As part of the Fastnet subsea cable project connecting the United States and Ireland, Amazon plans to build a small onshore facility – called a Power Feed Equipment (PFE) building – at the Ocean City Municipal Airport in Worcester County, Maryland. A PFE building is a compact, unmanned, secure telecommunications facility, roughly the size of two shipping containers placed side by side. Its sole purpose is to supply electrical power to the subsea cable so the signal can travel across the Atlantic, and to pass the optical signal through to existing land-based networks. The PFE building is not a data center, and it is not a cable landing station. To make this possible, Amazon is asking Worcester County to update its zoning code to allow a PFE building and international telecommunications cable as permitted uses – specifically on land zoned Commercial Airport. Amazon plans to lease airport land for the facility.

Aerial/satellite view of a proposed site outlined by a red rectangle in a cleared grassy area beside a wooded lot. A small building footprint diagram is overlaid inside the red boundary. A road runs along the top with a residential neighborhood of houses to the right and an adjacent graded/excavated area to the left.
Figure 1- Possible location of a PFE Building off Airport Road, within a 2,500sqft compound

Why we’re doing it
Subsea cables are the foundation of the modern internet, carrying 99% of the world’s international data. Fastnet is a new transatlantic cable connecting Maryland and County Cork, Ireland, adding a resilient new data pathway that helps keep cloud and internet services running reliably across North America and Europe.

Every trans-Atlantic subsea cable needs a small amount of power onshore so that equipment along its route can transmit the signal across thousands of miles of ocean. The PFE building provides exactly that – nothing more. Amazon originally explored a larger facility in Worcester County – one that could serve multiple systems and would also have included submarine and terrestrial optical terminating equipment. After the County adopted a moratorium on data centers and cable landing stations in July 2026, we listened to the community’s concerns and changed course. Rather than pursue the larger facility, we are proposing the smallest, least impactful option that can do the job – the PFE building – and shifting the optical terminating equipment to existing Amazon infrastructure elsewhere. We understand and respect the concerns that motivated the moratorium, and this approach is our direct response to them.

Schematic diagram of a submarine communications cable system. Two landing points (A and B) at each end each contain a green "PFE Hut (Power Feed Equipment)" building connected through a purple "BMH (Beach Manhole)" to a submarine cable crossing the ocean. Four inline repeaters (Repeater 1, 2, 3, and N) sit along the orange cable. Labels note that the optical signal is amplified at each repeater and DC power is fed from the PFE at each end.
Figure 2- Overview of a submarine cable system

What the impact will be
The PFE building is designed to be one of the least intrusive pieces of infrastructure a community could host:

  • Small. The building is less than 700 square feet — roughly the size of two shipping containers placed side by side — within a compound of less than 2,500 square feet.
  • Low power. It draws a small amount of power – up to 350 kW – comparable to a rapid EV charger.
  • No water. It has no connection to public water or sewer systems. There is no water use on site.
  • Unmanned. No one works there day to day. Technicians visit roughly once a week for routine maintenance, during normal working hours. The facility, however, has 24/7 security monitoring in place.
  • Quiet. Backup generators run only for brief monthly tests of about 30 minutes during business hours. The site being considered sits about 90 yards from the nearest home, behind a natural tree line that provides a visual and sound buffer. Amazon would conduct a noise study as part of the project.
  • Fast to build, minimal disruption. The building is modular and manufactured offsite, with on-site installation expected to take just 6–8 weeks.
A large white prefabricated modular building (shipping-container style) mounted on steel trailer skids in a paved lot, with a metal staircase and railing leading to a side door. Flat rural/grassy terrain in the background under an overcast sky.
A gray prefabricated equipment shelter/building with multiple exterior HVAC and ventilation units mounted on its wall, set on a paved pad with a metal access ramp and railing. A steep green vegetated hillside rises directly behind it.
Figure 3 – PFE building examples

The facility will not contain any data storage, data management, or data computation equipment, and it cannot be used or converted into a data center or cable landing station. Those limitations are written directly into the proposed zoning language itself.

Our commitment to the community
Amazon is committed to working openly and cooperatively with Worcester County and its residents throughout this process. We chose the smaller PFE building specifically to minimize local impact and to respond to what we heard from the community. We look forward to continuing that engagement as the project moves forward — and to being a transparent, collaborative partner in the community that hosts this important infrastructure.Amazon will work with the Maryland Broadband Cooperative (MdBC), leveraging their existing expertise and facilities in Maryland to develop the PFE building.

As part of the broader Fastnet project, Amazon is also establishing a Community Benefit Fund for Maryland's Eastern Shore, working directly with local stakeholders to support initiatives that reflect the community's priorities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a data center?
No. Amazon has no plans to build a data center in Worcester County. A PFE building does not store, manage, or process data. Building a subsea cable does not mean new data centers will follow — subsea cables run up and down the East Coast without data centers being built as a result. Fastnet supports existing Amazon infrastructure.

What exactly does the building do?
A subsea cable needs a small amount of electrical power to operate the equipment along its route to keep the optical signal strong across the ocean. The PFE building supplies that power to the cable and passes the signal through to existing land-based networks. That is its only function.

Will it use water?
No. The facility will have no connection to public water or sewer systems. All operations are designed to require no water on site.

Will it be noisy?
The facility is quiet in day-to-day operation. Backup generators are needed in case of grid failure, but under normal conditions will only run for brief monthly tests of about 30 minutes during business hours. The site being considered is about 90 yards from the nearest home and sits behind a natural tree line that provides a visual and sound buffer. Amazon would conduct a noise study as part of the project.

How often will people be on site?
The facility is unmanned. Technicians visit roughly once a week for routine maintenance during normal working hours. Overnight visits are extremely rare and only occur in the event of equipment or cable fault.

Why build it here?
The Ocean City location was selected to minimize impact on both marine and land environments while meeting the technical requirements of the cable. The specific site will be further refined with the Ocean City Municipal Airport to avoid interfering with future airport plans, and it sits behind natural tree buffering from nearby homes.

How long will construction take?
The building is modular and manufactured offsite, so on-site installation is expected to take just 6–8 weeks — significantly shorter than traditional construction and with far less local disruption.

What about batteries?
We will require batteries in event of a grid power outage. They will take the load for a short duration (5-10 mins) between grid outage and the generator starting.Batteries have been used safely at PFE buildings globally for decades. The fire suppression system that will be deployed internally in the PFE buildings is designed for batteries. It monitors the air and uses laser scattering to detect any smoke at the very earliest stage (before the fire takes hold) and then would flood the facility with benign argon gas, suppressing a fire before it gets started.The facility will not place additional burden on local fire and emergency services.

The proposed battery backup configuration is consistent with the design currently deployed throughout the MdBC network. MdBC operates 26 Points of Presence (POP) shelters across Maryland using the same battery-backed power architecture, with a proven operational history exceeding 20 years. These systems have reliably supported critical fiber optic infrastructure without issue. Based on this extensive experience, MdBC is confident that the proposed configuration will provide the reliability, resiliency, and continuity of service required for the PFE Building.

Will you continue to pursue a Cable Landing Station in Worcester County?
If we are able to build a PFE building at the airport, we will place the additional necessary equipment in an existing AWS facility in the greater Washington region. We acknowledge the moratorium and will abide by all applicable laws and local zoning regulations.

Read our initial announcement here.