Power Struggle: MPRP makes local farmers worried about their safety, continuation of operations

Yahoo

20-04-2025

This story is the first of an occasional series about the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), a proposed 500,000-volt transmission line to cross three counties, and its potential impacts on people living and working in Frederick County. The project is being developed by the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG).
When Nancy Gardetto and her husband, Chuck, met in 2005, they both were in the Washington, D.C., area. She was working in law enforcement, and he was doing electrical engineering for the government.
Something they had in common was a dream to own a farm.
Gardetto mentioned on her online dating profile that she grew up on a farm in New York. Her family had a five-acre farm, and her job growing up was milking and raising the goats, while her brother raised the pigs.
She said that's why her husband originally messaged her through the dating site — he always wanted to have a farm, too, but had never really told anyone.
"Ever since the moment we met, the thing was that we wanted to have a farm someday," Gardetto said.
The couple purchased about 40 acres in Hanover in Anne Arundel County and started Copper Penny Farm, named after each of their dogs.
Gardetto said they started raising pigs because they do well in the woods, and their property was in a wooded area.
Copper Penny Farm- MPRP
Nancy Gardetto drives a utility vehicle near cattle at Copper Penny Farm in Adamstown on Feb. 26. Power lines are shown in the background. When buying the farm, Nancy and her husband, Chuck, carefully considered the aspects of their farming operations and living situation with the existing power lines on the property. With the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a 500,000-volt transmission line that would run through their front yard, the Gardettos are unsure how they would operate their farm.
They also started raising chicken, sheep and cattle — but the space just wasn't big enough, and they wanted to focus more on grass-based farming and selling beef and lamb.
So, in 2019, the Gardettos — now with two sons who help on the farm — moved the operation to Adamstown in Frederick County where they could significantly expand the business.
For example, instead of having three or four cattle at a time, the farm now has a herd of at least 100 and breeds livestock.
Copper Penny Farm delivers its products and also has a farm store for customers to come in to buy items. Gardetto said the farm still delivers to Anne Arundel County — because they had a great customer base — and to local residents in Frederick County.
The Gardettos' property already has power lines running over it, which they knew about and considered when buying this property.
The power lines run over a field and can be seen from the family's house.
Gardetto said they can farm under the power lines, but they can't use metal waterers because if the air is humid, the electricity will go down and electrify the water tank and the water in it. Their animals will get shocked when they try to drink.
She also said the power lines electrify the fencing underneath, even though it isn't electric fencing, because it contains metal.
Gardetto said the family decided they could still live in the home because the power lines were far away enough from them.
But now, another power line — the MPRP — is proposed to go between the existing power line and the Gardettos' home, running across their front yard.
"We did not agree to that when we bought this place," Gardetto said in an interview in February. "The idea that they [the developers] could come in and just do it because it's for the good of all is infuriating."
What is the MPRP?
The MPRP is slated to be nearly 70 miles long and would go through northern Baltimore County, the middle of Carroll County and parts of Frederick County, ending at the Doubs substation.
The project is meant to help meet anticipated power demands on the regional power grid operated by PJM Interconnection, which coordinates the movement of electricity in 13 states — including all of Maryland — and Washington, D.C.
As part of developing the project, PSEG has applied to the state for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, which would allow the company to build the transmission line should its application be approved.
In addition to the hundreds of properties in the route's path, there are 58 parcels that PSEG added to its application as possible places for access roads, which the company would use while constructing the MPRP.
PSEG spokesperson Bill Smith said that it's possible for the MPRP route to be adjusted or changed during the application process.
Smith said that PSEG has "engaged with residents and property owners to address their concerns regarding agriculture, safety and property values" since the MPRP was announced and will continue to do so.
He also said PSEG does not have eminent domain rights — a governmental power to seize private property for public use with just compensation — without its certificate application being approved.
On April 15, PSEG filed a request for a court order to gain temporary access to properties on or along the MPRP route to conduct environmental and field studies as part of its certificate application.
MPRP route and county outlines
Copper Penny Farm- MPRP
Documents relating to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) are shown in the Gardettos' house at Copper Penny Farm in Adamstown on Feb. 21. The MPRP is proposed to cut across their front yard.
Gardetto is one of hundreds of residents fighting against the development of the MPRP being proposed by New Jersey-based energy company PSEG.
More than 170 petitions to intervene were submitted to the state for PSEG's application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.
A petition to intervene is a request to become a formal party in a case and be able to actively participate in the legal process and influence the outcome of a project.
Gardetto is one of the many who submitted a petition to intervene.
