NEWBURG, Md. — The Charles County Against Data Centers Coalition will be hosting a community education and engagement event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, at the Newburg Volunteer Firehouse, 12245 Rock Point Road, Newburg, MD 20664.
For the last several months, scores of Charles County residents and environmental groups have sounded the alarm regarding concerns they have about the potential of data centers coming to Charles County.
But despite hundreds of residents submitting largely oppositional public comments regarding the data centers, Charles County government continues to ponder allowing unsafe data centers into Charles County.
One such example of this is the ongoing efforts by the company TeraWulf to purchase the Morgantown Power Plant, to then increase power generation there to support data center efforts. It was recently discovered that Google owns a 14% equity stake in TeraWulf, which was not disclosed when TeraWulf filed to purchase the Morgantown Power Plant.
This omission amounts to a material omission of affiliation that should’ve been included in TeraWulf’s application, causing the national NAACP, the Port Tobacco River Conservancy and national consumer advocacy group Public Citizen to file a joint motion to dismiss TeraWulf’s application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which must approve the sale of the Morgantown Power Plant to TeraWulf.
Although most community members who know about this proposal are strongly opposed to it, many people — even those in the neighborhoods right adjacent to the Morgantown Power Plant — still are not aware that these plans even exist.
To that end, the coalition is hosting this community education and engagement event to inform members of the public about these plans and also provide them with ways to get involved to help stop them.
Tina Wilson of the Port Tobacco River Conservancy, who is one of the individuals who filed the joint motion to dismiss TeraWulf’s application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will be presenting at the meeting tomorrow to provide attendees with all relevant information and updates on what is going on with the Morgantown Power Plant proposal.
In addition to the presentation on Morgantown, organizers will also be educating attendees on the general status of data centers in Charles County, including an upcoming public hearing with the Planning Commission on June 1 on the zoning text amendment that would allow for data centers in Charles County.
Organizers will also discuss other ways for the community to get involved to stop data centers from coming to Charles County, including a possible ballot referendum effort to put data center construction on the ballot for Charles County voters to vote on directly, as is currently happening in Frederick County.
There will also be a town hall portion of the event for attendees to speak their minds, plus breakout groups to engage attendees and get them involved with the coalition’s efforts in different ways.
