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When Kevin Daniels told the energy company’s surveyors they couldn’t walk onto his Frederick County farmland, he thought that was the end of it.
His land. His right.
A simple “No.”

Two weeks later, he got served with a lawsuit.

All because he dared to stand between a billion-dollar corporation and their plan to carve a massive transmission line across Maryland — and feed the booming data center empire in Northern Virginia.

This isn’t eminent domain yet.
This is something darker.

This is corporate harassment, dressed up as legal process.

And unless Marylanders wake up fast, what’s happening to Kevin — and hundreds like him — could happen to anyone.

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Suing Citizens Into Submission

The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), led by Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), proposes a 70-mile, high-voltage transmission line cutting through Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick counties.

The public messaging says it’s about “reliability.”
The fine print says otherwise.

PSEG, under pressure to deliver power for Virginia’s exploding data center industry, needs Maryland landowners to cooperate quickly.
When many refused access for environmental surveys, PSEG turned to lawsuits.

Not eminent domain — yet.
Not compensation offers — not really.

Just pure pressure.

Maryland families are now staring down legal bills, court dates, and endless paperwork — simply for exercising their constitutional right to control access to their own property.

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This Isn’t Negotiation. It’s Legal Bullying.

Corporations have long used lawsuits as weapons, but what’s happening here is a new low.

The goal isn’t to win in court.
It’s to exhaust, frighten, and financially strangle landowners into giving up.

This tactic mirrors something activists have fought for decades:
SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), where corporations sue activists to silence dissent.
Now, it’s being used against private families — farmers, homeowners, retirees.

Because you can’t fight a billion-dollar company with a tractor and good intentions.

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A Direct Attack on Your Rights

This isn’t just about Kevin Daniels.
Or even about transmission lines.

It’s about whether Marylanders — and all Americans — can say “No” to corporate invasion without risking ruin.

• 4th Amendment: Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
• 5th Amendment: Guarantees due process before property is taken or invaded.
• Maryland Law: Requires real negotiations, real justifications — not lawsuits as shortcuts.

By suing for mere survey access, these companies are trying to bypass all of it.

And if they win?
The precedent will be devastating.

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Voices From the Fight

Joanne Frederick, president of Stop MPRP, Inc., summed it up bluntly:

“They have unlimited money. We have our land. That’s all we have. If they take that without a real fight, they can take anything.”

Another Carroll County resident fighting survey access lawsuits said:

“We’re not anti-progress. We’re anti-bullying. Build what you need — just don’t destroy our lives to do it.”

The emotional toll is mounting: stress, fear, legal confusion, distrust of government, and a deep sense of betrayal by a system that’s supposed to protect citizens — not corporations.

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If They Can Do This to Farmers, They Can Do It to You

Think you’re safe because you live in a suburban neighborhood?
Think again.

Once this legal playbook is validated:

• Transmission lines, pipelines, highways, corporate developments — any project could target your home.
• Say no? Get sued.
• Fight back? Lose thousands in court before you ever see a trial.

This is the creeping privatization of our public rights — and it’s happening quietly, lawsuit by lawsuit, family by family.

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Where Are Maryland’s Leaders?

So far, Governor Wes Moore has criticized eminent domain use in this case — but words aren’t enough.
Landowners need:

• Emergency anti-SLAPP protections expanded to property disputes.
• Legislative oversight over energy projects abusing court systems.
• Public pressure to shame corporations like PSEG back to the negotiation table.

This isn’t about stopping progress.
It’s about stopping abuse.

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What You Can Do

• Spread the word: Share stories from landowners. Break the silence.
• Demand answers: Contact state reps, county councils, the Governor’s office.
• Support legal defense funds for landowners being sued.
• Push for new laws to ban corporate harassment suits against property owners.

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Final Thought

The first right stripped away isn’t always the most obvious one.
Sometimes, it’s just the quiet theft of something simple:
The right to say “No” on your own land.

Today, it’s Maryland farmers.
Tomorrow, it could be your neighborhood.
Your backyard.
Your family.

The line is being drawn.
Which side will you stand on?