Following a two day evidentiary hearing in Richmond in August 2015 and one final public hearing was held in Warrenton on August 10, 2015, the Warrenton to Wheeler transmission line case is slowly moving towards resolution.
Transmission
The Piedmont Environmental Council has some experience dealing with Dominion and transmission line proposals through our region. In 2006 and 2008, utilities proposed two unnecessary high-voltage transmission lines that would connect to the oldest and dirtiest coal-fired generation in the United States. Learn more about the TrAIL line (approved and built) and the PATH line (turned down). More recently, a series of projects has been proposed, each with its own set of details and impacts.
Power Hungry
This past May, 125 people gathered at the Rapidan fire hall to discuss how to protect the community and its historic and scenic landscape from Dominion’s newly proposed Remington-Pratts-Gordonsville Transmission Project.
Background on Warrenton-Wheeler-Gainesville
Dominion and Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) are pursuing a new 230kV transmission line through Prince William County and Fauquier, stating current or future reliability issues associated with the Warrenton Substation in Fauquier County, and the Wheeler and Gainesville Substations in Prince William County, as the reason for the project.
May 12 Email Alert: Transmission Line Update
Last week over 125 people gathered at the Rapidan fire hall to discuss how to protect our community and this historic and scenic landscape from the newly proposed Remington-Pratts-Gordonsville Transmission Project. From our initial look, the new 230-kv line is expensive and doesn’t address local needs.
About the Remington-Pratts-Gordonsville line
What we know about the project so far.
Coal-By-Wire Transmission Line: DEFEATED
For six years, the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH)—a massive, unnecessary 765-kV transmission line— has threatened Virginia. The line was to start in southwest West Virginia, travel northeast through previously undisturbed land, eventually cross through Virginia’s northern Piedmont, and wind up near Frederick, Maryland. PEC and our allies have been fighting this wasteful project for years, and we have some good news: The PATH transmission line project is officially dead. On August 24th, the Board of PJM, our regional grid operators, voted to cancel the project.
PEC Expert Testimony in the TrAIL Line Case
In December 2007, Piedmont Environmental Council submitted the testimony of nine expert witnesses to the VA State Corporation Commission. These witnesses outline the many reasons this transmission line application should be denied by the SCC.
PEC Testifies to Congress on Transmission Policy
PEC President Chris Miller was one of twelve experts from across the country summoned to testify before a House of Representatives subcommittee at a June 12 hearing entitled “The Future of the Grid: Proposals for Reforming National Transmission Policy.”
Background on the TrAIL Line
The 500-kV transmission line proposed by Dominion Virginia Power and Allegheny Power (through their subsidiary TrAILCo) would begin in Western Pennsylvania, cross through West Virginia, and end in Loudoun County, Virginia. In Virginia it would pass through the Meadow Brook Substation in Frederick County on its way to the Arcola Substation in Loudoun County.
PATH Gears Up For Round II
The following text was sent out via email alert on 07/14/2010:
It looks like PATH is gearing up for a second attempt at getting their transmission line approved and sited across three states. In June, PJM reaffirmed the “need” for PATH, and in early July, PATH submitted new testimony in West Virginia. We expect a new application to be submitted in Virginia and Maryland soon.
There are also scoping hearings being held by the National Parks Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on July 19, 20, 21 and 22 to take public comment to help develop the scope of the federal review on the impact of the PATH project.