<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0vVs65_1H4aeKJM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0vVs65_1H4aeKJM00" width="759" height="500" ><figcaption>Photo Credit: Canva Teams</figcaption></figure>Oppidan wants to nearly double the Sandy Farms Data Center in Severn, Maryland. The developer's engineers walked neighbors through the plan at an online meeting on Nov. 9, about two weeks before the county stops taking most new data center applications on Nov. 26. The site plan would add more than 88,000 square feet, and it stays open for public comment through Nov. 24.<h2>Expansions Were Written Into the Exceptions</h2>The County Council passed Bill 63-26 7-0 on Oct. 5 effectively banning data center applications until Jan. 31, 2028, or until permanent rules take effect, whichever comes first. Plans filed before the pause can keep moving. So can future phases of an existing data center on adjacent or adjoining land, which describes Sandy Farms exactly. Oppidan filed its site plan roughly 45 days before the meeting.A county work group has 10 months from the law's effective date to recommend standards on siting, setbacks, water use, energy consumption, noise and decommissioning, among other topics. The Severn expansion is moving through review under current rules while that work goes on. The approach is narrower than Maine's statewide freeze on large data center permits, which runs through 2027.<h2>A New Generator Yard on the West Side</h2>The 37-foot building sits on about 50 acres near Route 100 and Telegraph Road, just south of BWI Airport, on land a farming family once used for sweet potatoes and tobacco. GI Partners bought the property late last year for more than $101 million. Jeff Smith of Kimley-Horn, the engineering firm representing Oppidan, told neighbors the building's users had asked for more capacity and that the site had room to grow.The plan adds a yard of 13 generators along the west wall. It also clears a small stretch of conservation forest, which Smith said the county has already approved, with replacement trees planned on the northeast side. Expanded storm drains will feed the existing retention pond. Some operators have started testing renewable diesel in backup generators to cut emissions from units like these.<h2>Little Water, Open Questions on Power</h2>Smith said the facility is air-cooled and draws little water, comparing it to running a home air conditioner. It will still rely on public water and sewer. The county had listed the second phase among projects frozen by its sewer-capacity moratorium for the Baltimore City service area, which County Executive Steuart Pittman lifted June 3 after borrowing unused capacity from BWI Airport.Electricity drew the pointed questions. One neighbor asked whether nearby bills would rise or new grid infrastructure would be needed, according to coverage of the meeting, and the presentation gave no figure for the expansion's power draw. Regional data center demand has already factored into keeping a Maryland coal plant running to 2031.</div></body>

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Oppidan wants to nearly double the Sandy Farms Data Center in Severn, Maryland. The developer's engineers walked neighbors through the plan at an online meeting on Nov. 9, about two weeks before the county stops taking most new data center applications on Nov. 26. The site plan would add more than 88,000 square feet, and it stays open for public comment through Nov. 24.

Maryland Data Center Seeks to Double Before County Pause

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Oppidan wants to nearly double the Sandy Farms Data Center in Severn, Maryland. The developer's engineers walked neighbors through the plan at an online me

Maryland Data Center Seeks to Double Before County Pause

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