On February 3, Director of Intergovernmental Relations Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony to the Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 40 – Public Utilities – Transmission Lines – Advanced Transmission Technologies.
This bill calls for additional considerations and requirements for the construction of transmission lines. As drafted, HB 40 requires the Public Service Commission and applicants to consider advanced transmission technologies more deeply as a means to avoid unnecessary community, environmental, or ratepayer impacts.
The 2026 Maryland General Assembly is facing a historic number of complex generational challenges. One of the loudest issues to arise has been Maryland’s opposition to the Piedmont Reliability Project. The Project, which crosses Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Counties, effectively creates an “extension cord” across some of our state’s prime agricultural lands, providing Pennsylvania-generated energy to Virginia-based data centers, with little direct benefit to Marylanders.
As many transmission infrastructure upgrades may uniquely be
accomplished by upgrading existing lines or using existing land, counties join the sponsor in wanting to protect both our mutual constituents and the finite number of conserved lands. This is common sense legislation which seeks to address conflicts between Maryland’s growing demand for energy and billions invested into other pro-climate policies to date.
HB 40’s cross-file, SB 201, was heard on February 19 in the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee. Dominic Butchko testified in support of this bill.
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