We are working with Farmers for Rural Maryland (FARM) of the Eastern Shore to gather as many signatures as possible. The process is rather lumpy, to add your name to this effort please carefully complete the following steps: 
​
1. READ THE DIRECTIONS FIRST - your signature could be discounted for any number of reasons. It needs to be printed, signed properly and sent to our friends in Centerville (ideally popping in the mail by Tuesday by 5) to make the deadline.
The pages you must print front and back are here

2. Sign Properly and Gather Signatures from Friends/Neighbors properly - again, please read the instructions.

3. Send it -quick! (if you don't sign in person) Refer to the instructions for the address and include your phone number in any mailings you send to FARM if they have questions.  At this point - visit Lewis/ Farm and Home to sign in person.

That address is: QACA/FALSTAD, P.O. Box 157, Centreville, MD 21617


4. Let us know you took action.  With how low tech this process is, we have no way of tracking how we are doing toward the goal of 20k signatures. Once you send your signatures, take one minute to let us know right here. 

Where to even begin with this post from Chaberton Energy? This is the same company seeking to end run the Montgomery County master plan and site solar on the Ag Reserve's very best soils. To call it tone deaf is generous. 

The Hamilton reference is apt - "But no one else was in the room where it happened..." the solar companies were there, while civic groups representing environmental concerns and Maryland's #1 industry - Agriculture - could not even get a meeting with sponsors. The lawyer for one Maryland Solar company was there because he is also the Senate President and had a major hand in crafting this bill. 

SB931, The Renewable Energy act does not "protect" agricultural lands - but instead prioritizes solar on 100,000 acres (5% of each County's priority preservation areas) of land that taxpayers paid for to be preserved in perpetuity. This includes around 5000 acres of Montgomery County's Ag Reserve. 

And it's not just the 100k acres. The extremely high prices promised by solar companies (including Chaberton, see below) are sending farmland prices even further out of reach for farmers that want to grow food and fiber. 

In the Ag Reserve - an acre goes for around $200/year. These companies are offering 10 and 20 times that. Now we hear companies are offering flat rate bonuses on top of $10,000. The diverse land seekers looking for land through our Land Link program are not offering a bonus to lease land to grow local food. Established Farmers in the Ag Reserve are already loosing leases to solar developments. 

One day remains to participate in a long shot referendum effort to get this bill in front of the voters. Click here to learn more and take part. 

 Thanks to all that joined or watched the Poolesville public hearing on the water supply. The full recording of the hearing is above. 


The Town contractor’s 45 minute presentation highlighted differences in process and
conclusions with the research/reporting conducted by hydrogeologist Patrick Hammond. There are consequential differences in their respective methodology and emphasis as to how various factors affect groundwater availability in Poolesville. Mr. Hammond’s 15 minute power point presentation slides  provides a history of the town’s municipal water supply and a summary of his report  without commentary about the town contractor’s data and methodology. He did, however, provide some responses to the contractor’s presentation after the public meeting. A summary of those points with context follows.

Climate Change: a key difference in methodology
Background: The primary goal of the MCA groundwater study  prepared by
hydrogeologist Pat Hammond is to employ current modeling/data to provide best information as to guide how collaboratively steward the sole source groundwater aquifer that supplies water to over a third of the county’s landmass – Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve, rural municipalities and edge communities. Mr. Hammond’s Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) study “The Effect of Climate Change on Maryland’s Water Supplies” was the catalyst for our more locally focused study utilizing the solid water system record keeping of the town of Poolesville. Mr. Hammond’s published MDE study cites the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin’s modeling on how climate change will affect regional water supplies.
The town hydrogeologist noted in her presentation that climate change is “complicated” and that the  "MDE is not requiring municipalities to consider climate change in water management at this time due to uncertainty.” This contention, without reference documentation, seems at odds with State reports/literature.
Here are relevant MDE resources regarding recommendations for safeguarding water supplies to address climate change:
Here are relevant MDE resources regarding recommendations for safeguarding water supplies to address climate change. Here are the resources from UMD Extension. 

