PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Calvert’s Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) heard a presentation at the Jan. 28 special meeting to better understand firsthand experiences of rural counties that have added data centers to their area.
County Administrator for Mecklenburg County, Virginia, Alex Gottschalk provided the virtual presentation. The intention was for Gottschalk to share insight into the jurisdiction’s experience with data center development. Gottschalk spent the hour reviewing the impacts of data centers on Mecklenburg County’s economy, infrastructure, and community.
Staff hoped that this firsthand experience will help guide Calvert County as they explore options for a data center locally.
Ahead of Gottschalk’s presentation, County Commissioner Earl “Buddy” Hance said that there was no deal yet for a data center that he knew of, but it was “no secret” that Constellation is trying to find some clients to put data centers on their location. Constellation is the energy company that owns the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center.
“We’re trying to get prepared,” Hance said.
Gottschalk highlighted the similarities between Calvert and Mecklenburg Counties, including the rural culture and tourism industries. In Mecklenburg’s case, the site for the data center was once a vacant prison; the property went from generating no revenue for the county, to a property that is worth over $1 billion in real estate assessment value.
Gottschalk highlighted how the data center has helped create revenue for his county and that, in particular, it helped provide major upgrades to their schools and public services.
Calvert residents have consistently pushed back against the BOCC in the discussions about adding a data center to Calvert. There is no current deal or contract in place to add a data center.
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It is Amazon whom Constellation is in discussion with to place a data center on their property. Calvert County must say no to this Amazon data center, or any data center in Calvert County.
who is going to provide the electric for this data center?? does the county have to share the electric
With Calvert Cliffs shut down and life span growing closer everyday. How does Constellation Energy purpose to power these centers in Calvert co. When they are forced to shut down this plant?
Data Centers are linked to significant health issues for the residents around them.
The pollution from Amazon data centers have been linked to a cluster of miscarriages, rare cancers, and organ failure. No one wants this.
Don’t residents in areas with data centers end up with their electricity bills skyrocketing to compensate the data center? That combined with the increase in health problems are two major reasons to fight this. This is bad news for southern maryland.