Notes:

McDowell was defending a proposed plan for a 67-mile long transmission line running through Maryland that would bring more power to the booming AI data centers in northern Virginia. The $424 million Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project is facing opposition from farmers and other property owners whose land is in its path, including the owners of a Maryland Christmas tree farm. Critics argue that Maryland would be acting as an “extension cord” for the AI data centers, seeing no real benefits from the infrastructure while enduring a massive eyesore.

Fox tells Americans to buy artificial trees so Christmas tree farms can be used for data centers:

"Everybody needs to get on board." pic.twitter.com/GoelMD8HDw

— FactPost (@factpostnews) December 12, 2025