70 miles of proposed power lines raise tough questions

UPDATE: State Delegate Michele Guyton, who represents a portion of Baltimore County, posted a letter from County Executive Johnny Olszewski to the Public Service Enterprise Group about the project.

It says in part "We support efforts to improve the resiliency and reliability of our regional electric grid, but also have serious concerns about the project. We believe much more dialogue is needed about the project's impact on our residents."

Olszewski goes on to add that the new power lines "be located in existing right-of-way wherever possible."

ORIGINAL: People in Frederick County packed this auditorium with signs and shirts, all with the same message: stop the power lines.

“Do we need it?" was one of the hundreds of questions people asked at the public meeting.

The purpose of the meeting was to have an open conversation with the Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. (PSEG) and PJM Interconnection about how the proposed power lines could affect about 130 farms in Maryland.

“It's property values being destroyed," said Joanne Frederick, co-founder of Stop MPRP Inc.

"It's the environmental impact, it's farms being destroyed, it's historic homes that have been here in the county for hundreds and hundreds of years that the lines are going right through; its people's livelihoods; it's people's enjoyment of their own property and what they worked so hard for.. for their children and their children’s children, and just in a blink of an eye, it's under threat.”

During the meeting, people voiced complete opposition to the project, saying there is no real need or benefit to the power grid other than supplying data centers, which is something the rural counties do not want in their backyards.

Although the company, PJM Interconnection, which is a regional transmission organization, was invited, no representatives from the company were at the meeting.

So, representatives from the PSEG tried their best to answer questions and concerns people had about the various impacts.

They also explained the benefits of creating the new transmission line and that it would bring power to all areas across Maryland and northern Virginia.

Although the community asked questions for about four hours, people I spoke with say they haven’t gotten real answers or clarity.

Many also don’t think the conversations will stop the project altogether.

"The problem is they are going to get approval," said Bob Ladner of Frederick, Maryland.

"They are going to go through and do the damage, and then they may say, Oh, we’re not going to actually use this power line, but the damage is done; the farms are ruined, the skylines are ruined.”

Although people say they feel like they don’t have a say, Joanne Frederick has co-founded a non-profit called Stop MPRP Inc. against the project, and she says it is vital to continue having these open discussions.

"And this is an opportunity for people to show up and stand together, and that is exactly what people are doing, and that's what we have to continue to do in order to fight this across our three counties.”

During the meeting, Delegate Jesse Pippy told the community that PJM stated its portion of the project is done, so they felt no need to show up to the meeting on Wednesday night.