Support grows to stiffen state oversight of underground power lines

/repub

by Christine Condon, Maryland Matters
March 2, 2026

Senate President Bill Ferguson has added his voice to a proposal that would make underground transmission lines subject to review by the Maryland Public Service Commission — something that currently only applies to overehead power lines through a loophole in the law.

The move was sparked by frustration over an underground transmission line proposed by Baltimore Gas & Electric to run through historic neighborhoods in downtown Baltimore, connecting a substation west of downtown with another in Baltimore Peninsula, Under Armour founder Kevin Plank’s faltering development in south Baltimore.

Plans call for the line to run in between Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, then through neighborhoods such as Otterbein and Ridgely’s Delight and onto busy Key Highway, running adjacent to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

“We still do not have clear, direct explanations and answers for why the transmission is proposed to run through our narrow historic streets, rather than along a nearby, wider and more direct route outside of our residential core,” said Nicole Dungee, president of the Ridgely’s Delight Association, during a news conference Monday.

Under state law, only “overhead” transmission projects are scrutinized by the PSC — underground lines are not reviewed by state regulators. State law also requires the commission to grant a waiver to a power line project, exempting it from review, if it does not require the acquisition of new land or the addition of larger or taller structures.

Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said his bill, which is still being drafted, will get rid of the exemption for underground lines, expanding the projects that would have to go before the commission.

It mirrors a bill by Del. Elizabeth Embry (D-Baltimore City) that would bring underground or underwater lines into the commission’s purview, and make the waiver optional for the commission to grant or deny. The House Environment and Transportation Committee held a hearing on her bill last week.

“I’m happy that Senate legislation is being proposed on this important issue,” Embry said Monday.

Embry’s bill has bipartisan support, with three Republicans representing Frederick and Carroll counties signed on as co-sponsors. The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a 67-mile power line proposed to run through those counties, has attracted considerable ire. That line is currently before the commission, since it is an above-ground project.

Embry said the main motivation behind her bill is reducing future increases of electricity bills, which have skyrocketed over the past few years.

“One of the key drivers has been infrastructure spending by the utilities, and this bill seeks to close two related loopholes which relate to infrastructure spending,” she told the committee.

Ferguson noted the increasing costs of the BGE project Monday. Initial estimates for the company’s Port Covington-related distribution upgrades were about $130 million, but the cost, including the transmission line, is actually above $500 million, according to the Baltimore Banner.

“Moving forward, we have to have some questions answered,” Ferguson said. “Why are routes going through historic neighborhoods like Otterbein and Ridgely’s Delight? Why were they chosen over commercial corridors in which conduit already exists? Why has the cost quadrupled?”

Monopoly utilities like BGE are essentially reimbursed for approved infrastructure spending, and also receive a guaranteed profit on top of that. BGE pulled in $578 million in total profits last year.

“They dig up our streets. They make bank. Baltimoreans pay the price,” Baltimore City Council president Zeke Cohen (D) said at Monday’s event. “And while Exelon’s CEO and shareholders thrive, Baltimoreans can barely afford our utility bills.”

BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos said in a statement that “even if additional Peninsula growth stopped tomorrow,” the company would still need to complete upgrades to aging transmission infrastructure in the area.

The line frustrating Ferguson is part of a bundle of projects that “modernizes aging electric infrastructure in south Baltimore and strengthens the electric backbone serving existing customers while preparing for forecasted load growth. It benefits tens of thousands of existing residential, commercial, and critical customers — far beyond Baltimore Peninsula,” Alexopulos said.

The route was chosen for “technical feasibility,” Alexopulos noted, and also for “diverse routing.” In other words, the company separates circuit routes in order to avoid chances a single incident, such as a storm, could compromise more infrastructure.

The cost has increased from 2019 due to engineering redesigns, increased cable lengths and inflation, Alexopulos said. As the project is not yet in service, the cost has not been passed onto ratepayers, he said.

Ferguson said Monday that he’s hopeful his bill will cover the BGE project, which the company said is still in the permitting phase.

“We believe that we can impact this current project,” Ferguson said. “What we hope today is that BG&E hears this message and how critical this is, and understands that now is the time to act to fix this project.”

But the BGE project is also covered by a loophole in the law for “local transmission projects,” said People’s Counsel David Lapp, during the hearing for Embry’s bill.

Those projects — which now make up the majority of transmission upgrades in the state — are proposed by the local utilities, he said, and then they go before the regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection. But PJM only considers whether the projects “do no harm” to the existing grid.

Afterwards, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviews the project, but it conducts “no meaningful review” of costs. In fact, Lapp said, the commission presumes that the transmission costs incurred by the utilities are “prudent,” unless evidence is presented to the contrary.

“This means that a utility largely has a free pass to spend vast sums on local transmission projects that are paid for by the utilities’ customers,” said Lapp, whose office advocates for ratepayers.

Embry’s bill would bring local projects to the PSC, but it’s possible the commission would not be able to actually regulate all parts of the projects, such as cost, Lapp said before the committee. Even so, the bill is valuable for transparency’s sake, Lapp said, because it “enables there to be information about the cost, even if the state cannot actually regulate those costs. That information gathering is incredibly important.”

In late 2024, Lapp’s office joined other consumer advocates in filing a complaint with FERC against the local transmission loophole. Lapp has called for a regulatory review of the BGE Baltimore Peninsula project specifically.

Ferguson said he is also concerned that a data center could come to Baltimore Peninsula. His bill would ban data center development in Baltimore’s Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, districts like Baltimore Peninsula, where redevelopment is subsidized by the government.

“Baltimoreans that issued bonds wanted to support Under Armour’s headquarters — not subsidize data centers,” Cohen said Monday.

The redevelopment of the once-industrial Port Covington area into the proposed residential and commercial hub of Baltimore Peninsula has hit speed bumps, though. Plank has stepped back from the development project, which has only yielded about a 10th of the promised construction, with no active plans for more, according to The Baltimore Banner.

Ferguson said it’s fair to say that some power upgrades might be needed to serve the new buildings in Baltimore Peninsula, but BGE is overspending.

“It’s a desolate area, other than the development that’s happened already, and so there probably will be upgrades that are necessary. That’s not the question. What we’re seeing here is a process that is excessive in its expenditure,” Ferguson said.

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