Marylanders tell power company: Stay off our land or face the consequences

Maryland residents protested Wednesday for a second consecutive night, vowing to use any means necessary to prevent a New Jersey-based power company from acquiring their land to advance a controversial overhead power line project.

Whitney Miller was one of the first speakers to take the microphone at the Carroll County Agriculture Center on Wednesday evening to express her views regarding the controversial Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP). The Westminster resident said she was not pleased with power line developer Public Service Enterprise Group's (PSEG) final route proposal.

I have been coming to meetings since July," Miller said. "I've seen and heard Jason's avoidance, half-truths and lies regarding this project. I've seen Jim's smug, condescension saying these are just lines on the pavement."

Miller told PSEG's four panelists they could not complete their opening remarks to the packed audience because Maryland residents were tired of what she referred to as "propaganda." She accused PSEG of lacking transparency about the project's dealings with state regulators and how the company's planned to construct proposed 70-mile high-voltage power lines through Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick Counties.

"I saw last night's group was , so we need to clarify that your intention is to come into our state, destroy our land, render our homes unlivable. We are not the hostile ones," Miller said.

PSEG's panelists did not respond to Miller's assertions as roughly 1,000 attendees flooded the venue with applause.

During his comments, Brad Garst from New Windsor told PSEG that he and others are ready to do whatever it takes to keep the power line developer and its contractors off their land.

"You can draw your own conclusion about our governor, but the silence speaks volumes," Garst said. "There's a sign the gentleman is holding for me that says, 'No trespassing, private property, protected by the Second Amendment' and we do have the right to bear arms to protect our property."

And if it comes to that, that's on Wes Moore," Garst added.

FOX45 News has consistently reached out to Gov. Wes Moore's office to ask whether his administration supports the use of eminent domain to advance the MPRP. Another email was sent to the governor's office on Tuesday night during PSEG's public information session.

"Carroll County residents said multiple times they feel like Gov. Wes Moore has left them behind during tonight's public hearing," FOX45 News's email said. "Are their assertions accurate?"

The governor's office did not immediately acknowledge or respond to email requests.

PSEG's public information session in Carroll County primarily became a listening conference, with residents expressing their discontent and interrupting PSEG's representatives when they felt the answers were unsatisfactory.

Jim Gilroy, PSEG's manager of state affairs, told attendees that they intend to submit a development application to the Maryland Public Service Commission, despite public dissatisfaction, due to the unsustainable demands on the region's power grid.

Gilroy's response led residents to passionately denounce Gov. Moore's expedited green energy policy agenda.

FOX45 News Gov. Moore's chief legislative officer, Eric Luedtke, in late August about the MPRP and the future of the state's energy grid during a data center summit in Frederick. Luedtke said Maryland's clean energy agenda will require doubling the state's power transmission grid.

Even in the absence of any new data centers in the state of Maryland, we would have to approximately double Maryland's electric grid to meet our clean energy goals," Luedtke told FOX45 News.

It is not immediately clear how the nation's reelection of President-elect Trump will impact Gov. Moore's green energy initiatives.

Meanwhile, Michelle Jefferson of Westminster told PSEG's panelists that she believes the state's goals are short-sighted and that the governor's office lacks transparency regarding how its agenda may negatively impact state residents.

"If you aren't able to tell me who it is in this state that has allowed you to get to this point, you leave me no other choice," Jefferson said. "President Trump, we need your help."

"They're cramming it down our throats, shoving it up our tailpipes and the only person that can help us is you, President Trump," Jefferson added.