Fighting the lines of power

So many people are afraid of their land losing value or losing their land completely in Baltimore, Frederick, and Carroll counties.

They are pushing back against the plans for a new route for transmission power lines to be placed near their homes.

On Wednesday night, people in Baltimore County filled an auditorium to speak their minds and get answers about the project.

Hereford High School was Wednesday night’s meeting place for the latest of a series of community town halls discussing the potential for 70 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.

Delegate Nino Mangione led the town hall, he says, because he is against the project and felt a need to get involved.

"The more I have learned about this, the more I’ve learned what is really at stake here and that I have a role as a delegate to try to represent the people,” said Mangione.

The people he is representing also feel the same way about the project. They do not want the transmission lines at all, and many are hoping for alternatives.

“That is not safe. It’s not efficient. It’s not a good idea. So, what is the alternative? Why would you not build solar panels, wind turbines, and, as a backup, a natural gas plant right there where the data center is going to be?” said Jolie McShane of Baltimore County.

On Wednesday night, representatives from the public service enterprise group, or PSEG, presented a PowerPoint explaining details of the process and why the transmission lines were proposed in the first place.

Project director Jason Kalwa says PJM gave PSEG the task of creating the lines because they predicted a large deficit in power for PSEG's data centers around the year 2027 and the company wanted to prevent the loss in power.

Another part of the need is driven by the retirement of existing generators in Maryland and elsewhere, so power needs to be delivered from other regions.

Also, the demand is also expected to grow due to the proliferation of electric vehicles, electrification of home and commercial heating systems, and the resurgence of manufacturing.

Kalwa also says that the route they have presented so far is not set in stone.

“The route is not final. Let me be clear: we have not filed for a single permit. The route will technically not be final until we receive our cbcn permit and also negotiate real estate rights with property owners," stated Kalwa.

But many people are not convinced they are going to change the route much, and people like Steve Novotny, who lives on land in the path of the projected transmission lines, worry about the eminent domain.

“I've been on this land for generations, and to have somebody come in and say, hey you know, we want you to give up your land so we can power up Virginia because we need to meet their load demand, and that doesn’t sit right with a lot of people," said Novotny.

But Kalwa says the company has no interest in eminent domain, although they will have the power to use it if they are granted permits for the project.

"I can tell you, I have rarely seen it used, and we don’t intend to use it.”

Speaking of permits, PSEG says it is scheduled to file permits with Maryland’s public service commission in December of this year. If the permits are approved, PSEG will schedule a second series of public meetings in the year 2025.