7/29/2009

A new plan for another extra high-voltage transmission line has Virginia in its sights. This time it's the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH line) running through West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. If approved, the project would make the east coast even more dependent on coal-fired power plants, and further undermine local investments in energy efficiency and clean power, like wind and solar.

This latest transmission line would start at the John E. Amos coal plant --one of the largest, most polluting power plants in the country. The new line would cost around $1.8 billion, on which PATH is guaranteed a 14.3% rate of return. And in order to build the line, the utilities need permission to take land from citizens in three states. To learn more, visit our website, read Sierra Club's opinion piece in the Washington Post, or check out the West Virginia Coal Association's letter supporting PATH.

• For more information, view PEC's email about the August, 2009 Public Meetings