FROSTBURG — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources on Thursday will host a meeting to collect feedback from the public about construction of a new electrical transmission line that could go through protected wildlands.
The event is expected to include a lot of discussion on the issue, but not from DNR or NextEra Energy — the company that wants to build the network of wires and towers.
DNR hasn’t taken a position on the project, and “there will be no formal presentations by the department” at the meeting, according to a press release from the state organization.
Further, the route for the project, at least from a public perspective, is unknown, as is whether NextEra representatives will be at DNR’s meeting.
What is known is that NextEra, with support from Del. Jim Hinebaugh and Sen. Mike McKay, wants to remove state wildlands designations from areas in the Big Savage Mountain Wildland, Bear Pen Wildland and Dan’s Mountain Wildland for the option to construct the power lines in case that ends up being the route the company takes.
Hinebaugh and McKay promoted the project at recent hearings in the Maryland House and Senate, respectively.
“I tried to look at the big picture and not just look at my district in particular,” Hinebaugh said of regional electrical demands. “I’m convinced that this is absolutely necessary.”
“This path makes very, very good sense to me because it would have the least impact to the homes, businesses, viewshed in the community,” McKay said.
Project
The potential Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link power transmission line project calls for building a 105-mile, 500-kV transmission line from Frederick County, Virginia, to Greene County, Pennsylvania, to bolster the regional electric grid.
NextEra, according to its website, has not selected a route for the project, which could stretch through Western Maryland.
The company is “currently conducting a detailed routing study to identify and evaluate potential route options,” its website states.
The Hinebaugh and McKay bills state the wildlands exemption would be “subject to a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity being obtained for a certain transmission line and generally relating to wildland areas” in the state.
When the transmission line developer applies for the certificate, DNR’s Power Plant Research Program will begin a formal review process, the department said.
Before approving an application for a certificate, the Public Service Commission must provide an opportunity for public comment and hold a public hearing on the application in each county and municipal corporation where any portion of the construction of an overhead transmission line is planned to be located, the proposed legislation states.
Meeting
DNR said Thursday’s meeting will be an open-house setting to gather feedback from the public to better understand the community’s views about transmission lines and potential impacts on wildlands, forests, cold water streams and other natural resources.
The meeting will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Savage River Lodge, 1600 Mount Aetna Road.
“The primary reason for the meeting is to collect overarching concerns and comments from the public on the draft proposal being circulated by the entities responsible for the transmission line proposal,” DNR Media Relations Manager Gregg Bortz said.
The former Savage River Lodge, which DNR bought in November for $8.7 million and renamed Savage Highlands State Park, was chosen for the meeting site “because it has a series of rooms to allow for more focused discussions on specific topic areas,” Bortz said.
“The property is currently closed to general public use, so there were no conflicts with other users or meetings,” he said. “The location is geographically central to the region under discussion.”
In December, DNR hosted an open house at the lodge “that welcomed at least 50 guests,” Bortz said.
“We are confident the building is safe,” he said.
Folks unable to attend can submit comments via DNR’s website at https://form.jotform.com/250423812010035.
Questions
Grantsville resident Mike Gregory questioned why DNR chose a setting that requires the public to travel the back roads of Garrett County.
“Wouldn’t one of the local colleges offer a better venue?” he said in a letter to the Cumberland Times-News. “It seems that the convenience of the public was not considered in planning this meeting.”
Gregory also said DNR should be forthcoming with potential impacts the transmission lines project would pose to “state forest resources, sensitive management areas such as the designated wildlands and the Yough River Corridor, along with the visual impacts to the forested landscapes of Western Maryland.”
In an email to DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz, Frostburg resident and former Maryland senator John Bambacus asked why the department will host the meeting when it did not take a position on the proposed legislation to remove the wildlands designations.
“Moreover, McKay and Hinebaugh have held no public notice or meetings on this highly controversial proposal and are not responding to citizen inquiries,” Bambacus said.
Garrett County resident and farm owner Steve Storck created a map of an alternate route he said completely avoids the three wildlands, traverses large and primarily abandoned coal strip mines, and mostly follows existing transmission line rights of way.
“The preferred route by NextEra in red is 35 miles, the alternate route in blue is 41 miles,” Storck said. This is a 6 mile difference (17% in Maryland, 5.7% over the 105 miles) and some of my short angle sections could be removed to make it shorter.”
In an email to NextEra, Storck said the company “mentioned that the reason you want to use the wildlands is that it is less costly. Less costly for whom?”