Maryland: Construction starts on the county government data center in Maryland

The Frederick County Government office building in Maryland, which includes a data center, is still under construction. The Prospect Center on Himes Avenue in Frederick will be converted as part of this undertaking. The county paid $20 million for the building in 2021, and it will house multiple agencies of the government, a 911 center, a data center, and a microgrid. The council previously used the 209,000-square-foot Prospect Center as a site for mass Covid-19 vaccinations.

The county is spending $30 million to retrofit the facility. The process of designating building areas for various uses has been finished, and the roof, fire alarms, and sprinkler systems have all been replaced. According to County Government CFO Dan Lewis, data center designs are still in progress.

Lewis estimates that the microgrid will account for approximately 72 percent of the facility's energy consumption. The microgrid is partially financed by the fiscal year 2022 CIP ($1.4m), and funding from state and federal appropriations for homeland security is still pending. Additionally, they are contemplating PPA financing options.