It’s the “other” power line controversy in Baltimore County and it’s fueled by plans to take a coal-fired power plant in Anne Arundel County offline.
According to BGE, the Brandon Shores power plant in Pasadena is scheduled to go offline in December of 2028.
To make up for that lost power, BGE wants to import more electricity from out of state, and says it needs upgraded power lines to do that.
There is opposition from people in the Kingsville area who would live near the lines. Councilman David Marks said opponents would like at least some of those lines buried.
“There is concern about the impact of fire perhaps and the overall effect on the aesthetics of those communities,” Marks said.
Marks initially wanted the County Council to oppose the project. It instead backed a watered down version on Monday night that asks BGE to confirm that it has the legal right to build the lines.
In a statement to WYPR, the utility says it does. The utility would use existing rights of way.
“BGE’s deeds of easement clearly state that BGE has unrestricted easement rights for the construction, reconstruction, modification, operation and maintenance of gas and electric facilities upon, over, or under the property at issue,” according to the statement.
The use of existing rights of way is a major difference between the Brandon Shores project and the controversial Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. The MPRP would go through private property in Baltimore, Frederick and Carroll Counties where rights of way currently don’t exist. That has landowners concerned about the possibility of property being seized.
The Brandon Shores project plans to upgrade 37 miles of transmission lines. The path runs north to south, from Harford County into Eastern Baltimore County, including Middle River, Essex and Dundalk, then to Anne Arundel County.
The plans also include two new substations and upgrading three others.
The County Council last year had asked BGE to consider burying some of the transmission lines, but the resolution passed Monday night expressed anger at the utility for not taking that request seriously.
“We haven’t seen anything being done,” Marks said.
BGE said the current plan is the most economical way to build the project and at a public hearing last week council members pointed out that utility bills have been climbing.
BGE says it was directed to make the upgrades by PJM Interconnection, which is responsible for the safety and reliability of the region’s transmission grid.
PJM has warned that as fossil fuel plants are taken off line and electric demand increases, the state is at risk of blackouts as soon as 2027.
“The bottom line is that the energy outlook in the state of Maryland is dire,” PJM director Jason Stanek was quoted by the Baltimore Banner as saying to lawmakers in January.
The Public Service Commission will hold a public hearing on the Brandon Shores project this Wednesday, April 23, at the White Marsh Fire Hall. A large crowd is expected and there will be an overflow room at Columbus Gardens in Nottingham.
The hearing begins at 6:30 pm.
