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County supervisors oppose power-line transmission corridor, cite air pollution concerns
The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors Wednesday went on record in opposition to the proposed Federal designation of a “National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor” that would include the county–a step that would allow electric utilities to override local or state opposition to building new high-voltage power lines.
The board adopted a resolution opposing the request by a regional power-transmission coalition that the Federal Department of Energy designate the corridor as a matter of national interest. