- Sixty Maryland landowners are challenging a federal court ruling allowing a private utility developer to survey their properties without obtaining final state authorization.
- The proposed 67-mile transmission line would cross three Maryland counties to address growing electricity demand, including demand driven by data centers.
- The Supreme Court petition raises constitutional property rights concerns over whether preliminary injunctions can effectively grant private companies eminent domain authority.
Sixty Maryland landowners have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn rulings allowing PSEG Renewable Transmission to enter private property for surveys associated with a proposed 67-mile high-voltage power line. The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project would cross Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties, where residents object to granting access before state regulators formally approve construction. The petition, filed Nov. 4, challenges a federal injunction initially issued in June 2025 and upheld by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August.
The property owners argue Maryland law reserves surveying authority for entities possessing eminent domain powers, which they contend PSEG has not yet obtained. Their attorneys say preliminary injunctions cannot grant rights that remain legally unsettled. PSEG maintains the surveys are necessary to obtain regulatory approval, while regional grid operator PJM cites rising electricity demand, including data centers, and reliability concerns. The Supreme Court has not agreed to hear the dispute.
Why It Matters
The dispute tests a basic safeguard of private ownership: whether a company can enter someone’s land before establishing its legal authority to do so. A court order authorizing irreversible access based on a prediction of future eminent domain powers raises questions extending well beyond Maryland. If the justices hear the case, their decision could clarify limits on preliminary injunctions and the relationship between state property laws and federal courts.
The competing public interest is significant. Utilities and grid planners argue new transmission capacity is needed to accommodate expanding data centers and protect customers from outages. Yet infrastructure demands do not automatically erase individual rights or substitute for lawful authorization. A ruling favoring the landowners could require developers to establish their powers before conducting contested surveys, potentially complicating project schedules. A ruling favoring PSEG could preserve a faster permitting path while leaving property owners with fewer practical remedies once access has occurred.
Sources
- https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/nov/8/maryland-residents-bring-data-center-fight-supreme-court/
- https://marylandmatters.org/2026/11/05/piedmont-power-line-supreme-court-petition/
- https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/maryland-landowners-take-energy-project-case-to-supreme-court
- https://www.wmar2news.com/local/maryland-landowners-want-supreme-court-to-weigh-in-on-eminent-domain-battle
- https://pacificlegal.org/press-release/maryland-landowners-ask-supreme-court-to-reverse-private-developers-attempt-to-gain-governments-eminent-domain-power/