Maryland OK's Transource power lines

Transource can build new power lines in Maryland, but it still needs regulatory approval for the Pennsylvania legs of the project.

The Maryland Public Service Commission ruled that "the Maryland portions of the proposed transmission line project, as reconfigured, will address regional congestion issues as well as Maryland and regional reliability needs while reducing the project’s impacts on Maryland’s agricultural, environmental and natural resources."

Todd Burns, Transource director, said the company was pleased with the ruling.

"The settlement agreement approved by the PSC is the result of collaboration by all stakeholders involved, including landowners, incumbent utilities and state agencies, and we are grateful to the PSC for its thorough review process," he said in a prepared statement. "We look forward to continuing to collaborate with all stakeholders as the project moves forward.”

The June 30 ruling also directed Transource and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. "to minimize all construction activities and additional construction-related costs" related to the Maryland part of the power lines pending approvals from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the PJM board. PJM manages the grid.

The Pennsylvania commission held remote evidentiary hearings on July 9 and 10. According to a commission spokesman, briefs from all parties are due in mid-August, with reply briefs due after that.

After all the briefs have been filed and the record has been closed, administrative law judges will review all of the case materials and issue a recommendation for the full Commission to consider as part of their final decision. But there is no specific schedule for that, according to the spokesman.

Transource was hired by PJM Interconnection to construct the Independence Energy Connection, as the project is known. The aim is to reduce congestion on the regional transmission grid and create access to low-cost electricity for customers in “power zones” across the Mid-Atlantic.

Transource is proposing to put up about 29 miles of 230-kilovolt overhead electric transmission lines on 135-foot monopoles and construct new substations.

The project is in two legs.

Under the Maryland commission's order, Transource will build the western portion of the project in Washington County.

The entire western leg, if approved, would extend lines from Ringgold north to Shippensburg, Pa.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. will build the eastern portion of the project in Maryland, composed of two transmission line segments from substations in Harford County to a substation across the border in Pennsylvania. The Harford County segment of the project will also cross portions of Baltimore County and was redesigned from the original proposal to avoid new construction by using BGE’s existing utility infrastructure and rights-of-way.

The entire eastern section, if approved, would stretch north to York County, Pa.

The proposal has generated opposition in Franklin County. In March, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners voted to file a petition to intervene in the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission’s hearing.

Transource announced in January that it selected Harlan Electric, based in Harrisburg, Pa., as the line contractor for the company’s part of the project.

At that time, Transource said it will not start construction until it receives regulatory approval.