The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) has conducted extensive modeling that forecasts climate change effect on regional water supplies. The WSSC has been working to put failsafe plans in effect to address these coming changes and any potential for water system disruption that will challenge their ability to meet water demand at various times. See press event from 2024
 
To be clear, while there are some data analysis differences between the two hydrogeologists, the primary substantive difference hinges on how we should account for the effects of a changing climate on water availability/well yields. Mr. Hammond notes that the town contractor in their reporting factored in an increase in future water use due to climate change based on 30 days of above 100 degree temperatures annually but then the town contractor used only 5 days of above 100 degree temperatures when analyzing the effect on well yields. Mr. Hammond’s report factors in 30 days of above 100 degree temperatures in the future to determine the effect (evapotranspiration etc.) on well yields. If we are to employ no regrets land use planning and decision making, this issue matters.


The Degradation of Horsepen Branch
Hydrogeologist Pat Hammond has raised important concerns that the Town’s continued reliance on a historically granted emergency overallocation (more than their permit allowed in a single watershed) to supply the population (at that point in time) with water has resulted in severe impairment of Horsepen Branch (flows south of Poolesville to the Potomac). Poolesville’s contractor did not address this issue. To date, the Town has not addressed the stream degradation or their continued reliance on the emergency over allocation as relates to future water consumption due to growth.


A town resident put it well in his questions after the presentation - if there is disagreement in the science and the Town's models say everything is fine and Mr. Hammond's models say we need to act quickly  to avert serious issues- residents trust their leaders to take the prudent and conservative path that ensures resources remain abundant in the future. That path requires action.
For residents on wells - our recent webinar on well care is a great place to start learning about the aquifer and how to steward your own well for the future. 

Please plan to join your neighbors at an important informational meeting on the future of the Poolesville Sole Source Aquifer, the only viable water source for the town. 

Poolesville Town Hall
April 21, 7pm 

From the Town site: 
The Commissioners of Poolesville will be holding an informational hearing to discuss water capacity.
Hydrologists Kathy Mihm and Pat Hammond along with Montgomery County Alliance’s Executor (sic) Director Caroline Taylor will present and discuss recent water capacity studies.
The studies, derived from historical pump data, aquifer models and specific scientific calculations, will be discussed along with solutions for ensuring an adequate water supply for the future.
The informational hearing will be held on April 21, 2025, 7:00pm, at Townhall. It will also be available on YouTube, both live stream and archived for later viewing.


YouTube Channel

The background - in 2023 MCA funded a study into the future yields of the town's water supply undertaken by seasoned state hydrogeologist Pat Hammond. The results of this study show that current overallocation of water to the town have had an impact on sensitive Horse Penn Branch. Looking ahead, droughts are forecasted to be more frequent and more severe. Seasonal conservation measures will keep the currently sized town population within allocated water limits but new development in the town will necessitate increased conservation measures throughout the year and may cause some wells to dry up. 

 The study results have informed MCA's Good Gift Groundwater Project seeking to raise awareness about the aquifers under our feet. Recently, the project hosted a webinar all about well care to educate homeowners. 

Here is why MCA and our partners oppose these arrays - they are attempting to override the careful policies crafted to balance solar with farming in the Ag Reserve:

Please join us either on zoom or in person for this hearing:

April 14, 2025 6:30 PM

Upper Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Department

19801 Beallsville Road, Beallsville, MD (in person) or on Zoom 


Here's How You Can Help:

• Show up! - And Bring a Friend 
  
  
• Choose to speak at the hearing (coordinate with us to be sure all topics are covered - [email protected]) 
  
  
• Can't make it? - Write in using the PSC portal (open until April  17) here and please reference Case No. 9733 (hit a snag -> [email protected])

Much more info in our recent newsletter on the previous hearing here.

More: We are working to bring balance to a bill at the General Assembly that will open virtually all forests and farms to the siting of industrial scale solar - can you take a moment to personalize a letter to your representatives. 
​

Montgomery County's own Senator Brian Feldman is carrying forward SB 931/ HB1036 The Renewable Energy Certainty Act a bill that would override all local master plan protections in the the siting of community and industrial scale solar and large battery storage installations. 

That means overriding local level protections across the state for: 
-Farms  and prime soils (stripping of topsoil is allowed)
-Forests
-Stream buffers and slopes

MCA, in partnership with 62 other local and state organizations successfully crafted a ZTA in 2021 that allowed solar in the county's Ag Reserve - notably protecting prime soils, forests and steep slopes to balance renewable energy and shared resources - allowing acreage totaling 3 square miles to be used for community solar projects in the Reserve. (That's in addition to the 187 MW total the County has generated - second highest of all MoCo Counties - data from the PSC 12/24)
  
This bill, lacking the ZTA's balanced approach, is a clear threat to the Ag Reserve, where solar developers are already proposing large arrays on prime soils in an attempt to override county zoning at the state level.  The Montgomery County Council has voted to oppose SB931.

