PJM, a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states and the District of Columbia, determined that more electricity was needed in Frederick to improve the reliability of the grid. It conceived the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), a 500 kilovolt transmission line carrying power from the Peach Bottom Clean Energy Center, a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, to Frederick.

PJM awarded the contract for the construction of the MPRP to Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG). PSEG introduced the project and proposed routes for the transmission line through Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Counties in July. The transmission line would cut a 150-foot-wide swath through farms, fields, forests, and over streams, affecting businesses, residences, preserved land, wildlife, and the viewshed on a path 70 miles long. Many issues have been raised by elected officials and affected residents.

  • Is the transmission line really necessary?
  • Where will all the electricity end up?
  • Who will pay for this?
  • How can this project be stopped?

It is difficult to get a clear answer to these questions. What we know for sure is that there are many aspects of the project that can be challenged, including the assumptions and projection PJM made to determine the project was necessary. There are many alternatives to building a new transmission line, including using existing rights-of-way. We know that when PSEG determines its final routes, it will submit an application to the Public Service Commission (PSC), the body that regulates public utilities in Maryland. The PSC will then hold public hearings, and this is the time that questions can be asked and information presented to demonstrate that the MPRP as currently envisioned should not be built.

If you are an affected landowner in Baltimore County, you should send an email or letter to elected and appointed officials. Most important is an email to the PSC at piedmontcomments.psc@maryland.gov. This is a dedicated email address for comments about the MPRP. Emails will become part of the public record when the PSC has its hearings. Please use the opportunity to tell your story. How will you be affected, financially and personally? What do you want the PSC to do when it considers the MPRP?

Affected landowners should not sign anything without having it reviewed by a lawyer. If the MPRP is approved by the PSC, PSEG will try to acquire easements for the right-of-way, offering to pay fair market value for easements and possibly more. PSEG may be able to take land if a landowner refuses to grant an easement; it would file an eminent domain lawsuit against the landowner. That prospect is far away, but landowners should be wary about signing anything without legal advice.

 

Finally, a ZOOM event about the MPRP has been scheduled by PSEG for August 14 from 6 pm until 8 pm. Click here to sign up for the webinar.