Westminster, MD, Thursday, September 25, 2025 – The Carroll County Board of Commissioners’ (BoC) latest action in opposing the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) took place earlier this week with the filing of an Amicus (friend of the court) Brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The brief urges the Fourth Circuit Court to reverse a lower court ruling granting an injunction allowing PSEG and its representatives to enter and remain on private property for an open-ended period of time to conduct undefined environmental testing. The BoC stands with its citizens in the case between the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) and private local landowners. 

The BoC publicly denounced the decision of the lower court in a press release on June 20, 2025, and decided to file an Amicus Brief to show solidarity with the Carroll County landowners affected by the court's decision.

The brief expresses strong support for the landowners’ position that PSEG lacks the power of eminent domain and that the lower court wrongfully granted PSEG’s request to infringe upon the property rights of citizens by granting unfettered access to properties without the permission of the landowner.  “In particular, Carroll County is concerned as to the significant infringement of private property rights of Carroll County’s residents by PSEG entering the properties, the unrestricted access that PSEG will have to lands in Carroll County that are subject to easements or conservation protections, and the disruption that this will have on agricultural operations and property values in Carroll County.”

The BoC has opposed the MPRP since the beginning and continues to stand with its citizens, landowners, and neighbors against this overreach and cites in the brief that “the Court should reverse the district court’s decision, vacate the injunction issued by the district court, and remand this matter for further proceedings.”  The Commissioners’ Amicus brief may be viewed here.