would reduce planned data center development by nearly 20 percent | wfmd.com | |
| Frederick County | Frederick County Planning Commission scheduled public hearings for two conditional use permit applications for data center campuses, including one for a 71.85 acre facility. | facebook.com | |
| Frederick County | Frederick County Planning Commission unanimously recommended denial of a conditional use permit for Winchester Gateway, a nearly 72 acre data center campus in the Kernstown area. | facebook.com |
3 earlier decisions on the county's rows
| Date | Who | Decision | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick County | Frederick County Council voted to expand the data center zoning area surrounding Quantum Frederick to about 2,600 acres | marylandmatters.org | |
| Frederick County | Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater signed an order pausing new data center permitting until the end of the year | marylandmatters.org | |
| Frederick County | Residents fear Frederick County will become the new data center alley | cnsmaryland.org |
What happened
No dated entry is on the record yet.
7 corrections to this record
Every correction, with its reason
-
· the status of a projects row
The stage was set by timeline entries that were returned to draft on 2026-09-17 (they had been published onto the record while it was still a draft skeleton). With no published entry behind it the record reads rumored until one is approved. The old and new text.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the draft of a status history row
Published on a project that was still a draft skeleton and still short of the record's skeleton minimum rule; returned to draft on 2026-09-17 pending the project meeting the rule or a person's approval. The old and new text.
-
· the draft of a status history row
Published on a project that was still a draft skeleton and still short of the record's skeleton minimum rule; returned to draft on 2026-09-17 pending the project meeting the rule or a person's approval. The old and new text.
Every correction on the record is on the corrections page.
What was said
Delegate April Fleming Miller's District 4 team sent a letter to the County Executive requesting an extension to the DRRA comment period for a data center agreement.
Louisa Conklin, Frederick County Council member, stated data center developers have legal avenues to protect themselves from council oversight and that water protection is a community priority.
The site
Where in Frederick County is not in the public record. The pin marks the county seat, not a building, and the outline is the county.
Tap a pin for the data center, the parcel for its record
- This record: Proposed, ringed
- data center
- Dashed edge: the exact site is not in the public record
- Smaller pins: 9 other published records in Maryland
Details
- this record's location, ringed
- parcel outline, from the county parcel record
- city limits, U.S. Census Bureau, on a town level record
- county boundary
The other pins are the published projects in the same state, each in its stage color. The imagery beneath is the USGS national orthoimagery, public domain, shown so the land around the site can be read.
- Where
- Frederick County, Maryland
- How exactly it is located
- County level, the county seat
- The parcel
- No parcel outline in the public record
- Nearest homes
- Not computed for a record placed at a place center
- Nearest records
- Nearest records are not computed for a record placed at a county seat.
Questions about this project
4 questions answered from the record
Who is building Frederick County Data Center Expansion?
-
Not disclosed. No source on file names the developer. The sources read for this record are listed under Sources.
How much power and water does Frederick County Data Center Expansion say it needs?
-
Power: not disclosed by any source on file. Water: not disclosed by any source on file.
Where does Frederick County Data Center Expansion stand today?
-
It is reported; the date it reached that stage is not sourced, only the day a page was read. No dated entry is on the record yet.
What has Frederick County decided about it?
-
Frederick County: Frederick County has a temporary pause on new data center applications through December 31, 2026 (reported September 3, 2026, source); and Frederick County: Catellus would provide 433 acres as a nature reserve (reported September 3, 2026, source). 9 events are on the county's rows; a rule about the area is not a decision about this record.
Sources
Reporting
- No referendum on Frederick data center expansion, MD Supreme Court rules - thedailyrecord.com, thedailyrecord.com, June 30, 2026, local outlet
- Maryland Supreme Court shuts down Frederick County data center referendum - WYPR, WYPR, June 30, 2026, local outlet
- Residents fear Frederick County will be the new ‘data center alley’ - Maryland Matters, Maryland Matters, June 12, 2026, local outlet
- A conditional-use permit (CUP) for Winchester Gateway, a nearly 72-acre data center campus proposed in the Kernstown area, was unanimously recommended for denial by the Frederick County Planning Commission on Wednesday night. The Planning Com, www.facebook.com, September 3, 2026, local outlet
- Maryland data center developers offer residents biggest ever US community benefits package as big tech seeks to quell fears , $110 million deal includes $30 million elementary school, water reclamation system, and more - Tom's Hardware, Tom's Hardware, September 14, 2026, local outlet
5 sources on file.
Cite this record
Data Center Record, "Frederick County Data Center Expansion", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/frederick-county-data-center-expansion-md, last verified September 17, 2026.
Cite this page
Data Center Record, "Frederick County Data Center Expansion", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/frederick-county-data-center-expansion-md. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY 4.0.
The structured rows are CC BY 4.0. Link to this page; that is what turns a reuse into a citation. Prose stays under copyright.
For researchers
- Slug
- frederick-county-data-center-expansion-md
- Status value
- rumored
- Stage
- Proposed
- Tier
- skeleton
- Tags
- skeleton
- Place id
- us/md/frederick-county
- Coordinates
- 39.42639, -77.42028
- Location precision
- county
- Location source
- County seat (Frederick), Wikidata, placed at county level
- Coordinate source
- wikidata county seat
- Location source number
- Not disclosed
- Location last verified
- September 16, 2026
- EPA registry id
- Not disclosed
- Use type values
- not_disclosed
- Tenancy value
- not_disclosed
- Cooling type value
- not_disclosed
- Capacity basis
- not_disclosed
- Water basis
- not_disclosed, gallons_per_day
- Acreage basis
- Not disclosed
- Interconnection value
- not_disclosed
- Capacity, if disclosed
- Not disclosed
- Rating of the county's rows
- Not disclosed
- Published
- 2026-09-05
- Last verified
- 2026-09-17