Maryland's counties and municipalities have spent many decades rightly protecting farmland, forests and sensitive watershed areas at the taxpayer's expense. This proposal supplants every one of these priorities for the sake of solar. A broad suite of best practices for siting large scale solar that balances these commitments is readily available (see more below). Moreover, while it seems clear the solar industry had a hand in crafting this bill,  it seems no one in Annapolis consulted farmers or the myriad groups working on forest and water protection. By refusing to acknowledge the complexity of solar siting, this bill is simply raising hackles when it could be building bridges - a missed opportunity that is hindering the aim of more renewable energy.

For our part, MCA is working with local partners representing farming and environmental interests to suggest amendments that will better balance this bill.  We are gathering partner groups and will be releasing an action alert this week.

Please stay tuned. This bill is scheduled for a hearing on February 28th.

Explore More

Best Practices for siting large scale solar (hint: discouraging or prohibiting solar on forests, prime agricultural soils and stream buffers is a theme):

• Abell Foundation “Getting Solar Siting Right in Maryland”
• Farmland Solar Policy Design Toolkit (U-VT and USDA)
• “Where solar arrays shouldn’t go is as critical as where they do go” - Lee Epstein, Chesapeake Bay Foundation director of Lands Programs

More reactions to SB 931:

• WBOC: Maryland Senate Bill on Renewable Energy Sparks Debate Over Local Authority
• New Organization Farmers Alliance for Rural Maryland is pushing back against Data Centers, Battery Storage and other industrial uses on Ag Zoned lands
• Central Farm Markets: Energy Boondoggle
• Cherstertown Spy Opinion: Maryland's Legislature is failing Rural Communities
• From Delmarva Farmer: Shore growers meet to beat Maryland bill
• Baltimore Sun Opinion: Solar Sprawl is not what Maryland Needs
• Maryland Association of Counties opposes SB931 and offers amendments

MCA recently hosted a solar info session to explain the County's conditional use process for solar in the Ag Reserve and developers looking to end run the County's master plan. 

We need to deploy a lot more solar - in all the right places. Looking for ways to go solar at your farm, business, home? We hosted a number of info sessions with the MoCo Green Bank, find all the recordings here. 

In trying to remove PFAS (forever chemicals with established and sever long term health impacts) from the environment, a key vector is substances that come into contact with food, water and soils. Many pesticides are known to have large amounts of PFAS chemicals and are sprayed both in agricultural and residential settings causing huge risks across sectors. 

House Bill 386 would have phased out the pesticides with high concentrations of PFAS. However, amendments to this bill to redefine the chemical structure of what constitutes a "PFAS" forced bill supporters from environmental and civic groups to work against the bill in fear that redefining what is and is not a forever chemical had wide reaching implications in PFAS regulation both in Maryland and across the country - threatening to undo established rules on firefighting foams and the EPAs recent sweeping ruling on PFAS in water. 

The result has been bittersweet - the hijacked bill has failed to pass, but pesticides with high levels of PFAS continue to be widely used. We are proud to be part of the Smart on Pesticides Coalition

Read up on this bill at Maryland Matters

A project for 1.8 MW of solar at 17700 Barnesville Road is moving toward a conditional use hearing.  More info from the solar developer about the project here. 
The project was called the Barnesville Solar project but is now called Mountain Vale Community Solar in response to resident feedback. 

ZTA 20-01 opened the Ag Reserve to community solar arrays of under 2 MW on sub prime soils (class 3 and above) that leave forests intact and avoid steep slopes. The ZTA established a conditional use process - the same as other industrial uses in the Reserve must go through. 

MCA will be watching the development of this array but so far this project looks to meet the stipulations of County policy. A larger map showing where signs will be posted to alert neighbors is here. Note that the triangle of forested area to the right to the map belongs to the same landowner will not hold any arrays or other infrastructure. 

While this project looks to be on the right side of county policies - two other developments are threating to tip the balance between solar and agriculture in the Reserve and across the state more broadly: 

1. Solar developer Chaberton Energy is attempting to sidestep local provisions that balance solar and faming in the Reserve and taking a proposal for solar on prime soils to the state. These arrays are larger than those currently allowed and are mostly on prime class 2 soils - taking the best soils out of production for a least a generation. 

