TeraWulf lands regulatory approval for first Maryland power plant purchase amid data center pivot
Federal regulators have approved TeraWulf's controversial purchase of the Morgantown Generating Station in Charles County, Maryland. The company plans to convert the former coal plant to natural gas to support a 1,000-megawatt data center campus, a move that faced opposition from environmental and consumer groups. While the acquisition itself was approved, future data center construction and operational changes will require separate regulatory review.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted regulatory approval for data center infrastructure company TeraWulf to purchase the Morgantown Generating Station, a former coal plant in Charles County, Maryland. TeraWulf intends to convert the plant to natural gas, aiming to provide 1,000 megawatts of capacity for a potential data center campus, marking the company's first such acquisition in Maryland and a strategic pivot from bitcoin mining to AI data centers.
The decision by FERC follows months of opposition from various groups, including environmental organizations, consumer advocates like PJM's Independent Market Monitor, and Maryland's Office of People's Counsel. Opponents argued that the acquisition could lead to the removal of the plant's generating capacity from the PJM energy market, potentially causing electricity rate hikes. Public Citizen, the NAACP, and the Port Tobacco River Conservancy also challenged the application on procedural grounds, citing TeraWulf's undisclosed 14% equity stake from Google.
FERC dismissed these concerns, stating that the acquisition itself presents no competitive issues and that future operational changes, including data center construction, behind-the-meter power sales, or changes to grid interconnection, will be subject to separate regulatory reviews. Kerri Langlais, chief strategy officer at TeraWulf, emphasized the company's commitment to incremental development and reinvestment at the Morgantown site, focusing on modernization, environmental mitigation, and maintaining the site's energy asset role.