Baltimore County residents deliver cease-and-desist letters to BGE contractors over power line dispute
Some Baltimore County residents are delivering "cease-and-desist" letters to contractors working with BGE, as the latest fight over additional power lines in their neighborhood continues.
"It's a property right, and we have the right to say no to it. And we're saying no to it," said Kingsville resident and No More Power Lines member Mark Kukucka. "They own the property, they pay taxes on that property, they own that property, plain and simple. BGE does not."
Some residents are accusing BGE contractors of unlawfully working on private property.
The dispute is part of the Brandon Shores Retirement Mitigation Project, which would allow BGE to add power lines connecting parts of Maryland to a power plant in Pennsylvania after the Brandon Shores plant shuts down.
Residents say the project would be the third major power line project BGE has pursued in the area in recent years.
"We see a path forward for a fourth and a fifth version. So after they put in taller towers here, they'll come back and say, 'Hey, we want to zoom these up another 50 feet.' And if we see a fifth project, guess what? It's now 230 kV in this power line corridor; we want to put in 500 kV," Kukucka said.
The case went before the Maryland Public Service Commission last year, and the PSC ultimately granted BGE a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, which allows the utility to build the infrastructure.
However, residents say the certificate does not permit BGE to work on private property without the owners' consent.
"It lets BGE know emphatically they are not supposed to be here," Kukucka said. "Surely they know, based upon our court filings with the PSC, that this land, this corridor, is in dispute. Hopefully they wouldn't be out flagrantly violating and trespassing, but that's exactly what we find them doing."
In a statement, BGE said its contractors were in the area for a routine stormwater inspection unrelated to the Brandon Shores project and left after being handed the cease-and-desist letter.
The utility also said, in part, "It is unfortunate that false information about BGE's property rights has been disseminated to the local community, leading to this interruption of BGE's environmental monitoring and protection work."
BGE said it "has the necessary property rights to access its rights of way and construct the Brandon Shores Retirement Mitigation Project. Claims to the contrary are false."
But Kukucka continues to argue the opposite, saying his group will take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
"We're prepared, we're ready, we're armed and we're ready to go to the courts. We're not going to hesitate. We're ready to do battle with BGE in the corridor," Kukucka said.
