Maryland residents opposing a controversial power line project are calling out the state’s governor for failing to meet with them as promised.
Joanne Frederick, the founding board member for Stop MPRP, told Spotlight on Maryland on Wednesday that she and hundreds of private property owners in the path of the 70-mile Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) have been requesting a meeting with Gov. Wes Moore since August.
“As a leader, you do what you say and you say what you’ll do,” Frederick said. “The governor has said on several occasions that he will meet with our organization, yet he hasn’t.”
David Turner, a senior advisor and communications director for Moore’s office, told Spotlight on Maryland that the governor’s office has agreed to talk to Stop MPRP members, if not the governor himself.
“[T]he governor’s office has met with Joanne Frederick and we have offered her a meeting with the governor’s deputy chief of staff,” Turner said. “In the past several months, the governor has listened to concerns from local leaders, businesses, and residents from the Piedmont Reliability Project.
“He’s very understanding of their concerns and wants to take those into account about how the study area for this project was determined and the lack of community involvement in the planning process, and he’s been clear about his grave concerns,” Turner added.
A spokesperson for Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), the developer of the MPRP anticipated to use eminent domain to advance the effort, said in December that company representatives met privately with the governor. The region’s grid operator, PJM Interconnection, also met with the state’s chief executive.
“We met with Gov. Moore and PJM last week to provide an update on the status of the MPRP project and the process,” William Smith, a PSEG spokesperson, said at the time. “I’d have to defer any additional questions to the governor’s office.”
Moore has made several high-profile media appearances over the past week, including a tour of talk shows in New York City. During this tour, the governor was a guest on The View and The Breakfast Club. In one interview, he said he had an understanding of his constituents’ needs in his home state while pointing to what he called “challenges” from the White House.
“My life has been littered by the consequences of bad policies. I get it. I didn’t need to look at poll numbers to know how people are feeling right now because I spend every day in my communities,” Moore said on The View. “So, I spend every day, I go out and talk to the farmers out on the Eastern Shore who have had, agriculture is the largest industry in the state of Maryland, and I talk to these farmers who have had family businesses for over a hundred years, who are now wondering if they can survive the next six months.”
Spotlight on Maryland asked Turner why Moore met with PJM and PSEG but has yet to meet with community leaders behind Stop MPRP.
“I think the governor was very clear about why he met with those companies,” Turner said. “It was to express his grave concerns about how this project did not include community involvement in the way he saw fit. He wanted to express those directly to the companies, get them on the right track, and get them working with the community.”
Federal court records show that PSEG filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Maryland in mid-April seeking an immediate injunction against more than 100 private property owners the utility company claims have denied them preliminary access. This lawsuit came five months after Moore met with the New Jersey-based developer.
Frederick said that after spending months requesting a meeting directly with the governor, her organization renewed its demands after PSEG filed its federal lawsuit. Another senior advisor to Moore directed Frederick to submit a meeting request using the state’s scheduling portal for his office, according to an email obtained by Spotlight on Maryland.
The community advocate said this was the third attempt to submit a scheduling request without receiving a response.
“Why hasn’t he met with us? I don’t know. It’s hard to speculate, but it’s interesting,” Frederick said. “You can’t assume anything good out of his reluctance to meet with us.”
“Is it because he doesn’t want to have to say something that we don’t want to hear? Is it because he is not supportive of the people across [Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick] counties? He’s a busy man, being governor is a busy job, I understand that, but we’re not asking for hours,” Frederick added.
Considering that the MPRP is currently proposed as a greenfield development initiative, or a power line transmission project built on undeveloped land that is typically rural or used for farming, Spotlight on Maryland asked Turner on Wednesday afternoon whether Moore plans to pause or cancel the effort.
[T]he governor understands there has to be sustainable, cost-effective infrastructure to ensure the reliability of the grid and also make sure that we build an economy for the future of the state,” Turner said. “But this approach has to put people first and has to take community involvement, and that’s why he has expressed his concerns about how that process has happened.
“He is going to continue to share these expectations about the type of engagement he wants to see from PJM and PSEG, and that’s how he is going to make sure this project is done the right way, if it is done at all,” Turner added.
Frederick told Spotlight on Maryland that she and others within her organization would continue to seek a meeting with the governor, as their homes and future livelihoods depend on it.
“The governor has said on several occasions he will meet with anybody,” Frederick said. “In spite of our frequent requests, we don’t seem to be qualified as anybody.”
Have a news tip? Contact Gary Collins at gmcollins@sbgtv.com, and @realgarycollins.
