Marylanders pack public forum about power project that could use eminent domain

FREDERICK, Md. (WBFF) — A Frederick County school was packed Wednesday night as Marylanders learned more about the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) and engaged with developers in an open forum.

Residents and officials packed the Linganore High School auditorium for a nearly four-hour town hall-style event. A Frederick County Fire Department representative told FOX45 News on-site attendance was estimated around 900 people in the 788-seat room.

Del. Nino Mangione, R-Baltimore County, told the hopeful power line developers sitting on the town hall panel that he and most attendees first learned about the expansion effort after reading FOX45 News's coverage.

“When I read reports that eminent domain was an option, you would think they would have tried to hide that,” Del. Mangione said. “To me, that says, a New Jersey company was coming to the state of Maryland looking for a fight.”

I think they found a fight; I know for damn sure I am going to fight it,” Del. Mangione added.

Residents delivered emotional pleas to representatives from PSEG, the developer awarded a construction contract by regional electric grid operator PJM, expressing how the project will upend their lives.

One homeowner said that potential buyers for his property in the vicinity of the proposed power line expansion area withdrew their contract just hours before the town hall meeting.

“This project is already affecting me,” the resident said. “Everybody, I’m looking here, is worried.”

Most of the attendees' questions focused on the potential use of eminent domain, or the government's legal ability to seize private property, to complete the project.

An affected resident asked PSEG representatives about the potential decrease in property values due to the presence of high-tension, high-voltage power lines and their towering structures in his neighborhood.

Lines like these exist throughout communities,” PSEG project manager Jason Kalwa said. “I know that’s not an answer, I don’t have an answer for that.”

Maryland lacks power production

Power line developers were also commonly asked how much of the MRPR project was driven by the energy consumption needs of Northern Virginia data centers. Kalwa said that the energy consumption of data centers is hastening the need for the MPRP. He additionally mentioned that power production facilities are closing down rapidly.

[E]ven PJM will say, ‘sure, it’s due to data centers,’” Kalwa said. “But then you have over 11,000 megawatts of generators that are retiring.”

Kalwa said to the crowded auditorium that Maryland's inadequate electric generation is also propelling this project.

“Maryland today, sitting here right now, imports about 40% of its energy from other states,” Kalwa said. “It’s heavily reliant on the transmission grid.”

PJM echoed Kalwa’s position in a company blog post on Tuesday. As a regional transmission operator, PJM stated that the auction prices they secured for the raw energy they need to obtain for reliability regulations for the 2025/2026 delivery year were "significantly higher."

“The higher prices send a clear investment signal across PJM’s 13 states and the District of Columbia,” the company said Tuesday on its website.

Stu Bresler, the executive vice president of PJM, is quoted in the organization's blog post addressing this issue.

Interconnection process reform is proceeding, but hurdles remain for many projects outside our process,” Bresler said. “We are considering ways to accelerate those who can successfully overcome those challenges and build.”

Meanwhile, organizers at the Frederick County town hall stated that PJM had been invited to the meeting on Wednesday evening.

Town hall moderator Del. Jesse Pippy, R-Frederick and Carroll County, told the audience PJM denied requests to attend.

In the interest of full transparency, PJM told me they were not sending anyone because they said their portion of the work is done,” Del. Pippy said.

PJM responded Thursday to questions FOX45 News sent earlier in the day. A spokesperson for PJM did not answer FOX45 News's questions about the accuracy of Del. Pippy's allegations.

Last evening's session was centered around the routing or siting of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project," a PJM spokesperson said. "PJM does not dictate routes nor designs them. This is left to the developer."

PJM's spokesperson said the company sent a representative to attend all six public meetings in July that PSEG hosted in Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick Counties. The grid operator also told FOX45 News they held an "open stakeholder process" about the project from October to December.

When asked about the extent of interaction PJM has had with Governor Wes Moore regarding the MPRP, a spokesperson for PJM said that they have had "a lot."

FOX45 News sent questions to Gov. Wes Moore's office Thursday morning about the MPRP. The governor's office said in a statementthe state has had no interaction with PJM on the project.

The Maryland Public Service Commission (MPSC) was also invited to the Wednesday evening town hall but did not attend. A spokesperson for the state regulator said that PSEG has not yet applied for project permitting, limiting its ability to participate in public dialogue.

“There are procedural processes in statute and in Maryland regulations that we have to maintain in these type of cases, that restrict our public involvement in matters that are subject to [MPSC] adjudication,” a MPSCspokesperson said.

Community leaders organizing to stop power line expansion

Community organizers from "Stop MPRP" moved through the crowd, seeking assistance to oppose the power line expansion project. When asked by members of the group which elected officials reject the MPRP, all elected official panelists but Del. Barrie Ciliberti, R-Frederick County, raised their hands.

Sen. William Folden, R-Frederick County, reiterated many of the grassroots advocacy group’s messages as he concluded the town hall just after 9:40 p.m.

“Normally government, at least in my lifetime, I’ve seen it move at what I would consider a glacial pace on a lot of thing,” Sen. Folden said. “On this issue, it seems like it is a lightning strike.”

[W]hen you move at lightening pace, one thing that is not being considered, is the unintended consequences,” Sen. Folden added.

Midway through the town hall meeting, a longtime resident of Frederick County interrupted the power grid developer's representative, Jim Gilroy, while he was addressing concerns about health and eminent domain. This interruption reflected the collective community's thoughts towards PSEG's responses and was received by loud cheers and applause.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” the woman said before she left the packed school auditorium. “Your mothers should also be ashamed of you.”

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