Frederick delegation asks federal officials to explore existing corridors for MPRP

Frederick County’s legislative delegation leaders are asking the federal government to consider whether existing transportation corridors could provide an alternative route for the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project.

Del. Jesse Pippy, the delegation’s chairman, and state Sen. Bill Folden, its co-chairman, sent their request to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sept. 24, according to reporting by The Frederick News-Post.

Their letter points to America’s Great Corridors of Commerce, a federal initiative intended to make highway and railroad rights of way available for utility infrastructure. The lawmakers argue that using existing corridors could reduce the need to create new routes across private land.

The News-Post describes the proposed MPRP as a 67-mile, 500,000-volt transmission line crossing Frederick, Carroll and Baltimore counties. The Public Service Enterprise Group project has generated opposition from property owners and elected officials over its effects on land along the proposed route.

Pippy and Folden contend that using existing rights of way could lower costs and reduce the amount of private property needed for the project. Those are arguments in their request, not established findings that a specific alternative route is feasible or has been approved.

Pippy told the News-Post the delegation continues to look for ways to stop the project and protect affected residents. He described the federal request as another effort to bring attention and additional review to the routing question.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the voluntary corridors initiative Aug. 26. Its framework would bring utilities and transportation right-of-way owners together to place infrastructure along existing highway and rail routes.

According to the department’s current program page, officials are accepting comments on the model through Oct. 2, 2026. A later request for expressions of interest would seek proposals from corridor owners, with up to five applicants anticipated for the initial designation round. That application process is not yet open.

Federal designation would provide coordination and technical support, including assistance with permitting and access to funding and financing programs. It would not, by itself, establish a replacement MPRP route.

The supplied reporting does not identify a specific highway or railroad alignment selected for the power line, a federal response to the delegation’s letter, or an agreement by the developer to change course. The request therefore represents an effort to have an alternative examined, rather than an announced rerouting.