Frederick County Councilman McKay Calls For Cancellation Of Proposed MPRP

He’s calling on PJM to require BGE to upgrade its existing transmission line rights of way.Councilman Steve McKayFrederick, Md (KM) He’s made comments before in opposition to the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, but Frederick County Councilman Steve McKay has issued a new statement in opposition to the project. This time, he wants the project to be canceled.MPRP is a proposed 70-mile, 500 kilovolt  transmission line which is expected to travel over northern Baltimore County, through central Carroll County, and to southern Frederick County, ending at the Doubs substation. PJM, which manages the regional grid, ordered Public Service Enterprise Group, a utility based in New Jersey, to build the power line.The project has generated a lot of opposition in the three counties. The Frederick County Council has passed a resolution opposed to the project. But McKay says citizens against the project need to stay engaged. “I think it’s very important that we keep our voices heard on this. This isn’t a ‘one letter and we’re done’ effort; not by far. This is going to be a long process,” he says.Part of his statement is calling on PJM to cancel the MPRP project. He says PJM ordered a utility to build a similar project in Loudon County, Virginia. “Very similar circumstances as the MPRP project. It was going to be a  greenfield project meaning all new land right through Loudon County. And they got a lot of public uproar in response,” says McKaySo PJM canceled the project “It  basically awarded a new project to a consortium to three utility companies with existing rights of way for them upgrade their existing lines to provide the same capacity,” he said.McKay says PJM should do the same thing in Maryland, and order BGE to upgrade its  existing lines to handle the additional electricity.If the line is constructed, McKay says any electricity traveling over the lines would only be used to power data centers in northern Virginia. “They’ll say that ‘well, it’s also supporting the Maryland data centers here in Frederick County.’ Well, it’s not, though. . Because, for one, these native Maryland data centers have said they don’t need this project. That Potomac Edison will provide the power they need,” he says.PSEG has said it expect to submit its application for the project to the Maryland Public Service Commission before the end of the year. The PSC will either vote to approve or disapprove the project.McKay urges citizens who are against MPRP not to give the fight. “We need to keep engaging on this because this is a long, hard fight,” he says.By Kevin McManus