Advocacy, Environment, Maryland

Maryland Pays, Virginia Plays: How an Energy Project Is Sacrificing Maryland Land for Northern Virginia’s Big Tech Boom

When Joanne Frederick first saw the survey stakes hammered into the edge of her family’s Frederick County farm, she thought it was a mistake.
Nobody had asked permission.
Nobody had warned her.
And nobody told her the electricity would be flowing out of Maryland — not in.

“They told us it was about reliability,” she said. “What they didn’t tell us was who it was for.”

The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), a proposed 70-mile, 500,000-volt transmission line slicing across Frederick, Carroll, and Baltimore counties, has been billed as critical for Maryland’s future.
But dig deeper, and the truth emerges:
This isn’t about keeping Maryland’s lights on.
It’s about feeding the insatiable energy appetite of Northern Virginia’s booming data center empire — while Maryland landowners pay the price.

The Real Beneficiary: Data Center Alley

Northern Virginia isn’t just growing — it’s exploding.
The region, often called Data Center Alley, houses more cloud infrastructure than anywhere else on Earth.
Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google, Meta — all operate massive server farms there.
And these farms are energy monsters, consuming more electricity than entire small countries.

In 2023 alone, Virginia approved over 3,000 megawatts of new data center construction.
Dominion Energy, the state’s primary utility, admitted publicly it cannot meet future demand without massive new power imports.
The Piedmont Reliability Project is one of those imports.

The transmission lines would ferry power from Pennsylvania across Maryland, feeding it straight into Virginia’s hungry tech sector — at the direct expense of Maryland’s landscapes, homes, and history.

Collateral Damage: Maryland’s Rural Communities

While data center executives and politicians toast future profits, Marylanders are staring down lawsuits, loss of property rights, and environmental devastation.

  • Hundreds of landowners are facing lawsuits just to allow survey crews onto their property.
  • Farmers are worried about soil compaction and irreversible damage to working land.
  • Environmental groups warn the project would cut through over 500 acres of state forests and wetlands, endangering wildlife habitats.
  • Local sheriffs have refused to assist the energy company, calling the forced access demands “civil disputes” best left to the courts.

Yet the assault continues — powered by deep-pocketed utility companies and enabled by a political system reluctant to challenge “green energy” expansion narratives.

“It’s David versus Goliath,” Frederick said. “Except this Goliath isn’t even from around here.”

The Hypocrisy: Maryland Foots the Bill for Virginia’s Wealth

Perhaps the bitterest pill to swallow is that Marylanders won’t even benefit from the project they are being asked to sacrifice for.

The electricity won’t flow to struggling rural towns in Frederick County.
It won’t lower rates for Carroll County families.
It won’t power affordable housing, schools, or hospitals.

It will flow straight south — into one of the wealthiest tech corridors in America.

Maryland pays.
Virginia plays.

Where Are Our Leaders?

Governor Wes Moore has voiced opposition to using eminent domain to seize land for this project, calling it a violation of basic property rights.
But words, without action, are cold comfort for landowners facing a flood of lawsuits from corporate energy giants.

At the federal level, Maryland’s representatives have remained largely silent.
Meanwhile, Virginia legislators proudly tout their “business-friendly environment” and welcome the data center boom — no matter who gets steamrolled along the way.

The Bigger Pattern: Sacrifice Zones for Profit

What’s happening in Maryland is part of a much bigger, darker trend.

All across America, rural and lower-income communities are being turned into infrastructure sacrifice zones — trampled to feed the endless hunger of Big Tech, Big Energy, and Wall Street investors.

Progress always has a price, they tell us.
But somehow, the same communities are always handed the bill.

Final Thought

When Amazon’s next cloud server comes online, or when Google announces another AI expansion in Northern Virginia, the headlines will celebrate “innovation” and “growth.”

But few will remember the Maryland farms bulldozed to make it happen.
Or the families who fought — and lost — for the right to stay rooted to their own land.

In the end, the lights will stay on.
But for many Marylanders, something far more important will have gone dark.

CALL TO ACTION

Stand With Maryland’s Landowners Before It’s Too Late

Maryland’s farmers, families, and rural communities are under attack — not by nature, but by corporate greed hiding behind energy projects like the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project.

These families aren’t asking for charity.
 They’re demanding what’s right: the freedom to defend their land, their livelihoods, and their legacies.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Speak out: Share this story. Tag your local representatives. Demand answers.
  • Support local organizations: Groups like Stop MPRP, Inc. are fighting for Marylanders’ rights — follow, donate, and amplify their efforts.
  • Stay informed: Every survey, every lawsuit, and every tree cut down is another step toward a future decided without us.
  • Stay Protected: Download the Property Defense Cheat Sheet.

Progress should never come at the cost of justice.
Stand with the landowners.
Stand for Maryland.

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