ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Thursday night BGE pleaded their case to community members and the Public Service Commission in hopes of going ahead with its proposed transmission line project.
The Brandon Shores Retirement Mitigation project is in response to its namesake power plant shutting down.
VIDEO: Neighbors express concern over BGE transmission line project
According to BGE, the project is necessary to address thermal and voltage violations that would arise without the plant.
There's an agreement to keep the station running for a little longer, but that's going to cost BGE customers around $5 more starting in June.
BGE clarified that the increase is not their rate hikes.
But neighbors weren't concerned about money; they said they worry about environmental impacts from the mile of new transmission lines.
"I'm also concerned about the environmental impact that the new power lines are going to have. They're going to be going through wetland areas, Gunpowder State Park, and I'm curious to know what the long-term effect is going to be," Randi Hautala said.
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, BGE indicated the project will result in hundreds of thousands of square feet of permanent impacts to non-tidal wetlands.
Another neighbor said he's uneasy at the possibility of BGE coming onto his property during construction.
"But my biggest problem is people telling me I have to let anybody in the world walk on my property, like bird watchers and stuff like that, while I'm farming; that's my property as far as I'm concerned," Arthur Heuer said.
Community member Lynn Zink spoke on behalf of 37 family members against the proposal.
"Another set of sub towers taller than the current ones with 12 more high-voltage lines? That's gonna bring even more families closer to 24/7 radiation exposure," Zink said.
She also claimed the project would lower property value.
"If you were shopping for a home and you went and you saw two massive commercial towers that are in the backyard of a house, are you going to want to buy a property like that?"
While a BGE representative assured one man his property wouldn't be affected, they didn't have an immediate answer for other community members.
There will be another meeting on April 23 at the White Marsh Fire Hall.
