Baltimore Gas & Electric is “temporarily halting” a controversial underground transmission project through areas of downtown Baltimore as project costs rise and political and community opposition grows.
The project, which is scheduled to begin construction next year, aims to connect an expanded substation west of downtown to a new distribution facility in an area of south Baltimore formerly known as Port Covington, where a 235-acre mixed-use redevelopment has been planned since 2016. Along with the new and expanded substation, the total four-line transmission infrastructure would include 15 kV.
Estimated in 2019 by the company’s parent company, Exelon, as a $109 million project, a cost update released on Feb. 3 indicated infrastructure construction estimated as a $407 million project, with the increase attributed in part to increases of 27 percent and 50 percent in added labor and materials costs, as well as contracting, equipment and contracting respectively. crews and extended work windows.”
The document also notes that the current design requires a “non-traditional two-story GIS construction to fit the usable portions of the land,” Baltimore Gas & Electric said, and a technology it is using for the first time. The company said that using this process “requires vertical routing of cables and auxiliary systems, improved fire protection and life safety provisions, and more complex construction sequencing due to limited layout and access.”
Local news sources have estimated that the electrical distribution infrastructure already committed by Baltimore Gas & Electric for the redevelopment effort, now renamed the Baltimore Peninsula, could push the total cost beyond $500 million.
Although the cost of the new transmission and distribution infrastructure would not be passed on to ratepayers until the system was operational, Baltimore Gas & Electric said. Local residents expressed concern about the project’s potential effects on utility bills already affected by demand-related and infrastructure increases, as well as the prospect of disruptive construction in several historic neighborhoods. The company said the added costs for the new infrastructure would be spread among thousands of ratepayers over several years and that the route had been chosen both for “technical feasibility” and to accommodate separate circuit routes to reduce the risk of system disruptions.
Opponents have also questioned the need for the project, given the slow pace of development on the Baltimore Peninsula, where only a fraction of the planned 14 million square feet of new office, residential and commercial space has been built. They also criticize the apparent absence of government oversight, as Maryland law currently exempts most underground transmission projects from review by the state’s Public Service Commission. Several key state lawmakers have pledged to eliminate that exemption through measures introduced in the current session of the General Assembly.
In a statement announcing the project pause, Baltimore Gas & Electric called it “a deliberate step” that allows the utility to deepen engagement with local residents and community leaders, incorporate updated development plans from Baltimore Peninsula property owners and review recommendations raised by local leaders.
Baltimore Gas & Electric noted that the new transmission line is part of a “package” of other transmission improvements needed for the area, regardless of projected increases in load demand from the Baltimore Peninsula and surrounding areas. The project “also addresses reliability risk to critical transmission and distribution infrastructure that dates back to the 1950s,” the statement added. “That risk grows every day that this aging equipment remains in the system.”
A statement posted on social media by state Senate President Bill Ferguson (D) characterized the utility’s decision as “what happens when neighborhoods and elected officials organize to hold utilities accountable to the customers they serve.”