If the transmission line is built, Gardetto said, she can't imagine living in her current home.
She doesn't know if it'd be safe for her family to live there, with power lines greeting them at the door, so they'd probably have to move — but having the MPRP so close to the home would probably deter buyers.
Gardetto also said it would double the problems the farm has had with electricity, like animals getting shocked.
She doesn't know if she's up to move Copper Penny Farm to a new location, either, after already doing it once six years ago.
"To pick it up and do it all over again, I don't know that we would do that. I think that we would have to change our business model or just stop farming," Gardetto said. "I just don't know."
Copper Penny Farm- MPRP
Nancy Gardetto feeds Jim at Copper Penny Farm in Adamstown on Feb. 26.
Copper Penny Farm- MPRP
Sheep stand in a field as existing power lines are shown nearby at Copper Penny Farm, owned by the Gardetto family, in Adamstown on Feb. 26. Nancy Gardetto said farming is possible with the existing lines on their farm, but they cannot use metal waterers due to the proximity to the existing power lines and its potential to shock animals when the air is humid. Gardetto said the MPRP would double the problems the farm has had with electricity.
Copper Penny Farm- MPRP
Pigs wait for food at Copper Penny Farm in Adamstown on Feb. 26.
Autumn Springs Farm in Mount Airy
Tammy Naill-Waddell said her father had a dream to have his own farm and water source, which led him to buy the property where Autumn Springs Farm is in Mount Airy.
The property runs from Talbot Run Road to Black Ankle Road and has a long, winding dirt path leading up to the house where two of Naill-Waddell's brothers live.
She said the family is incredibly private, and part of why they like the property is because it's hard for other people to access.
Near the entrance to the farm, there's a creek running past a blue barn and out toward a field.
Autumn Springs Farm- MPRP
Tammy Naill-Waddell pauses for a moment with Snap at Autumn Springs Farm on Feb. 18. Tammy said the family's farm is their sanctuary and the MPRP is a threat to the family's safe space.
Naill-Waddell used to breed horses. Although she doesn't do it anymore, she still takes care of horses on the property, who roam around together in the fields and will stop to drink at the creek.
Naill-Waddell said her father wanted to buy a property that he could put houses on and somewhere that was big enough that, if anything ever happened to her or any of her four brothers, they always had a place to come back to.
"This is our sanctuary, our zone," she said.
She said the MPRP is a threat to the family's safe space.
Naill-Waddell, who submitted a petition to intervene, said the transmission line would cross two creeks on the property and go over the hill between those creeks. It'd be hanging over the driveway.
She said that part of the property is part of a floodplain designated by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, and there has been flooding in the past.
If the MPRP is built, trees that "hold the hill" will need to be removed — increasing the risk of significant erosion.
"Any time that you remove trees and change the ecosystem and the environment around the base of those trees, it changes everything," she said. "Flooding gets worse because they're no longer being stopped."
But what's even more pressing for Naill-Waddell and her family is keeping her brother, Lee Naill, safe.
Naill is one of the brothers living at Autumn Springs Farm. In 1992, while working on a bridge as a construction worker, he was shocked by power lines running alongside the bridge.
He fell from the crane he was operating and was shocked by 50,000 volts from a power surge going through the transmission line. He had to get both of his arms amputated.
Autumn Springs Farm- MPRP
Tammy Naill-Waddell and her brother Lee Naill stand together while posing at Autumn Springs Farm on Feb. 18. Lee was shocked with 50,000 volts from power lines while working on a bridge as a construction worker. He had to get both of his arms amputated. The MPRP route is proposed to go above their driveway and Tammy said Lee would be scared to drive underneath if it is built.
Naill-Waddell said her brother would be scared to leave the house and drive under the MPRP, if it gets built.
She said it'd be like making her brother drive with a gun to his head — and she and her family will do whatever they can to protect him and keep the property that was intended to be their refuge.
She refuses to give PSEG the permission for any of the land, such as the right-of-way needed to construct the transmission line.
"If people come in, they're going to be politely asked to leave," she said. "You're coming on my property and there's no trespassing signs there — I'm going to be calling the cops and having you [charged] with trespassing and solicitation."
Naill said that before his accident happened, he heard the hum of electricity running through the power line.
"I don't ever want to hear that again," he said.
Autumn Springs Farm- MPRP
Tammy Naill-Waddell unfurls a flag reading 'Stop MPRP Come and Take It' at Autumn Springs Farm on Feb. 18. She said she refuses to give the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) the permission to use any of the land, such as the right-of-way needed to construct the MPRP.
