BGE Pauses Port Covington Transmission Project to Review Senate President's Recommendations

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company temporarily paused design and engineering work on the Port Covington underground high-voltage transmission project, halting immediate progress on a multi-component build-out that BGE and local reporting have placed at roughly $500 million. The pause, announced in early March 2026, targets deeper community engagement and a review of recommendations from Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson as the company balances reliability needs and neighborhood concerns in South Baltimore.

BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos framed the move as deliberate and procedural. “This pause does not change the underlying reliability needs in this part of the city, but it is a deliberate step that allows us to deepen engagement with local residents and community leaders, incorporate any updated development plans from Baltimore Peninsula's new ownership, and thoughtfully review recommendations raised by Senate President Ferguson,” Alexopulos said. The project bundle includes the Greene Street substation to Port Covington transmission line, a new Port Covington substation, and a Westport to Port Covington transmission line intended to boost capacity for tens of thousands of existing and future customers.

Cost estimates for the work vary. Headline figures center near $500 million, while detailed filings and company material suggest higher totals. Exelon, BGE’s parent company, included an electricity transmission infrastructure estimate of $407 million in a supplemental filing that, combined with previously planned substation and related infrastructure costs of at least $130 million, implies a total above $500 million. BGE has said those costs would not affect customer rates until the project is running, though the Office of People’s Counsel, represented by David Lapp, has raised criticism and signaled scrutiny of ratepayer impacts.

Political pressure drove the pause. Senate President Bill Ferguson, who has led public opposition to an underground transmission line he says would disrupt historic south Baltimore neighborhoods, wrote on social media: “Digging up miles of residential streets cannot be the default option. Community voices must come first, and any project of this scale must go through full State review.” Ferguson is moving legislation to require Maryland Public Service Commission review of underground transmission lines and to ban data centers in tax increment financing zones, and Delegate Elizabeth Embry has introduced companion House legislation.

Local development uncertainty is also a factor. The Peninsula site now hosts Under Armour’s headquarters after founder Kevin Plank said in December that he was stepping back from future development there; The Banner reports an Arkansas bank currently holds the remainder of the Peninsula assets and is in talks with a potential buyer whose identity is not public. BGE cited the need to incorporate any updated development plans from the site’s new ownership as part of its rationale for pausing engineering work.

Operationally, BGE previously said construction would not begin before mid-2027; the company has offered no new start date after the pause. BGE CEO Tamla Olivier has discussed the Peninsula project with local media this week, and FoxBaltimore has reported higher costs stem from engineering redesigns, longer cable routes tied to site uncertainty, and inflation in labor and materials. The pause leaves the city’s immediate reliability needs acknowledged but timelines and exact costs unresolved as regulators, community leaders, and BGE reassess the plan.