In the ongoing struggle over land rights in Maryland, a federal judge in Baltimore has been the arbiter of a heated dispute concerning the Piedmont Reliability Project. The heart of the matter is whether Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) can assert eminent domain to access private property to construct a 70-mile-long, 500,000-volt transmission line. The project, which would thread through Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick counties, is touted by PSEG as crucial to averting potential blackouts by 2027. However, the landowners argue that the transmission line would benefit data centers in Virginia rather than Maryland's power grid.
Representatives of the utility claim that, under Maryland law, their filing for a certificate of public convenience and necessity with the Maryland Public Service Commission grants them the right to enter these lands without explicit permission. As per WBALTV, PSEG's attorneys insist that the resulting surveys would not damage property. However, concerns from landowners and groups like Stop MPRP, led by Joanne Frederick, raise questions over the trust and legitimacy of this assurance.
On the flip side, WBALTV reported that lawyers representing more than a hundred landowners have called on the judge to dismiss the case, emphasizing that the construction of the transmission line is unwarranted due to the continued operation of the coal-fired power plants that were expected to be decommissioned. "This is, in some ways, a distraction," Joanne Frederick stated. She then challenges the perceived imbalance: "The larger issue here is why should Marylanders have to give up their private property to enrich a New Jersey utility (and) further enrich data centers in Virginia? And, we say no."
In response to the contentious hearing, PSEG's legal team hinted at a willingness to negotiate further, suggesting a conference among attorneys to discuss the next steps if the judge grants the injunction. Landowner advocacy group president Joanne Frederick remains skeptical about the utility's openness. "PSEG says continually that they've done their best to communicate and they're trying to be open and honest. That's not right. So, if it requires the lawyers to sit down and make them actually be honest and truthful, I'm ok with that," she said, according to a WMAR2News interview.
Moving forward, all eyes are on the upcoming virtual pre-hearing conference that the Maryland Public Service Commission has scheduled for June 10th.