2. General Assembly bill HB1036 and SB931 would allow solar arrays on all ag soils, mature forests and stream buffers - completely upending decades of conservation efforts at the local level and overriding master plans across the state.  Learn more and take action here. 

Curious about what's in your water?

Have you ever looked at your water quality report and wondered what it really means? Or do you rely on a well and want to know how to keep your drinking water safe?

Join us for a webinar where we will share some valuable insights and answer your questions. Water Quality Specialist with UMD University of Maryland Extension, Andy Lazur, will help us break it all down.

Here is the Recording of this webinar (slides from UMD Extension's Andy Lazur here  slides from the Good Gift Campaign in MoCo Here): 

Much more information can be found at our Good Gift Project site 

This webinar and the Good Gift Project are funded through the following grants and supporters like you - we'd be honored by your tax deductible support as we expand this pilot project.

The County Executive has launched a new Climate Smart program that asks residents to commit to small changes they can make to yield big results in emissions reductions for the county. 

More Information here

More to Explore:

-We worked with the MoCo Green Bank and Office of Ag to offer webinars and other resources for going solar on your home/business/farm

-Resources for homes on well and septic on how to save water

Data Centers are an entirely new (and unregulated) land use with massive resource needs:

• Many thousands of gallons of potable water to cool equipment 24/7
• Large areas of land to site warehouses - often taking farmland and open space
• Each data center has the constant, round the clock power needs of a small city - ratepayers can expect to see increases up to 70% in their bills in the next 5 years.
• When power can't come from the grid - that constant power comes from high emissions diesel generators.

Our digital lives require cloud storage but the rise of AI has made the need for data centers explode. Developers are looking all over the country and world for suitable places to site data centers. Maryland, particularly Western Maryland, with it's proximity to Virginia's 'data center alley' is appealing to the industry. 

But we have lots of questions about just where all these resources will come from and who ends up footing the bill. 

​That is why we support the Data Center Impact Analysis and Report Act (( HB270  SB116)) we are working with state and local partners in the Climate Justice Wing of the Maryland Legislative Coalition to support this and other common sense bills to protect our environment. We will be asking for folks to write in and testify on this bill - for now, please check out our fact sheet. 

How we use our prime agricultural lands matters. Flat, sunny, well drained soils are at a premium. Despite a compromise allowing solar in the Ag Reserve on non-prime soils as a conditional use in 2021, 2 solar projects are now applying to the state to end run the County's protections for prime soils in the Ag Reserve. All while solar companies inflate land values, putting acreage further out of reach for the new, diverse crop of local farmers in the only area set aside for farming. Above - a postcard to Ag Reserve residents offering 20 times what local farmers are paying per acre of land. ​

Background: 
Chaberton Energy has applied directly to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) for two large solar projects  of 3-4 mw facilities in the Reserve - almost entirely on on prime farm soils in contradiction to the County’s zoning provisions. Much more about the Sugarloaf and Ramire proposals here.

Next Up 
The project proceeds at the PSC, MCA with partners have been granted intervenor status and we are mounting a defense of prime soils and our master plan. 

​Bonus: Misconceptions at the Planning Board
The ZTA is the factor preventing solar projects - false
 At the 1/9 hearing the Planning Board discussed whether and how to ask the Council to revisit the zoning provision for solar in the Reserve - ZTA 20-01 – with several board members arguing that only two projects being built in the Reserve since 2021 is cause for opening all prime soils to the industrial use.

The Planning department's own report (p.9) in December 2023 identified that zoning is not the central  issue holding back construction of new arrays. Instead, a long waitlist for interconnection with the utility and grid operator are the largest hurdles to making proposed arrays a reality. 

In fact PJM - the grid operator for much of the Mid-Atlantic - has the most severe backlog of new generation projects of any grid operator in the country - "projects entering the queue today have little chance of coming online before 2030."
All the same, more projects are being proposed through the county's conditional use process - including on sub-prime soils in Barnesville.

