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Electrical transmission towers, poles and lines are shown in California on Aug. 7, 2025. (REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo)
‘Try me again’: Carroll County woman sanctioned for blocking Piedmont power line surveyors
Key takeaways:
- Judge Adam B. Abelson orders $2,000 attorneys’ fees from Andrea Kable
- Kable reportedly obstructed PSEG surveyors on her Carroll County farm
- U.S. marshals assisted surveyors amid escalating tensions
- PSEG spent $102,400 on Venable LLP attorneys in litigation
A federal judge held a Carroll County horse farm owner in contempt after finding that she repeatedly obstructed agents conducting surveys for a controversial planned power line and failed to appear in court.
U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson ordered Friday for Andrea Kable to pay $2,000 in attorneys’ fees to the Public Service Enterprise Group after months of escalating tensions that included U.S. marshals being sent to assist surveyors on her property.
The order included the strongest judicial sanctions yet in the heated legal fights over the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a planned transmission line that has angered property owners concerned about the potential use of eminent domain to acquire their land.
In his Friday ruling, Abelson wrote that “on multiple occasions,” Kable had violated a preliminary injunction in which he had allowed PSEG agents onto her property to conduct preliminary surveys. She also did not come to court after he issued an explicit warning that failing to appear “may result in the issuance of the sanctions” requested by PSEG.
Abelson’s opinion detailed multiple encounters in which Kable screamed profanities at surveyors, blocked their path and posted on social media about PSEG agents and lawyers.
“HEY [expletive] PSEG Lawyer [expletive] around and try me again,” Kable wrote in a TikTok caption cited by Abelson in his opinion. “i will ask every land owner to stand with me and you will LOSE. YOU WILL HAVE TO KILL ME.”
Kable, who in an April interview compared a standoff with surveyors to “hostage negotiation,” could not be reached for comment Monday.
Denying PSEG’s request for civil fines, Abelson granted the utility’s contempt motion but awarded far less than its requested $35,000 in attorneys’ fees. In May, the utility said it had spent a total of $102,400 for Venable LLP attorneys in connection with their complaint against Kable.
“Safety of the public and our crews in the field is our top priority,” PSEG said in a statement, adding that it appreciated Abelson’s “thorough review of the facts of this case and his civil contempt finding.”
Litigation over the planned transmission line, which would run 67 miles through Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties, has spanned issues of eminent domain and property owners’ rights as the Maryland Public Service Commission weighs whether to grant PSEG a certificate to build the power line.
The utility has said that the high-voltage transmission line will provide additional capacity needed to prevent the regional power grid from overloading.
Property owners have appealed Abelson’s preliminary injunctions that allow agents onto their land, heading to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for oral arguments in May. The appeals court has not issued a ruling yet.
In another case, the town of New Windsor is suing PSEG to block the utility’s agents from entering town-owned land used to access public water infrastructure. PSEG has filed a counterclaim, asking for a ruling that permits PSEG access to the land and enjoins the town from interfering with their access. The utility declined to comment on that matter, as the litigation is ongoing.
