Atmosphere Data Centers is the contract purchaser of the site and will develop and operate the campus. End users will operate within the facilities once constructed. 

Power will be supplied via existing FirstEnergy transmission lines that border the site. Atmosphere will:

• Construct a new on-site substation and switchyard

• Fund the substation construction at its expense

• Connect directly to adjacent transmission infrastructure

No new off-site transmission corridors are required.

The data center end user on site will pay for all electricity used by the facilities on the property, including the data centers themselves.

No. Atmosphere Data Centers’ client has signed a Ratepayer Protection Pledge committing that the project will not increase electricity costs for residential customers.

In addition, Atmosphere Data Centers is funding the construction of a new substation located on the project site. The company is making significant investments in the infrastructure necessary to support the campus rather than shifting those costs to local residents.

Yes. The hyperscale customer associated with the Dickerson Data Center Campus has committed to matching its electricity use with 100 percent clean, carbon-free energy prioritized within the PJM regional power grid where commercially reasonable.

PJM is the regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of electricity across Maryland and 12 other states, serving more than 65 million people. By sourcing carbon-free energy within the PJM region, the commitment supports the development and deployment of clean energy resources that serve the same regional electric grid on which the project operates.

In addition, the Dickerson Data Center Campus is being developed by Atmosphere Data Centers, whose mission is to build data centers in a more sustainable and environmentally responsible manner. 

The commitment to 100 percent carbon-free energy is part of a broader effort to ensure that the project supports both Montgomery County's economic goals and long-term sustainability objectives.

No, there are no impacts related to the data center campus in proximity to the C&O Canal towpath. The data center campus will not be visible from the towpath, and the project does not affect hikers, bikers, or canal resources due to physical separation and the reuse of existing infrastructure from the longstanding industrial use of the property.

The project will not create new demands on local groundwater or public systems. The data center campus will only use well water from an existing well for domestic use, (e.g. bathrooms or break room sinks), not cooling. Well water usage will be reallocated amongst existing site wells for no net usage increase.

All cooling water will be sourced from the Potomac River, consistent with the site’s long history as an industrial energy facility. The data center campus will have an expected maximum daily withdrawal rate that is about 900 times less than the previous power plant.

All water usage is subject to State permitting and oversight.

Atmosphere-DC will use an on-site package plant to ensure sewage treatment is handled on site.

Yes, the data center campus will include diesel backup generators. Generators are only used in rare emergency situations, such as widespread power outages that would also affect nearby homes and businesses, and during limited testing required by regulation. They are not used for routine operations and/or primary power.

All generators are subject to strict oversight by the State. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) oversees air-quality permitting to limit emissions, requires the use of modern pollution-control technology, and restricts how often generators can operate. Fuel storage and handling systems must meet MDE requirements for spill prevention, secondary containment, and monitoring, significantly reducing the risk of leaks or environmental impacts. All data center generators on the campus may have Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) to reduce emissions. These safeguards are designed to ensure that backup power systems operate safely, responsibly, and only when necessary.

The proposed Dickerson Data Center Campus is planned as a core cloud data center, which means it is designed primarily to support the digital services that businesses and consumers rely on every day, including cloud computing, data storage, online applications, streaming services, and internet infrastructure.

AI data centers are a specialized type of data center designed to support artificial intelligence applications and advanced computing workloads. They typically use specialized computer processors and may require greater power density and cooling capacity than traditional cloud facilities.

While AI data centers have received significant attention in recent years, most data centers today support a variety of computing needs, and many modern facilities are designed to accommodate evolving technologies over time.