Agrivoltaics make this an Accessory to Farming - false
In the September 5 public hearing the planning board had asked the applicant, Chaberton Energy, to come up with an agrivoltaics plan. Their draft request for proposals (RFP) is here. 
The RFP visions that farmers might grow crops in the 7 feet between arrays and harvest them by hand. Water might be available - it might not be and no plants can be over 2.5' high.  It is clear that farming is an afterthought here - an opportunity to say that farming opportunities were offered but no farmers were able to meet the criteria of what becomes the industrial use supplanting agriculture.

The RFP says that this offer of free "farmland" in 7-foot strips will make a difference for the large number of farmers seeking affordable land. All while Chaberton is seeking approval for a project that takes prime soils out of farming for at least a generation in conflict with the master plan and drives up the cost of other unencumbered farmland that might have been available for these producers. (Check out our Land Link program to see local farmers seeking long term leases).

What do Ag Reserve farmers think about agrivoltaics? The Office of Ag says local farmers, like many, are seeking more data before embracing farming under solar arrays. OAGs thoughts about the Agrivoltaic RFP here.  The office wants to be clear that the office did not help draft the plan or sign off on the project in any way. 

MCA and colleagues  have  repeatedly asked that the County invest in a full-fledged agrivoltaics demonstration project on county land that can provide key data on whether compatibility of table crop and livestock production and solar arrays in our specific growing conditions.
Board member Hedrick said, “ we're talking about allowing a use on the AG Reserve that's a better use than anything that's currently going on on the acreage that's being proposed. Right here no one's talking about taking anything [sic] think about offering up an option for use of the AG Reserve which is inarguably both economically and environmentally a better use than most of it's currently put to.” 
This view represents a lack of knowledge of the agricultural production, supporting businesses, and ecological services that serve in the Reserve.

Background - Data Centers have been proposed for the former site of the PEPCO plant in Dickerson adjacent to the C+O Canal and the Potomac by Terra Energy. Data Centers are a entirely novel and resource hungry land use - using the power of a small city, requiring constant water for cooling severs and often relying on a large amount of diesel generators to provide backup power. All of our concerns - sourced from the community - can be found here.

2 The Zoning Ordinance does not specifically permit the Hearing Examiner to grant a conditional use “general approval”. The Hearing Examiner evaluated the Application, all testimony, and all documents in evidence pursuant to Section 59.7.3.1.E.
​
Concern remains:
The number of data centers and their ultimate square footage has been left to future “modifications.” 1 data center or 5 or 10… unknown. Both MCA and our partners at Sugarloaf Citizens’ Association conveyed to the applicant, MC Planning staff and board, and to the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings (OZAH) our concern that the sketch plan lacks necessary specifics related to the project’s scope and resource requirements. 
To be clear, we maintain that, especially without a regulatory framework to properly guide the data center industry in Montgomery County, providing a “general approval” casts a blind eye to potential cumulative non-inherent impacts of the full scope of the project.  Would a hearing examiner approve a residential apartment project in Bethesda or Silver Spring without knowing the full square footage and occupancy allowing the applicant to come back later with a site plan and details?
MCA and SCA are considering our options, which could be a request for reconsideration or oral argument.  Stay tuned.
​

MCA has undertaken the Good Gift Campaign - building awareness and action around the Piedmont Sole Source Aquifer - the only potable source of water for residents in the Ag Reserve. 
This project kicked off with a baseline survey of county residents - check out the video above to hear our groundwater program coordinator Abby Mann go through the results. 

Abby's slides here
​
Infographic of the results here

Press Release Here

Much more about the Good Gift Groundwater Campaign here

Folks have likely been hearing about a number of proposed solar projects in the Reserve recently. 
There may be a lot of questions about why these proposals are happening now and how they fit in with the purpose of the Ag Reserve. 


Let's talk about it.  With our partners at Sugarloaf Citizens Association we met with folks on Zoom. Click below to see the video and access the slides from the meeting. ​

Thanks to all those that took the time to hear about how some solar proposals are balancing agriculture and some.... are not. From the slides we shared, here is what you can do to take action on this issue: 

• Read up – sign up for SCA/MCA newsletters and alerts - We are keeping tabs on both local solar proposals and new bills in Annapolis that may shake up solar siting. 
  
•  Reach out to electeds - Upholding MoCo's master plan and balanced approach to siting solar on farms at the state level is a job for our elected officials. Let them know your thoughts. You can write the whole council here.
  
• Attend conditional use hearings - The conditional use process is meant to take stock of the specific pros and cons of this use on this particular property. It is meant to be a transparent and inclusive process - you can get involved and have your say. The proposal for the array in Barnesville has not been submitted yet, but we will let folks know when to weigh in. 

