The Path To Power

Amended Senate Bill 399 crossed over to the House Economic Matters, easily passing through the committee with 15 favorable, five unfavorable, and one excused. The bill asks to lift protections on three Wildlands in Western Maryland, which would allow NextEra Energy to construct overhead transmission lines without the need for additional permitting.

This bill and its companion House bill 1270 have left environmental advocates perplexed. Democratic legislators have historically pushed for environmental protections and clean energy in Maryland, including the original statutes established 52 years earlier, written and passed into law to protect the Wildlands that are now under siege by SB0399.

Despite overwhelming unfavorable testimony (56 versus 14 favorable) from individuals and environmental groups, Economic Matters Committee Democrats unanimously supported the legislation. The motivation remains mysterious since the transmission lines propose to supply power to Northern Virginia data centers utilizing power stations in Pennsylvania that utilize gas and coal-fired plants. Both Maryland and Northern Virginia have set ambitious clean energy goals, aiming to remove fossil fuels, which are shown to contribute to climate change. Yet, this newly passed bill doubles the environmental wrath by fostering fossil fuel consumption and clearing protected natural habitats.

While preparing to vote on SB0399, Delegate Fisher (R) attempts to bring reason to the Economic Matters Committee with a proposal to use the existing right-of-way owned by Potomac Edison, rather than knock down old-growth forests for a new path. His suggestion would prevent additional decimation of Wildlands. Chair C.T. Wilson (D) called upon a representative from the Public Service Commission (PSC) to formally address Fisher's idea.

Ben Baker from the Public Service Commission took center stage to explain the process of determining a transmission line's route.

"When someone comes in with a CPCN, they basically have to show that they have considered alternate right-of-ways," Baker said, further stating he wasn't sure if the bill is for an existing CPCN or if something else is going on.

A Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) is a regulatory compliance certification for public service industries, particularly public utilities. It ensures that new services or facilities are in the public interest before construction or operation can begin.

Fisher replied, "My understanding is this is already an existing right-of-way."

"Okay. Then I think that would impact this situation," Baker said while adding he would need to check with his council.

"That's kind of important," Fisher notes, as he is interrupted by Chair Wilson, who appears eager to move things along.

Further exchanges between Fisher and Montgomery County Delegate Lorig Charkoudian (D), who submitted a bill amendment, add to Fisher's frustration over the need to expand the footprint to 400 feet when an established 200-foot-wide path is already in place.

"I worked on this bill," said Charkoudian, "not because I liked the bill and think it's environmental, but because I wanted to improve it. So, I'm not advocating for cutting down trees, but I do think there is this balancing act of transmission [that] has to get built," she said, further adding her interest in mitigating the environmental impacts if the project moves forward.

Despite Charkoudian's dislike of the bill, which included her own amendments, she voted favorably, helping to pass it through the committee.

Her reference to needing transmission lines is true for Northern Virginia, where data centers are expanding exponentially. Attributed to the emergence of AI processing, data centers in Loudon County, Virginia, consume enough energy to power two million homes, or roughly the residential population of the Washington, D.C. metro area. But should Virginia's runaway power demand require that Maryland and its ratepayers foot the bill for constructing new lines?