In the push to enhance America’s power grid for AI data centers and clean energy, thousands of miles of new transmission lines are needed, leading to a controversial use of eminent domain. Maryland’s Piedmont Reliability Project plans a 70-mile high-voltage line across Frederick, Baltimore, and Carroll counties, aiming to meet rising electricity demands. This initiative involves seizing private property if compensation agreements aren’t reached, sparking backlash from affected landowners and conservation groups. It’s a clash driven by the state’s ban on new fossil fuel power plants, forcing Maryland to import electricity and prompting accusations of government overreach in the name of green policies.
There is a downside to ‘The Next AI Trade’—at least for some landowners.
To power up America and upgrade power grids for artificial intelligence data centers, onshoring tendencies, and economic electrification, thousands of miles of new transmission lines will be required across the country. Existing lines will be updated, but new lines will be required, necessitating the seizure of private land by eminent domain.
According to Fox 45 Baltimore, the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) is a new initiative to construct a 70-mile, 500,000-volt transmission line through three counties: Frederick, Baltimore, and Carroll. The line will connect a substation in southern Frederick County, providing the area with more load capacity to meet rising power demand from AI data centers.
According to the MPRP website, the new transmission lines will necessitate the acquisition of private land via eminent domain, or government-mandated seizure, to finish construction.
“If PSEG and a property owner cannot agree on a mutually acceptable value, PSEG may seek to use the power of eminent domain using the process set forth by the state of Maryland to acquire the necessary property rights,” according to the developer’s website.
The Valleys Planning Council, a local conservation group, stated on Facebook that the new transmission system, which will destroy forests and farmland, is only being planned because lawmakers in Annapolis “do not allow new fossil fuel power stations, Maryland must import electricity from surrounding states.”
The evil side of lighting up America for AI data centers is becoming clear: the government will use eminent domain to take over land.
In Maryland, residents who do not cooperate with MPRP will see portions of their farms and forests taken over for the infrastructure project.
However, the new transmission line plan exists solely because of the so-called state administrators in Annapolis, legislators who are terrible at their jobs. The genius in Annapolis declared war on fossil fuels, prohibiting any new development of fossil fuel power facilities at a time when power demand was increasing.
So, rather than constructing clean NatGas power plants near the AI data centers, Maryland must import power from neighboring states. Really efficient, eh?
According to the authors of a recent paper titled “Maryland’s Energy Crisis: The Critical Need to Boost In State Electricity Generation,” “Maryland consumes about 40% more electricity than it generates.”
To summarize, the dark side of the next AI trade will be land grabs for private property. That is likely to occur in Maryland and elsewhere. However, it is important to note that the only reason this is occurring is because progressives in Annapolis are pushing green measures.
Sigh, for Maryland people who must deal with leftists who are not grounded in reality.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that tech companies, including Amazon Web Services, are striking deals with U.S. nuclear power plants to secure electricity for their data centers, driven by the skyrocketing demands of artificial intelligence.
