TeraWulf Gets Federal Approval To Buy Morgantown Power Plant In Charles County

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved TeraWulf Inc.'s acquisition of Morgantown Power LLC, owner of the Morgantown Generating Station in Charles County, Maryland, from Lanyard Power Holdings LLC, a GenOn affiliate. The decision clears the ownership transfer, which FERC deemed "consistent with the public interest," despite objections from Public Citizen, the NAACP, and the Port Tobacco River Conservancy. These groups had sought to dismiss the application, alleging TeraWulf failed to disclose its financial relationship with Google, which holds warrants for TeraWulf shares. FERC sided with TeraWulf, concluding the unexercised warrants did not constitute current ownership or control by Google.

However, FERC explicitly stated that its approval pertains solely to the ownership transfer and does not authorize the construction of a data center or new power generation at the site. Any such future development will necessitate additional local, state, and federal approvals. This regulatory hurdle comes as Charles County commissioners recently voted to scrap a proposed zoning text amendment that would have permitted data centers in the county. Instead, the commissioners opted to form a task force and engage a consultant to draft new regulations, leaving the current zoning ordinance, which does not list data centers as a permitted land use, in effect.

This means TeraWulf's potential data center project at the Morgantown site faces a complex and unwritten zoning process, alongside further federal reviews for its energy generation and infrastructure plans. Local and state authorities will also scrutinize environmental impacts, water use, air emissions, noise, and traffic, concerns actively voiced by Charles County residents and the aforementioned advocacy groups. Public Citizen's request for the release of the confidential purchase price was denied by FERC, which cited commercial confidentiality.