River Valley Ranch secured a deal with the developer of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) to delay survey work until the conclusion of their summer season.
The MPRP is a 67-mile-long high-voltage power line that could cut a 150 ft wide swatch across Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick Counties. The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), the developer of the project, argues the power line is needed to strengthen the backbone of the local power grid.
Without it, they say the region could experience brown and black outs. Opponents to the powerline argue the MPRP will simply serve as an extension cord for Northern Virginia data centers.
Throughout 2025, PSEG took more than 300 landowners to court for access to their private properties to perform geological surveys needed to complete the MPRP’s application. The PSC ruled the application was incomplete in March due to a lack of data on the project's environmental impacts as well as why alternative routes were not selected.
The first of these court orders granted PSEG the right to access the properties, requiring them to provide notice 24-hours in advance. The court orders were later amended in November to restrict landowners from hunting on their own properties while surveyors worked, but required the developer to collaborate with land owners to minimize the impact during hunting season.
River Valley Ranch
River Valley Ranch (RVR) is a Christian youth camp in Carroll County, serving approximately 10,000 children each year. Jon Bisset, RVR’s Executive Director, says the goal is to give children living in urban and suburban centers a way to connect with nature.
RVR would not have had the staff needed to watch both their campers and PSEG’s surveyors, Bisset said. Ultimately, the camp was able to come to an agreement with PSEG, in which survey work was done during their much slower winter season.
Bisset said he learned about the MPRP through social media and, at first, thought it was a joke. Later, when PSEG came knocking, it was during the height of their 2025 summer season. The idea that PSEG could enter their land with only 24-hours notice, he says, was unacceptable. “All of the staff and the people on the property are vetted, they are background checked, they are cleared,” Bisset explained. “Any guests that come onto the property have to check into the office and are given guest passes and are accompanied. No one is allowed to just walk around for safety concerns.”
Since then, PSEG has come onto their land to study the boundaries of the MPRP and RVR’s property lines as well as to gather environmental data. Bisset says the developer gave RVR enough notice for the camp to plan ahead and ensure activities of either group didn’t conflict. “We’re followers of Jesus and so one of the things he had said was, ‘pray for those who persecute you.’ So, as much as this is not something that we approve of, we want to treat them with respect and to let our actions against the project be directed through the Public Service Commission.”
Future Plans
Bisset said the MPRP threatens to cut a 5,000 ft line across 17 acres of RVR’s 500 acre property. The area where the MPRP would be built overlaps with where RVR hopes to relocate one of its campuses.
The campus in question is situated directly atop Grave Run Rd, which Bisset said used to be dirt but is now paved and highly trafficked. Nearly 2,000 children will pass through that camp in a given year. About 20 years ago, he explained the camp recognized a need to move the campus for the safety of the children. “For…our ability to continue to provide these services to many thousands of children in the future, this is a critical part of our future,” Bisset clarified.
The project of moving the campus is estimated to cost RVR $15-$20 million, Bisset explained, but he’s worried parents won't want their kids playing with power lines buzzing overhead. If the project goes through, the camp may get pincered between the growing road and the powerline.
Bisset questioned why PSEG chose not to run the MPRP parallel to an existing right-of-way that stands adjacent to RVR’s property. The power line follows the existing right-of-way for a portion of its scheduled path, until it cuts across the camp.
Dismissing The Project
In November, landowners across Maryland joined together in requesting the Public Service Commission (PSC), the governing body that can approve or deny the MPRP’s application, to dismiss the project.
PSEG had requested the PSC provide an expedient review of the MPRP’s application. The developer is under contract by parent-company PJM, the Regional Transmission Organization for Maryland and 12 other states, to complete the power line by 2027.
When the PSC released its plans for reviewing the MPRP’s application, public comment was not even scheduled until the end of 2026. Under those circumstances, PSEG said they would be unable to meet their contractually obligated deadline.
While RVR did not originally participate in the appeal to the PSC, Bisset said he is concerned with the last-minute urgency presented by the MPRP’s developer. “It just feels like a lot of this has been rushed through,” Bisset explained. “A lot of things [are] hidden and veiled.”
While he is glad to leave the legal issues to the lawyers, Bisset said he has felt strong armed and is thankful the PSC is taking its time during the review process.