MARYLAND (WBFF) — As the transmission line fight continues, more landowners are getting swept up into lawsuits. Public Service Enterprise Group, the developers of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project filed a third lawsuit, impacting another 64 landowners.

This third lawsuit comes a the federal court granted PSEG access to landowner’s private property in two other lawsuits, for the purpose of completing land and environmental surveys deemed necessary in the state approval process for the proposed project. The latest lawsuit, will impact 13 landowners in Baltimore County, 22 in Carroll County and 29 in Frederick County.

“We didn’t think PSEG would stop attacking people in Maryland and filing lawsuits in federal court,” said Joanne Frederick, with STOP MPRP. “So disappointing, certainly.”

The third lawsuit mirrors the others arguing that property owners “have refused permission” for PSEG to enter their properties to conduct the surveys. Residents and officials have long opposed the project, arguing it will benefit data centers in Virginia, while Marylanders shoulder the cost. Residents have also voiced concerns about the transmission line impacting their farmland, homes and livelihoods.

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“Without the various surveys and investigations that PPRP has required, the PSC has held that neither it nor PPRP can evaluate the possible environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the MPRP,” the lawsuit said.

The MPRP is a proposed 67-mile high-voltage transmission line, which would span Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick Counties. It is currently under review with the Maryland Public Service Commission and a final decision is expected in 2027. In the meantime, for months now, with the properties involved in the previous lawsuits, land surveyors have already been working on some of the land along the route.

“For those of us, myself included, who have now been subject to these surveys, during the hearing and the first lawsuit, PSEG said the surveys aren’t, you know, we have to do them. They’re not a big deal. It won’t be disruptive,” Frederick said. “I will say that, you know, certainly the surveyors are very polite, and they’ve been very respectful, but it is incredibly disruptive.”

“They’ve been here on my property now four times, maybe five, multiple cars, multiple people and and they’re coming back time and time and time again and doing pieces of the surveys. So from a landowner’s perspective, it isn’t as you know they’re going to come here one time, do everything they want and and stop, and it’s distressing and disturbing,” she added.

A spokesperson for PSEG said in total, 91 properties were impacted in the first lawsuit, 146 in the second, 64 will be impacted in the third lawsuit, and an additional 2 properties will be impacted in an upcoming filing. PSEG obtained voluntary access agreements with landowners from 52 properties along the route.

PSEG has also filed a letter with the Public Service Commission, objecting to the procedural schedule that was recently set. The schedule from officials outlines dates for when filings and hearings are expected. However, it sets the date for a decision in 2027, well after PSEG was hoping to begin construction on the project. Both PSEG and PJM, the regional grid operator, argue the transmission line is necessary to be constructed and operating by June of 2027 to meet growing energy demands. They were hoping to have the green light for the project by March of next year, but commissioners with the PSC said they needed more time to consider a project of this magnitude.

“PSEG objects to the schedule set forth in the Procedural Order because it prevents the Project from being constructed by PJM’s required in-service date for the Project,” PSEG’s letter to the PSC states. “While the Commission expressed confidence in PJM to maintain system reliability in the meantime, PJM has previously stated that “[a]ny delay to the in-service date of these needed transmission facilities, including the MPRP, will prolong the exposure to reliability risks to serving load, further exacerbating the need for operational measures, including load shedding events. That is because PJM set the in-service date to prevent specific impending reliability violations, including voltage collapse, from occurring on the regional transmission system serving Maryland electric customers. As both the Company and PJM have advised the Commission, unless these violations are addressed, PJM has determined that overall system reliability in the PJM region—including in Maryland—could be compromised, and the PJM region could be exposed to widespread and extreme conditions, such as system collapse and blackouts, both in magnitude and frequency.”

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Since commissioners at the PSC have already adopted a procedural schedule in this case, a PSC spokesperson Friday confirmed the letter from PSEG is mainly for the record.

“We have known, and in fact, PSEG has known from the very beginning, even in their initial filings at PJM, that this timeline was very aggressive. So again, sort of no surprise. We’re all following along on this, you know, presumably terrible playbook here caught victim in a system that’s really not serving any of us,” Frederick said.

” I think it’s part of the injustice of all of this, is landowners in Maryland are being asked to give up their property. Their their source of income, their enjoyment of their land, all of those things, plus, suffer through this process because the system as a whole is broken,” she added.

Recently, Carroll County leaders and state lawmakers recently sent a letter to President Trump, requesting his help and intervention with the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project.

“We are hoping that the President is able to use his power to jump in the middle of this and bring an end to it or at least slow it down,” said Del. Chris Tomlinson.

“Even if this is a hail Mary, at this point, I don’t think we should leave anything off the table,” Tomlinson said. “I don’t care whether it’s the governor, the president, doesn’t matter to me, we’re looking for help from anybody who is in a position of power.”