You may still have questions we didn't get to in the info session - drop us a line- [email protected]

With an entirely new land use (Data Centers), one with inherently large needs for water and power, residents want to understand the implications - particularly when the project is to be sited in the AG Reserve and close to a  National Park. 

Understanding the resource use of the proposed data centers in Dickerson at the site of the shuttered Pepco plant has been difficult. Despite getting approval from planning staff, there is not yet a detailed site plan for this project. 

 MCA and our partners at Sugarloaf Citizens maintain that without a complete site plan that answers basic questions about how much water (from the Potomac - maybe some from the Aquifer) and power will be used there - this plan cannot be approved.

MCA attended the next step in the process, a hearing with the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings. Hearing that the applicant had still not produced a full plan, MCA  asked to submit some community concerns to be added to the hearing record. Our concerns covered water, power, and how this large power draw and carbon emitter will fit in with County and State zero emissions policies- our full submission here. 

In response, the applicant, Terra Energy, had their attorney​ send a letter to the hearing examiner dismissing our concerns - your concerns - and ask that they be stricken from the record. (update - we have responded here)

Some key passages from the Attorney's letter: 

- "Moreover, the materials concern issues not applicable here (like ground water impact, use of agricultural land and climate change),..

-"Overall, the comments are both irrelevant and immaterial to the circumstances of this case. They either should be stricken or given little to no weight."

Water
-The results will be far superior to those of the last 70 years when a coal fired power plant operated on the site. As stated at the hearing, Applicant will have to obtain final permits for water withdrawal from the Maryland Department of the Environment once the final size of the proposed facilities, their location and the engineering details of the water system are determined.

-In terms of groundwater and the aquifer which the Countryside Alliance references, the claims also are irrelevant and immaterial. The water used for cooling will come from the Potomac River, not from any underground aquifer. Any well water from the aquifer will be very limited, for use only as normal drinking water and internal use for a very limited number of employees.

Digital infrastructure is an entirely new land use. The onus is on Terra Energy to show the public how this project fits into the county's climate goals and stewards our shared resources - particularly the Potomac. In the absence of concrete data that would be provided by a full site plan, invalidating real public concerns is not the way forward. 
​​

This year we are pleased to honor Doug Lechlider of Laytonsville Turf Farm with the Royce Hanson Ag Reserve Champion Award. 

Doug has been a stalwart collaborator, bringing voice to issues impacting farmers in the Reserve. His inclusive and level-headed approach has brought balance to a number of zoning issues that threaten to take farmland out of production. Doug served on the solar work group that found a path forward for solar in the Reserve that preserves prime soils and he was instrumental in championing farmland protections in a proposal to allow overnight stays as a conditional use in the Reserve. Doug is currently engaged in thoughtful advocacy for the Reserve's farms as solar developers seek state approval to put large arrays on prime soils in conflict with county policies. 

As a 5th generation farmer, Doug knows the importance of protecting farmland.  He grew up on a crop and livestock farm in Laytonsville, MD, taking part in 4 H and FFA. In 1989, soon after the creation of the Reserve, he started a landscape business specializing in erosion control. Since then, Laytonsville Turf Farm has grown from 40 acres of sod planted to prevent sedimentation to 700 acres of various crops farmed by Doug, his wife Robin and son Matthew. 

Doug's focus on erosion prevention has led to the use of innovative farming practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping and no-till farming. 

Doug puts in the time on his own farm but also and works productively with others to secure the protection of the Reserve, "​as citizens and Ag. leaders of MC it is important to educate ourselves, as well as new County leaders, of the purpose and importance the AR has to MC as well as the entire region. New pressures to open this area to commercial entities will only intensify. To this point I believe coalitions of different groups with similar goals is very important."

Doug makes time to be involved with the farming community - he serves on a number of boards and committees, including: Senior Farmers Club
Montgomery Agricultural Producers
Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Montgomery County Agricultural Advisory Committee
Montgomery County Farm Bureau
Maryland Ag Commission
Maryland Agriculture Council
Turf Producers of MD

We are proud to honor this hard working and community minded farmer!

Neighbors are being alerted to a pre- application public meting about a 1.8 Megawatt community solar installation 17700 Barnesville Road in Barnesville. We are perplexed as to why there are signs about this proposal miles from this property and we are looking into this. 

