Western Maryland Residents United Against NextEra Energy's Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link
The Issue
ORGANIZED BY WESTERN MARYLAND RESIDENTS & LANDOWNERS
We, the undersigned Maryland residents, demand that the Maryland Public Service Commission reject NextEra Energy’s proposed Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) transmission power line (Case No. 9857). Initial project estimates have jumped from $441 million to $960 million for NextEra’s line alone ($1.63 billion for the full regional parts). According to the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel (MD OPC), regional grid rules unfairly force Maryland residential electric customers to subsidize $823 million statewide (~$345 per average household) for transmission expansion driven by out of state data centers in Northern Virginia, contributing to overall electric bill increase of 5% to 15%+.
This is a David vs. Goliath fight, NextEra is a multi billion dollar corporate juggernaut deploying high priced lawyers, land agents, and lobbyists to steamroll local working families who cannot afford expensive multi year court battles. Under federal utility rate recovery rules, NextEra passes its overhead costs directly onto our electric bills, including legal fees, court costs, and land agents. Maryland families are literally being forced to pay for their massive corporate legal team fighting in court to take our own land. Despite corporate spin using terms like "grid reliability," this line provides zero local energy benefits while using forced eminent domain to clear-cut over 850 acres across private property, family homes & farms, and protected Type 1 State Wildlands in Garrett and Allegany counties. Regulators must ensure Marylanders are not forced to pay a single cent to fund NextEra's project and legal costs, or subsidize out of state energy, immediately halt forced eminent domain, and mandate a full reroute strictly utilizing pre-existing utility and highway corridors.
WHY THIS MATTERS TO MARYLAND:
- UNFAIR RATEPAYER COST BURDEN & CORPORATE DOUBLE-TALK: NextEra and grid developers use technical buzzwords like "regional reliability" to hide the true driver of this project: fueling Northern Virginia’s massive data center expansion. According to the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, Maryland residential families are being burdened with $823 million in transmission costs for zero local benefit, and will likely go even higher. Adding insult to injury, utility cost recovery formulas force local ratepayers to pay NextEra’s project costs legal fees, court filings, lobbyists and land agents through monthly electric bills. Marylanders are literally being forced to fund the corporate legal team fighting to take our land.
- NextEra's project estimate has already more than doubled from its initial $441 million to $960 million for the core line, with total interconnected upgrades reaching $1.63 billion. As land disputes, environmental mitigation, and material costs escalate, it will rise further and Maryland ratepayers will be stuck holding the bill for every overage.
- UNJUST EMINENT DOMAIN ON PRIVATE PROPERTY & FARMS: Forcing family landowners, homeowners, and farmers to forfeit land via eminent domain is unjust, especially when pre-existing highway and utility rights-of-way already exist. Private land, working farms, and family legacies must not be condemned for developer convenience.
- DESTRUCTION OF PROTECTED STATE WILDLANDS & PUBLIC FORESTS: A 200 foot wide clear cut corridor spanning 35+ miles will destroy over 850 acres of land, the equivalent of 640+ football fields carved through Garrett and Allegany counties. Taxpayers spent millions acquiring public forests through Program Open Space. Yet special legislation (SB 399 / HB 1270) was introduced to strip statutory protections from three Type 1 State Wildlands (Big Savage Mountain, Bear Pen, and Dan’s Mountain). Clear cutting this wide corridor fragments deep mountain forests and destroys critical habitat for State & Federally Endangered species including the Northern Long Eared Bat, Allegheny Woodrat, Southern Water Shrew, Green Salamander, and Timber Rattlesnake, while suffocating headwater streams that support Maryland's native Brook Trout.
- ZERO LOCAL BENEFIT TO WESTERN MARYLAND: MARL’s 500-kV high-voltage lines simply cut through Maryland to export 100% of their electricity to feed the huge expansion of data centers in Northern Virginia. It provides zero power grid capacity, zero lower utility rates, and zero energy upgrades to Garrett and Allegany counties.
- HARM TO GARRETT & ALLEGANY ECONOMIES: Garrett and Allegany counties rely on eco tourism, outdoor recreation, scenic landscapes, and rural property values. Cutting massive industrial swaths across iconic mountain ridges depresses property values and hurts local tourism dependent small businesses.
OUR DEMANDS TO THE MARYLAND PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (PSC):
- PROTECT RATEPAYERS: Ensure Maryland electricity customers are not forced to pay a single cent toward NextEra’s project expenses. Deny all ratepayer cost recovery for NextEra’s legal fees, court filings, eminent domain lawyers, land agents, corporate overhead, and capital construction costs being used to build infrastructure for out of state data centers.
- MANDATORY REROUTE: Require NextEra to strictly utilize pre-existing utility and highway rights-of-way.
- HALT EMINENT DOMAIN: Stop forced land acquisition on private property for brand new corridor construction.
- PROTECT STATE WILDLANDS: Preserve Big Savage, Bear Pen, and Dan’s Mountain Wildlands and honor public conservation investments.
- FALLBACK PROTECTION (Ongoing Annual Payments): If land taking is forced, mandate that NextEra provide full fair market value plus ongoing annual lease/rental payments to landowners for the life of the line, rather than one time lowball buyouts.
SIGN TODAY TO PROTECT PRIVATE LAND, DEFEND WILDLANDS, AND STOP WESTERN MARYLAND EXPLOITATION!
WE ARE WESTERN MARYLAND RESIDENTS, WITH THE INTENT TO COLLECTIVELY STAND UP TO SOULLESS CORPORATE INTEREST TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY.
