Overview
- Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said he will file legislation this week to require all transmission projects to undergo the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity process, alongside a separate measure to bar data centers from receiving Baltimore City TIF support.
- The Senate Committee on Education, Energy and the Environment scheduled an oversight hearing for March 6 at 1 p.m. in Annapolis to question transmission-owning utilities in public.
- BGE’s plan would connect the Greene Street substation to a new Port Covington facility, with the transmission component estimated at about $407 million and total related upgrades topping $500 million.
- BGE maintains the work is needed to modernize aging infrastructure and improve reliability, says the route is still proposed rather than final, and attributes cost growth to inflation, engineering redesigns and added cable length.
- Residents of Otterbein and Ridgely’s Delight warn the trenching could eliminate street parking, block sidewalks and threaten old home foundations while raising affordability concerns tied to rising utility bills.