US Marshals Won't Be Used For Protection During Maryland Power Line Surveys — For Now

By Christine Condon, Maryland Matters

September 4, 2025

A federal district judge in Maryland ruled Tuesday that power company PSEG does not need protection from U.S. marshals to conduct land surveys for a controversial Piedmont power line project — at least not for now.

Since PSEG filed its petition last month seeking backup from the marshals, most of the landowners who were named as having blocked or threatened surveyors have pledged to cooperate with the survey, wrote U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson.

“Given the limited resources of the U.S. Marshals Service, the Court concludes that the circumstances — at least at present — do not warrant sending U.S. Marshals to accompany PSEG and its agents,” Abelson wrote in his order Tuesday.

Abelson did admonish two landowners who have not fully complied, giving them until Sept. 10 to explain to the court why they should not face monetary sanctions or civil contempt of court.

And he handed PSEG a victory Tuesday, granting the company access to survey about 150 more properties with defiant owners. It was a repeat of Abelson’s earlier ruling in the case, during which he approved PSEG’s request to access about 100 properties for wetland, forest delineation and archeological surveys. It was some of that first group of landowners whose antagonism toward surveyors sparked the request for protection from federal marshals.

They are the latest turns in a dizzying legal saga surrounding the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a 67-mile transmission line proposed to cut through rural parts of Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties. The project was commissioned by regional electric grid operator PJM, which has warned of power shortages in the years ahead unless additional transmission infrastructure is brought online to keep pace with rising demands for power from data centers, among other demands.

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A passionate opposition has developed, led by landowners in the power line’s path, who argue that the massive towers will disrupt rural lands, including forests, wetlands, streams and farm fields.

The line still must receive a critical approval from the Maryland Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. To assess the power line’s route, officials ordered a number of surveys, but many landowners proved uncooperative. That’s when PSEG sued for a court order that would let the surveys move forward.

Abelson sided with PSEG, ruling in June that its surveyors could enter private land to conduct surveys for the line. Opponents of the line appealed that ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has yet to hear the case.

Last month, meanwhile, the New Jersey-based transmission company asked Abelson to dispatch marshals to protect the process, citing six instances when combative landowners — or in some cases, their neighbors or other third parties — threatened its land surveyors.

In one incident, a landowner’s father nearly struck surveyors with an all-terrain vehicle, amid a verbal altercation that included racist insults, the company said.

In his order on Tuesday, Abelson said that the landowner, Brandon Hill, had expressed his “sincerest apologies” for the incident with his father on the ATV, in a letter written by his attorney. But Hill’s attorney never formally responded to the court, despite an order to do so, Abelson wrote.

Another owner pledged to cooperate — before telling the Frederick News-Post in an interview that he would “do everything in my ability to keep them off our property,” adding: “We will do it peacefully.”

Abelson ordered those two landowners to file responses by Sept. 10, explaining why they should not face monetary sanctions or civil contempt of court.

Abelson’s separate order on Tuesday, granting PSEG access to survey a second batch of properties, means that the company can survey those properties simply by placing a notice on the front door 24 hours in advance. PSEG is expected to file another lawsuit seeking a court order to access the properties of a third round of property owners who have refused surveys.

In an August status report, PSEG indicated that it had completed about 150 surveys of varying types on the original list of properties, but it still had more than 200 surveys left to go.