STOP REZONING FOR DATA CENTERS IN FREDERICK COUNTY

Welcome to PowerUP, a four-state coalition to unify efforts around Data Centers, the Mid-Atlantic Resilience Link (MARL), and the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) transmission line projects. Our goal is to empower the residents in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, as well as the PJM area at large. PowerUp helps inform residents within this area, especially those directly affected by the expansion of data centers and transmission lines, about ongoing developments. We provide information and agency and amplify opposition to corporate strongholds in states falling prey to sales propaganda and aggression.

It is time for utility ratepayers to take the reins and PowerUP FOR OUR FUTURE.

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The Big Picture: Watch "The Data Center Tipping Point" by Bloomberg TV Here!

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Why the transmission line invasion?

There is a recent push to build up the electrical grid nationwide. Electricity use has expanded due to several key factors, including robust industrial production, increased cooling demand, accelerating electrification of transportation, and the rapid expansion of high-consuming data centers. Companies that develop interconnecting power grids financially benefit from this expansion. Convincing need-based arguments may include threats of blackouts, a necessity for transporting renewable energy, and improving grid reliability.

Quantifiable proof of the need is often not forthcoming.

Through a multi-state coalition, PowerUP encourages clean energy solutions. We intend to hold developers and elected officials accountable to ensure landowners and ratepayers are involved in the decision-making process and are beneficiaries rather than victims of energy infrastructure.

What is a Data Center?

A data center is a physical facility that stores, processes, and distributes data and applications. It's the backbone of modern digital operations, providing the infrastructure for a wide range of applications, from websites and social media to cloud computing and AI. The amount of power consumed by data centers is huge. For example, Loudon County, Virginia, which is known as data center alley, is home to nearly 200 processing facilities that use enough power to service an entire metropolis or two million homes.

What we don't know

What is the energy source, and is it green energy?
Where will the water supply for cooling come from?
How will communities be impacted by the noise, light, water, and air pollution generated by data centers?
With technology continuously improving, how quickly will data centers become obsolete?
What are decommissioning plans and site restoration plans?

Are Data Centers Energy Hogs?

What is a Transmission Line?

A transmission line is a system of conductors that transmit electrical power or signals over a distance. It's essentially a "highway" for electricity, carrying power from power plants to homes and businesses. These lines can be overhead, like the ones you see on poles and towers, or underground. Overhead lines are less expensive to install and maintain. However, they are often considered eyesores and environmentally detrimental, requiring large swaths of land to be cleared so they can be accessible for maintenance and repairs.

What we don't know

What are your rights when the planned transmission line crosses your property, forest, or creek?
What are the potential health impacts of transmission lines?
Why can planned routes go through protected wildlands?
What compensation will landowners see if their land is taken by eminent domain?
Who will cover the cost of the upgrades?

FERC & OPC reject rate hikes for $3Billion transmission projects

Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP)

PSEG Proposed Route

The proposed MPRP route and ending points will serve as Aligned Adaptive Data Centers (AADC) and Virginia's interconnection system with data centers in Loudoun County.

Click here to read impressions from the May 6, 2025 Frederick County Council Hearing

What is Quantum Loophole?

The 2,200 acre Quantum Loophole Data Center Campus is located in the heart of rural Frederick County
The Campus may host as many as 27 Data Centers and one of the largest substations in the country
Data Centers will need to run diesel engines as backup power until the grid can fully support them- we do not know when that might be. Diesel exhaust has very negative health impacts, not to mention climate and biodiversity impacts
The County is already struggling with water shortages - Data Centers need more to cool the servers
Farms and private lands are being compromised by enormous transmission line projects, including through eminent domain
Texas-based Aligned Data Centers has already broken down on 450,000-square-foot "critical digital infrastructure facility" on approximately 75-acres off Manor Woods Road
Quantum Loophole’s uses tax exemptions associated with data center infrastructure and servers, and takes advantage of Maryland’s exemption of personal property tax
The "QLoop" will connect the Frederick County site to Loudoun County, Virginia, via an ultra-high-count fiber optic cable system

How will this impact you and your property?

PSEG (Public Service Enterprise Group) Map

Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link Project (MARL)

Click here to read the impressions from the NextEra Open House in Friendsville May 6, 2025

Click here to read additional impressions from the NextEra Open House, Friendsville May 6, 2025

The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) is a proposed transmission line project by NextEra Energy that connects power plants in Southwestern Pennsylvania to data centers in Northern Virginia, crossing through West Virginia and Maryland. It involves building a new, approximately 105-mile, 500-kV transmission line and a new substation that will potentially slice through once-protected wildlands that were placed under permanent protection 52 years ago. The path will also pass through private property, working farmland, and undisrupted forests. The ground clearing requires a 200-foot-wide right-of-way to allow access for maintenance and repairs.

Key Concerns

Violation of Protected Wildland Areas
Severing Untouched Forest Habitats
Threatens Property Owners Right of Refusal
Disrupting Working Farms

PowerUP is asking that protected wildlands be avoided at all costs and that forested lands, rivers, and waterways and land owner right be protected!

Know your rights!

Watch a video that includes interviews with a NextEra Energy representative and citizens preparing for the MARL (Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link) Transmission Line project.

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