Carroll lawmakers to host listening session on Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project Thursday

Residents will have a chance to share concerns about the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project with Carroll County officials during a listening session set for Thursday.

The event will be from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Agriculture Center in Westminster, and will include the Board of Carroll County Commissioners and members of the Carroll delegation to the Maryland General Assembly.

The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project is a proposed transmission line that would carve a 70-mile-long path through Carroll, Frederick and Baltimore counties. The $424 million project, with a proposed date of operation in June 2027, may seize land using eminent domain, would raise local energy bills to fund the power grid upgrade, and has sparked opposition among county residents .

Carroll lawmakers and commissioners, “continue to strongly voice their opposition of the MPRP,” according to an Aug. 12 county news release announcing the listening session. “They are taking their opposition to every level of government, including Governor Moore and Senators Cardin and Van Hollen. In doing so, the Board of Commissioners and Carroll County’s state delegation are working to build bipartisan opposition to this project.”

State Sens. Justin Ready and Christ West, as well as Dels. Christopher Bouchat, April Rose, Josh Stonko and Chris Tomlinson, who represent Carroll County in the General Assembly, “stand firmly opposed to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project,” according to a letter released last month when the project was announced.

County commissioners also took a unified stance against the project soon after it was announced. “Our priority is to mitigate any adverse impact this plan could have on the county’s citizens, community and land,” Board President Kenneth Kiler said in a release last month.

Anyone who wishes to comment may sign up to do so at an information table at the event. Each speaker will have up to two minutes to comment. The chance to speak is not intended to be a back-and-forth dialogue with commissioners or delegation members, but the last hour of the session will offer the opportunity for the public to have one-on-one conversations with their representatives, after public comments conclude at 8 p.m.

The event will not be livestreamed, but a recording will be available afterward. Anyone who would prefer to email their comments may do so by sending them to mprpfeedback@carrollcountymd.gov

PJM, the Regional Transmission Organization responsible for operating power systems that provide energy for all of Maryland, has contracted with the Public Service Enterprise Group to complete the project. Baltimore Gas & Electric is among PJM’s member companies.

The listening session is county-sponsored, and PSEG representatives will not attend, according to the release.

Jason Kalwa, who manages the energy project for PSEG, said last month that the company is in the early stages of hearing public feedback, and that everyone would benefit from the upgrade to the energy grid.

PSEG would most likely acquire property in the form of permanent easements, which would give it perpetual rights to construct and maintain power lines. According to the company, PSEG prefers to acquire property rights by reaching an agreement with a property owner based on a market value appraisal but may invoke eminent domain if an agreement is not reached.

“The project will have some temporary and permanent impacts on local wildlife and the environment,” according to PSEG, “but the routing and design process considers numerous factors to avoid or minimize impacts. Where impacts can’t be avoided, appropriate mitigation measures will be implemented.”

Since plans for the project were announced , several community groups have formed and rallied citizens in opposition , quickly recruiting hundreds of members.

Carroll County’s Historic Preservation Commission announced at an Aug. 13 meeting that it will also oppose the project , following the lead of the county’s Department of Planning and Land Management. “Consideration should be made to avoid these historic locations as cultural resources in our county,” Department of Planning & Land Management Director Christopher Heyn said in a statement.