The meeting will be on zoom on October 10 at 6:30pm.

Please RSVP by calling or sending an email to Morgan Abramson at (301) 961-8661 or at
[email protected].

See the full information here. 

​ZTA 21-01 made provision for this size of array to be located in the Reserve on Class 3 soils and above. We will await particulars about this specific proposal but it is an example of a solar developer going through the established conditional use process at the county level and providing opportunities for the public to understand the project in advance.

This is in stark contrast to another solar developer who is sidestepping local provisions that balance solar and faming in the Reserve and taking a proposal for solar on prime soils to the state. 
​

​The drought that has been hindering the region (and especially farmers) throughout the summer only briefly abated when the remnants of Hurricane Debby came through dropping several inches of rain in just a few days. We are back in the red, with no rain forecasted soon. 

This is troubling region wide but particularly in rural areas that rely on wells - no reservoir can be tapped to replenish groundwater. 

MCA has undertaken a research and outreach program for the county's water resources. Check out the "Good Gift" campaign. 

You can help - please take 10 minutes to answer anonymous questions about your well and local groundwater supplies. 

Related: How to Conserve water at home
​The Good Gift in PLENTY Magazine

Update 10/19/24: MCA submitted a document of public concerns to the hearing examiner about missing specifics on how this proposal will fit into county and state climate goals and the Potomac's water level, among other concerns. The applicant's attorney wants these concerns (your concerns) stricken from the record. 

Update: Data Center Emissions Exemption Passes MCA with partners opposed a bill in the General Assembly that would allow diesel generators of any size, and quantity in any location to provide backup power to data centers without oversight of the Public Service Commission. With the addition of a provision to provide 15% of tax revenues from this novel land use to fund environmental protection, the bill passed before the end of the session. Learn More. 

Related: WaPo: Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal
Grist: The Surging Demand for Data is Guzzling Virginia's Water Supply

Montgomery County Data Center Updates: 
Currently no regulatory framework exists in the state or county to govern data centers. County Executive Elrich is now working with the county climate change officer to establish one in MoCo. The first step is researching best practices in use nationally and globally for sustainably meeting the outsized needs for water, land and power of this unique use.  (Iceland, for example)
MCA continues to collaborate with the owners of the Terra Energy facility proposed for the former Pepco plant to advocate for care in siting and operation of these centers along the Potomac. 

Quantum Loophole continues to run afoul of MDE rules - The Frederick News Post reports a stop work order was issued for a drilling project in Frederick County for the fiberoptic cable loop stretching from Adamstown across to "Data Center Alley" in Virginia. The contractor was drilling without telling the county and may have released drilling materials into underground water aquifers. To link the two updates - Quantum Loophole at full buildout will use power equivalent to 400,000 homes (12 Fredericks or 4 Baltimores).

Frederick County Data Center Workgroup Report Released
from our partners at Sugarloaf Alliance:
"The Frederick County Data Centers Workgroup (DCWG) released its final report on March 1 (read the text here). Generally speaking, the recommendations agree with Sugarloaf Alliance positions, including the recommendation that data centers not be sited in Treasured Landscapes, and the report specifically mentions Sugarloaf Mountain. Read the Frederick News Post report here. The report is in the hands of the County Executive, and her administration is expected to make recommendations for legislation governing data centers in Frederick County. We still don’t have information about legislation or timing."

Montgomery Countryside Alliance and our partners at Sugarloaf Citizens Association are continuing to carefully monitor the proposal as many as 20 data centers and a large scale grid battery storage facility at the former PEPCO Power Plant in Dickerson. The new property owner Terra Innovations will file for conditional use approval for the project very soon.
Here are the concerns and recommendations submitted by both organizations to the applicant.
We continue to advocate for both state and county regulations to guide this land use. Currently the data center land-use does not have a regulatory framework.

Some maps from the Terra Innovations site showing property boundaries and zoning:

Pieces of this property are part of the Ag Reserve as shown above

Much More: 
Community Meeting with SCA, MCA and Sugarloaf Alliance on Data Center Concerns
​Northern VA has a Data Center Problem
Data Centers in N VA are nearing a tipping point
​Quantum Loophole to Bore under Potomac is 3 places to lay data center infrastructure
​Quantum Loophole cited for many MDE violations - stop work order issued