Feds approve sale of Potomac River power plant to data center developer
Federal regulators approved the sale of the Morgantown Generating Station in Charles County, Maryland, to TeraWulf, which plans to convert it into a data center complex. The project faces opposition from advocacy groups concerned about electricity prices and environmental impacts, and local Charles County commissioners recently denied a zoning change for data centers while other Maryland counties have adopted moratoriums.
Federal regulators have approved the sale of the former Morgantown Generating Station in Charles County, Maryland, to TeraWulf, an Easton-based data center developer. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced its decision on Wednesday, marking a crucial early step in TeraWulf’s ambitious plan to transform the contaminated coal site on the Potomac River into a large data center complex. TeraWulf intends to reboot the plant with natural gas to generate a gigawatt of power for its facilities, also incorporating 500 megawatts of battery storage.
The acquisition plan by TeraWulf faced considerable opposition from environmental and consumer advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, which raised concerns about potential increases in electricity prices and strain on the regional power grid. FERC, however, stated that its decision, signed by Deputy Secretary Carlos Clay, was limited to the sale itself and did not address broader data center proposals or their environmental impacts.
Locally, Charles County commissioners recently declined a proposed zoning change that would have facilitated data center construction, instead opting to further study the issue. This follows a trend in Maryland, where many counties have implemented moratoriums to temporarily halt data center development amidst growing community backlash over energy consumption and environmental impacts. The response from Maryland's state energy and environmental regulators to TeraWulf's specific plans remains uncertain, despite a December letter from the state's top environmental regulator to TeraWulf CEO Paul Prager offering to expedite approvals for coal remediation and pipeline permits. Mr. Prager is noted as a donor to Governor Wes Moore's reelection campaign, though the governor's office maintains that no special treatment will be granted for regulatory reviews.