Autumn Springs Farm- MPRP
Tammy Naill-Waddell stands by horses at Autumn Springs Farm on Feb. 18. Tammy said that part of the property is floodplain designated by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and flooding has occurred before. If the trees surrounding the property are cut down for the MPRP, it would increase the risk of significant erosion.
Gaver Farm in Mount Airy
Lisa and Michael Gaver started selling Christmas trees at Gaver Farm in 1984, the year after they got married.
Lisa Gaver said her husband started planting these trees when he was 17 as one last project to do with his grandfather who was dying from lung cancer.
She said Gaver Farm started off just selling those trees and traditional crops and dairy products — but over the last 40 years, as their family has grown, so has their farm into a sprawling agritourism operation.
Over the past several decades, Gaver Farm has expanded to host an annual Fall Fun Fest, where residents can hop on a hay ride to the farm's pumpkin patch, explore a corn maze, meet animals at a farm petting zoo and learn about agriculture through educational activities.
Gaver Farm - MPRP
Lisa Gaver, left, looks at her husband Mike Gaver in one of the fields at Gaver Farm on March 31. The 40-acre field is one of the areas that would be affected by the MPRP. Lisa Gaver said that different crops are 'constantly rotated' through the field and that it is instrumental to the farm.
Gaver said the farm was the first one in Frederick County to plant dwarf apple trees, leading to a pick-your-own-apples orchard that's been expanded four times since 2010.
She said her son and daughter, despite having gone off to college and getting other degrees, came back to Gaver Farm with their respective spouses because they wanted to help keep the business moving forward.
"We've been doing this a long time. We consider ourselves innovators in original ag tourism — there certainly wasn't a name for it when we had opened that first year for Christmas trees," she said. "... Each part of our farm supports the other parts of the farm, and I believe that a lot of people don't really understand."
The MPRP is proposed to cut through a 40-acre field on Gaver Farm that is instrumental to the business — Gaver said the field is "constantly rotated" for the farm's customer base, and different crops are planted on the field depending on what the farm needs.
Customers go onto that field to look at pumpkins or Christmas trees, or to explore the farm's sunflower field.
Gaver said the route PSEG chose was the only one, out of all the 10 possibilities, that goes through the farm.
"Maybe the part no one talks about is the emotional and physical stress that can come from an out-of-state corporation taking your land for a power line for another out-of-state corporation that has nothing to do with your state," she said.
The MPRP could "devastate our ability, our business," Gaver said.
The transmission line would come over I-70 and go across the left side of the farm when viewing it from across the parking lot. Then, the line would go into the woods — requiring trees to be cut down to make room for the right-of-way — and a tower would be placed at the top of a hill, where the farm has placed its deer fence gates.
Gaver said the eight-foot deer fence is necessary to grow any specialty crops, such as apple trees. She said for the specialty crops, there are multiple people in the field every week.
In 2020, the farm added a path through the field so people could walk, if they didn't want to go on the hay ride.
Gaver Farm - MPRP
Mike Gaver walks near the deer fence at Gaver Farm on March 31. With the MPRP cutting through the woods on the property, Gaver said this could affect the deer fence used to protect specialty crops, like apple trees.
The top of the hill is where people get on the hay ride, as well as where the farm's employee station is.
To have the MPRP go over the field would pose a safety issue to the farm's customers and employees walking under the line or riding vehicles underneath. She also said the deer fence would have to be moved.
Although PSEG told her at a public meeting the company would pay losses her business suffers, she said, her concerns go beyond just paying for one crop.
"You're taking the ability to ever have a crop there," she said.
Gaver Farm posted on social media last year about the MPRP and how it would devastate their operations, and thousands of people responded to posts, with hundreds sending letters in support of the farm to PSEG and the Maryland Public Service Commission.
Gaver said when her farm got a letter in October that the property was on the route, she responded saying Gaver Farm wasn't interested in chatting with a PSEG land agent about providing any of the property for a right-of-way.
Right now, Gaver said, the farm is operating like no project is looming over their heads. That's all they can do right now.
"The hardest part for us is that we've built up this business and taken our entire life doing so and that someone else can just walk in and act like nothing you do matters," she said.
Gaver Farm - MPRP
Dark clouds roll in over the horizon near some of the farm's attractions, shown on the right, while Lisa Gaver sits on the back on a utility vehicle as her husband Mike Gaver drives at Gaver Farm on March 31. Over the last 40 years, the farm has grown into a sprawling agritourism spot. According to Lisa, the MPRP would affect the farm's operations.