On Monday, July 13, 2026, ESLC staff attended a public meeting in Federalsburg hosted by the Maryland Tech Council, developer David Wright of Landwright Power Strategies, and the property owners of a site proposed to become the Eastern Shore’s first large-scale data center. While the project remains in its early stages, it raises important questions—not only for Federalsburg, but for communities across our region.
Located less than two miles from both Idylwild Wildlife Management Area and Marshyhope Creek (one of the Chesapeake Bay’s last remaining Atlantic sturgeon spawning sites), the proposal raises questions about impacts on natural resources not just from a large data center, but from an on-site natural gas power generation facility, and a connection to the municipal water supply to support a closed-loop cooling system. At this stage the project remains speculative. No end user or tenant was publicly identified during the meeting, and many key details—including the project’s ultimate scale and long-term infrastructure demands—have yet to be defined.
Just beyond locally owned flower farm Seaberry Farm sits the Federalsburg farm site proposed to become the Eastern Shore's first large-scale data center.
The developer emphasized the potential for construction jobs, private investment, and substantial new tax revenue. Those potential benefits deserve thoughtful consideration. Like many small Eastern Shore communities, Federalsburg faces difficult decisions about how to strengthen its tax base while maintaining the qualities that make the community unique. But meaningful evaluation requires more than economic projections. Communities also need sufficient information to understand long-term infrastructure demands, environmental and public health impacts, and how projects like these fit within a broader vision for future growth.
For the Town of Federalsburg, this proposal also raises questions about local readiness. The town is updating its Comprehensive Plan, its Planning Commission currently lacks both a chair and vice chair, and while the proposed site is zoned General Industrial, the zoning code does not specifically address modern data centers.
Kelly Schulz, CEO of Maryland Tech Council, presents at the Federalsburg public meeting.
Federalsburg is not alone. Across Maryland’s Eastern Shore, many comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances were written before cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and hyperscale data centers became part of the development landscape. Communities are increasingly being asked to evaluate projects that require extraordinary amounts of electricity, water, and supporting infrastructure without policies specifically designed for them.
The Federalsburg proposal also comes as other major infrastructure projects—including the proposed Globalinx transatlantic fiber optic cable landing near Ocean City and ongoing discussions about expanding electric transmission capacity—are drawing increased attention. While each proposal stands on its own, together they raise essential questions about whether the Eastern Shore may be entering a brave new world of significant high-tech infrastructure investment.
Northern Virginia offers a lesson in how quickly data center development accelerates once supporting infrastructure is in place. What began as individual projects has evolved into a regional network of more than 700 data center sites, substations, transmission lines, and supporting infrastructure that continues to expand.
The question is not whether one data center will transform the Eastern Shore. It is whether a series of individual decisions—each made independently—could gradually alter the region’s conservation landscape, agricultural economy, and growth patterns in ways no single decision ever intended.
Ultimately, the decision about this proposal belongs to the people of Federalsburg. But the broader questions it raises belong to every community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. As other communities begin considering this new form of development, now is the time to establish thoughtful policies, gather objective information, and engage the public before—not after—proposals arrive.
This article is the first in a series examining how data centers, energy infrastructure, water resources, and land use intersect on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
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