Data centers

Urged the Board to rezone the Lusby site back to forest and farming, arguing the science on infrasound and other data center impacts is not understood and the state's study report is overdue.

Thanked the Board for the moratorium but warned that data centers elsewhere will drive up electric bills, increase utility shutoffs, and raise blackout risk on the strained PJM grid.

Speaking for Citizens for Calvert, gave an animated account of how the 800 acres were rezoned and urged the Commissioners to simply say no to hyperscale data centers.

Argued against spot zoning for data center sites, called for zoning to be reset to the comprehensive plan, and asked for county-wide postcard public notices plus a moratorium vote.

Called in remotely, praised the day's presentations, urged looking at the whole picture on Bay water quality, and hoped the moratorium passes.

Criticized the board for rewriting forest conservation rules quickly while doing nothing to close data center loopholes, saying silence is a choice and urging action before the election.

A Chesapeake Ranch Club resident who criticized bare-bones zoning maps, thanked SMECO and the Sheriff's Office, and called for a moratorium or total ban.

Speaking for Concerned Citizens of Calvert, he warned that data centers' power demand is outpacing supply, driving up electric bills (15–22% increases regionally), risking blackouts as soon as 2027, and could bring air pollution from hundreds of backup generators. He urged the commission to keep working with the Environmental Commission and pass findings to the BOCC.

A District 1 commissioner candidate recited a long list of executive sessions and agreements tied to data center negotiations, implying the board's claims of limited knowledge were not credible.

A 40-year Huntingtown resident said data centers would destroy the county's quality of life and accused the board of choosing profit over people.

Urged the board to proceed slowly, saying independent studies of health, water, noise, stormwater, grid and traffic impacts haven't been done for the eight-building, three-campus proposal in the Jones Creek watershed.

A Lusby resident urged review of south county evacuation plans, noting the data centers would sit near a nuclear plant and LNG plant with all evacuations funneling over the two-lane Governor Johnson Bridge.

A St. Leonard resident pushed back on opponents, saying the viral generator noise video came from a gas-turbine site in Virginia that doesn't resemble local proposals and questioning the 70% poll figure.

A St. Leonard resident pushed back on data center fears, suggesting stormwater and fire-suppression designs are manageable, and proposed seeking DNR funding to make Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm lands available for public waterfowl hunting.

Read from a May 17 PJM letter to the U.S. Secretary of Energy asking for authority to direct data centers' backup generators during grid emergencies, warning of blackout risk.

Speaking for the Marley Run HOA Section 1&5 board, she argued the county's data center zoning conflicts with the comprehensive plan's preservation requirements and questioned why school resource officers took years to fund.

A District 1 commissioner candidate calling for a full reset — strip data center language from the zoning ordinance and start over with public hearings and independent studies.

A Port Republic resident who called placing eleven data centers near the nuclear plant and Cove Point LNG a terrorism risk and condemned two years of secrecy.

Speaking for Concerned Citizens of Calvert, he laid out power-grid numbers — 500 megawatts for Amazon, potential seven-fold electricity cost increases — and urged a one-year moratorium.

A Lusby resident who noted seven schools and daycares lie within five miles of the proposed data center.

Speaking for Camp Kanoy residents, he accused Constellation of cutting off communication with neighbors and warned about behind-the-meter power deals, and challenged Commissioner Cox's statements about the I2 rezoning.

A Chesapeake Ranch Estates resident who lives a mile from Dominion's facility and still hears the noise; he demanded a two-year moratorium and a five-mile school buffer, and played a news video of data center noise in Loudoun County.

A Huntingtown resident urging the board to slow down and impose a moratorium, citing a story of a field near Virginia data centers with no bees or birds.

A 13-year county resident who brought her two children and told the board their legacy will be 'that you're not listening to us' if they proceed without a moratorium.

A Sunderland resident who questioned where 500 megawatts would come from given the aging nuclear plant and Maryland's energy deficit.

An excavating business owner and commissioner candidate who demanded data centers go through the same slow permit process as everyone else — no fast-tracking.

A Camp Kanoy Road resident who explained the 800 forested acres south of the plant were rezoned from forest and farming to heavy industrial without standard neighbor notices, calling it illegal in a priority preservation area.

An 11-year-old who asked commissioners how they'd feel if it were happening to them and noted the loss of bats means more mosquitoes.

A 9-year-old who said families with kids near the proposed site are thinking of moving because of it.

She connected the worst spring drought on record to data center water and energy use, questioning how the county can support them.

Speaking virtually for Calvert Citizens for Student Safety and Responsible Development, she said proclamations ring hollow against data center policy, questioned the legality of repurposing gifted park land, and demanded answers on secret agreements and a co-located hazards analysis.

A St. Leonard caller who took a more measured view — saying electric bills rise either way, playing noise videos is unfair without plans, and suggesting text amendments with buffers instead of a moratorium.

Speaking for Save Lusby Inc., she thanked the commission for last week's joint environmental meeting, tied apartment and data center timelines together, and urged protection of schools, ecosystems, and the county's character over quick tax revenue.

He asked the room to raise hands and then proposed putting a yes-or-no data center question on the next county election ballot so residents — not a handful of officials — decide.

A young St. Leonard resident, he credited the nuclear plant's tax revenue for good schools and said the county should hold itself to a higher standard — supporting an independent study paid for by the company.

Representing 687 Calvert County electricians — many commuting to Loudoun County for work — he cited $150,000-a-year jobs and opposed the moratorium.

A County Commissioner candidate said residents near Cove Point LNG have endured industrial noise for eight years without proactive county monitoring, and asked the Board to support a text amendment stripping data center language from the 2025 zoning ordinance and do transparent studies.

A Lusby resident said the town keeps being sacrificed for tax benefits — traffic, crowded schools, damaged waterways — and alleged the Board signed a confidentiality agreement with a data-center-connected company in 2024. She also asked when the promised presentations on nutrient banking agreements would occur.

An Owings resident spoke during the public comment period about data centers.

In a second email, Cormier questioned why the Calvert County Public Schools performance audit wasn't presented, called for dissolving NDAs, criticized weak data center enforcement given the SOMD Sports Plex precedent, and urged preserving historic and ecologically significant land in Lusby.

Criticized the county for redacting a third party's name in an agreement and lacking transparency on data center permits, and urged requiring data centers to generate their own power.