OUR EMAIL: MARLwatch1@gmail.com SHARE THE PETITION: change.org/ProtectWesternMaryland
14
The Issue
ORGANIZED BY WESTERN MARYLAND RESIDENTS & LANDOWNERS
We, the undersigned Maryland residents, demand that the Maryland Public Service Commission reject NextEra Energy’s proposed Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) transmission power line (Case No. 9857). Initial project estimates have jumped from $441 million to $960 million for NextEra’s line alone ($1.63 billion for the full regional parts). According to the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel (MD OPC), regional grid rules unfairly force Maryland residential electric customers to subsidize $823 million statewide (~$345 per average household) for transmission expansion driven by out of state data centers in Northern Virginia, contributing to overall electric bill increase of 5% to 15%+.
This is a David vs. Goliath fight, NextEra is a multi billion dollar corporate juggernaut deploying high priced lawyers, land agents, and lobbyists to steamroll local working families who cannot afford expensive multi year court battles. Under federal utility rate recovery rules, NextEra passes its overhead costs directly onto our electric bills, including legal fees, court costs, and land agents. Maryland families are literally being forced to pay for their massive corporate legal team fighting in court to take our own land. Despite corporate spin using terms like "grid reliability," this line provides zero local energy benefits while using forced eminent domain to clear-cut over 850 acres across private property, family homes & farms, and protected Type 1 State Wildlands in Garrett and Allegany counties. Regulators must ensure Marylanders are not forced to pay a single cent to fund NextEra's project and legal costs, or subsidize out of state energy, immediately halt forced eminent domain, and mandate a full reroute strictly utilizing pre-existing utility and highway corridors.
WHY THIS MATTERS TO MARYLAND:
- UNFAIR RATEPAYER COST BURDEN & CORPORATE DOUBLE-TALK: NextEra and grid developers use technical buzzwords like "regional reliability" to hide the true driver of this project: fueling Northern Virginia’s massive data center expansion. According to the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, Maryland residential families are being burdened with $823 million in transmission costs for zero local benefit, and will likely go even higher. Adding insult to injury, utility cost recovery formulas force local ratepayers to pay NextEra’s project costs legal fees, court filings, lobbyists and land agents through monthly electric bills. Marylanders are literally being forced to fund the corporate legal team fighting to take our land.
- NextEra's project estimate has already more than doubled from its initial $441 million to $960 million for the core line, with total interconnected upgrades reaching $1.63 billion. As land disputes, environmental mitigation, and material costs escalate, it will rise further and Maryland ratepayers will be stuck holding the bill for every overage.
- UNJUST EMINENT DOMAIN ON PRIVATE PROPERTY & FARMS: Forcing family landowners, homeowners, and farmers to forfeit land via eminent domain is unjust, especially when pre-existing highway and utility rights-of-way already exist. Private land, working farms, and family legacies must not be condemned for developer convenience.
- DESTRUCTION OF PROTECTED STATE WILDLANDS & PUBLIC FORESTS: A 200 foot wide clear cut corridor spanning 35+ miles will destroy over 850 acres of land, the equivalent of 640+ football fields carved through Garrett and Allegany counties. Taxpayers spent millions acquiring public forests through Program Open Space. Yet special legislation (SB 399 / HB 1270) was introduced to strip statutory protections from three Type 1 State Wildlands (Big Savage Mountain, Bear Pen, and Dan’s Mountain). Clear cutting this wide corridor fragments deep mountain forests and destroys critical habitat for State & Federally Endangered species including the Northern Long Eared Bat, Allegheny Woodrat, Southern Water Shrew, Green Salamander, and Timber Rattlesnake, while suffocating headwater streams that support Maryland's native Brook Trout.
- ZERO LOCAL BENEFIT TO WESTERN MARYLAND: MARL’s 500-kV high-voltage lines simply cut through Maryland to export 100% of their electricity to feed the huge expansion of data centers in Northern Virginia. It provides zero power grid capacity, zero lower utility rates, and zero energy upgrades to Garrett and Allegany counties.
- HARM TO GARRETT & ALLEGANY ECONOMIES: Garrett and Allegany counties rely on eco tourism, outdoor recreation, scenic landscapes, and rural property values. Cutting massive industrial swaths across iconic mountain ridges depresses property values and hurts local tourism dependent small businesses.
OUR DEMANDS TO THE MARYLAND PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (PSC):
- PROTECT RATEPAYERS: Ensure Maryland electricity customers are not forced to pay a single cent toward NextEra’s project expenses. Deny all ratepayer cost recovery for NextEra’s legal fees, court filings, eminent domain lawyers, land agents, corporate overhead, and capital construction costs being used to build infrastructure for out of state data centers.
- MANDATORY REROUTE: Require NextEra to strictly utilize pre-existing utility and highway rights-of-way.
- HALT EMINENT DOMAIN: Stop forced land acquisition on private property for brand new corridor construction.
- PROTECT STATE WILDLANDS: Preserve Big Savage, Bear Pen, and Dan’s Mountain Wildlands and honor public conservation investments.
- FALLBACK PROTECTION (Ongoing Annual Payments): If land taking is forced, mandate that NextEra provide full fair market value plus ongoing annual lease/rental payments to landowners for the life of the line, rather than one time lowball buyouts.
SIGN TODAY TO PROTECT PRIVATE LAND, DEFEND WILDLANDS, AND STOP WESTERN MARYLAND EXPLOITATION!
WE ARE WESTERN MARYLAND RESIDENTS, WITH THE INTENT TO COLLECTIVELY STAND UP TO SOULLESS CORPORATE INTEREST TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY.
OUR EMAIL: MARLwatch1@gmail.com SHARE THE PETITION: change.org/ProtectWesternMaryland
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Petition created on September 22, 2026