PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — A representative from Amazon AWS presented a plan for the controversial data center project at the March 3 Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting. Calvert residents came prepared to push back.
Ahead of the meeting, Calvert locals shared a job posting for a senior data center construction manager posted by Amazon AWS. The presentation was not on the agenda for this week’s meeting prior to the meeting — BOCC President Todd Ireland said they’d only gotten confirmation of the presentation at 6 p.m. on March 2. Ireland claimed it had been added and approved that morning, but the presentation did not meet the 24-hour required notification period for a public hearing.
Becky Ford of AWS Economic Development spoke at the meeting and said AWS was interested in Calvert County for a variety of reasons, including a business-friendly environment, workforce training resources and more. However, she said she had nothing official to report.
“No plans or permits have been filed. We don’t have any agreements in place, and I’m not here to make an announcement,” Ford said. “We will continue through our due diligence process, and if and when the appropriate time comes up, we could anticipate filing preliminary plans and going through the public process according to the county code.”
As for the job description, Ford said it was common practice for AWS to evaluate job prospects for new locations months, and sometimes years, in advance.
“We regularly post job openings as part of our due diligence. It does not indicate an official investment or commitment, it’s part of our normal process,” Ford said.
Ireland said that a data center could help increase revenue in the county to offset ever-increasing costs of running the county, and said concerns about electric bills and water safety were unfounded. He also cited the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant project as one that helped turn the county around and improved quality of life for decades that followed.
He added that NDAs are a common practice when new economic opportunities present themselves. Commissioner Earl “Buddy” Hance also addressed the non-disclosure agreement he admitted to signing about data centers. Hance has been criticized on social media for not informing the public about the NDA and accused of intentionally withholding information about data centers from the public.
Hance said that it was “no secret” that Constellation had been looking to add a data center to its property. He also said the NDA he signed only covered the name of the client involved.
“It’s about information sharing,” Hance said. “And I have faith that the five of us make decisions that are in the best interest of Calvert County based on the information we have at the time.”
Pushback From Commissioners And Community
Commissioner Catherine Grasso asked Ford if it was possible to pull together a meeting with AWS and subject matter experts to voice residents’ concerns. Ford quickly offered to set up a meeting with her and her team. But commenters in the livestream had a different idea, calling for independent groups to get involved and be allowed to conduct studies.
As Ford’s presentation was winding down, Commissioner Mike Hart made an unexpected motion to put an immediate, 24-month moratorium on “any approvals, permits, rezoning, plans, construction, authorizations, or any other official acts related to a data center development, until a comprehensive environmental study evaluating land, water, and air impacts is completed and formally presented to the public.”
Hart said the 24-month period was based on his estimates of how long it would take to plan, complete and present a study to the public.
“If this is a good thing, it gives the community the opportunity to be behind it and not oppose it,” Hart said.
Hart explained that he’d lived through the LNG plant being built in Lusby and criticized a process where residents didn’t get proper input or sway over the project. He said that the “public hearings” were conducted when it was already a “done deal” and described residents being “explained at” rather than heard.
“All the explanations in the world couldn’t have prepared them for what took place,” Hart said, citing broken promises on construction practices and more.
“This is a very big investment, and our people need to be able to have a say in this,” Commissioner Grasso agreed and seconded Hart’s motion. On the advice of legal counsel, Hart amended his motion to start the process for a moratorium rather than putting it in place immediately. Hart’s motion passed after discussion.
“The bottom line is that we were elected by the public, we represent the public, and the public is speaking,” Grasso said.
Callers were ready during the public comment period of the meeting.
A speaker named Daniel Jones from Sunderland said he recalled growing up in Calvert County in the ’70s and the poverty many people faced due to the lack of well-paying jobs.
“I understand the concerns people have,” Jones said. “But I’ll also say this. We have the responsibility to create a viable economic future for the people of this county.”
Several other speakers criticized the lack of information and public input on the data centers. Residents criticized both the data center project itself and what they perceived as a lack of transparency on the matter.
“The questions most people have are why was an NDA signed? Who was it with? What is the information being withheld from us as citizens? What are the public impacts being discussed behind the closed doors? These are questions we all deserve answers to,” said Huntingtown resident Kenneth Lee.
Another speaker, Joe Cormier, said the county held back information and said commissioners’ statements didn’t align with certain documents. “You can’t sit up there and say you didn’t know something. You knew,” Cormier said and encouraged the commissioners running for office this year to drop their campaigns. “There’s no way we can trust any of you going forward,” he said.
Jason Fowler, a local attorney, said he understood the importance of NDAs for businesses.
“I understand that there are times when NDAs can be signed to protect corporate information,” Fowler said. “But the public also deserves opportunities to be included in information that affects their livelihood. And I think in this respect, you all have failed these people.” Fowler said his own electric bills have doubled in the last two years and said the United States and the region face a massive affordability crisis, partly driven by data centers.
“People who are on the bottom scraping to get by will live and die on the decisions you make here,” Fowler said.
Other speakers joined online to voice their concerns, with some thanking Hart for giving them more opportunities to voice their concerns.
BOCC President Todd Ireland added that he hoped the presentation cleared things up for the public, and he encouraged people to reach out with their concerns — he also cautioned people to be careful sharing “misinformation” on social media.
Ireland also noted that the data center FAQ page on the county website has been updated.
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Clearly Ireland and Hance are being paid off by Amazon, signing NDAs and not telling the public about them.
HEARINGS? Think back several months ago to the “Lusby Villas”. The public spoke. No one listened. Now we’ll have housing for all the new incoming data center employees!
The jobs for the data center are only while its being built, then they are gone. The data center is just a huge drain on the electric grid with an output of pollution for the local environment. Seems interesting that the PARK supposed to be built by BGE has not progressed for what two years now?
We already have enough traffic issues in Calvert county. If a data center is to be considered, and economic development is cited as a reason that we should be considering this, then job applicants from Calvert should only be considered to fill these positions. Also, the practice of applicant farming when there are no actual jobs in place? Personally I consider this shady and misleading at best.
Calvert county goverment is no different from federal or state goverment shady as sit and pockets are getting lined for sure better do your due dillengance.
There are hours and hours of Data centers impact videos online, and on YouTube. To say that data centers dont impact electricity and water tells you that they (the data center reps) are lying. If they would lie about such a simple verifiable fact, why would anyone believe anything they say behind that. Now if they said, yes we understand the impacts and here’s our plans to generate our own power, and guarantee that any increases in costs would be paid by them, well now that is something worth listening to. Fact is, these data centers have been targeting smaller economic areas, and fleecing their residents. The initial lie tells you they dont care. Furthermore what is the end game. AI, ok cool, when everyone is out of work who is going to buy all tye products from the rich. This is a dead end and the sooner it runs its course the better. Say no to the exploitation of our beautiful counties resources. There are other more creative way to generate economic opportunities.
I can tell you that solar farms do exist for Data Centers in Garrett County and on the Eastern Shore
Theres only ONE right option! Those Data Centers need to power themselves NOT rape the public grid and skyrocket our costs.
Let’s say data center doesn’t go in Calvert County, but goes into another county attached to same grid. Does that county get taxes money to fund schools and Calvert county electric bills still go up?
Another example of “Ask for forgiveness after you have already committed the crime.” Data Centers do not belong in an agricultural community and one as small as Calvert County. The cost, increases on the electric grid, and rates due to the high demand will force out the people trying to live in the county. It will cause extreme stress to an already overloaded grid. The jobs generated are a short sighted bonus to the long term costs and environmental impact of a data center.
County crooks not commissioners