Know Your Landowner Rights!

Ann Bristow is a longtime advocate for the people of Western Maryland. She has a particular interest in protecting the environment and the rights of property owners, and was a critical voice when her state was considering natural gas development, alerting legislators and citizens to the environmental threats that accompany fracking.

Today, her dander is up over the proposed overhead transmission lines endorsed by the 2025 General Assembly, after passing Senate Bill 399. The bill allows massive clearing through her home county, and potentially once-protected Wildlands.

In a letter to the editor, Bristow lays out what fellow residents can expect and what they should know as the land agents swoop in like vultures. Below are her words of warning.

In December 2023, NextEra Energy Transmission (NEET) was awarded a MidAtlantic Resiliency Link to bring new, high-voltage overhead electric transmission lines through Garrett and Allegany Counties in Maryland to deliver power from Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia. Virginia has become home to the world's largest colony of data centers, requiring massive amounts of kilowatt hours that they desperately need at their current expansion rate.

Senator McKay and Delegate Hinebaugh sponsored crossover bills, Senate Bill 399 and House Bill 1270, respectively, to remove perpetual protections from three Wildlands, allowing development that was prohibited by law for 52 years. That previous law helped Maryland meet its benchmark to protect 30 percent of the state's lands by 2030, five years ahead of schedule. These lines, Bristow says, Wildlands excluded, will affect a far greater land mass of farms and other private holdings threatened with eminent domain.

NEET, Bristow continues, will need easements from private property owners to construct transmission corridors. Land agents hired by NEET are already approaching property owners in both counties, though they have not announced this publicly or publicly revealed their proposed route for these lines.

Land agents, interested in making the best deal for the company, rather than fairly compensating landowners, operate in secrecy and with urgency. They will try to get landowners to sign on the spot, without an attorney’s advice. Once signed, the landowner(s) (or their heirs) are stuck in that contract until the project is built or cancelled, and signing a non-disclosure agreement is standard operating procedure for such contracts. Non-disclosure prevents individuals from sharing what they know with others.

Secrecy and lack of transparency, especially from Sen. McKay, Del. Hinebaugh, and NEET, are never a good sign for property owners. Property owners should have complete information, including knowing that the project is fully permitted by the State and appropriate agencies. If the project isn’t permitted, NEET can sell your easement to the highest bidder. NEET’s first offer is not likely to be their final or best offer, and you can negotiate with agents after the project is permitted.

Don’t be pressured. The following link is to the Kansas Farm Bureau’s document, “Negotiating Transmission Line Easements.”  Reading this will help you be better informed before NEET’s land agents pressure you into something you may later regret.  

Read Document

Property owners are under no obligation to allow surveyors or any individual onto their property. Your rights enable you to refuse access to anyone without consequence. However, if you are offered cash for your cooperation and accept a payment, you are considered complicit and forfeit your right to object to property access later. If you are opposed to transmission lines on your property, not cooperating buys you and others time while slowing the stages of development. That added time could make space for protective legal action.

In the end, the House bill was pulled, but the Senate bill moved through both houses. It was unanimously passed by voting Democrats, with the only opposition coming from Republican representatives.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore can still veto Senate Bill 399 to restore the Wildlands protections and prohibit their development. However, his veto does not stop the transmission line project. That would require further action. You can contact the governor's office by phone or an online form to voice your opinion and influence his decision.

Contact Governor Moore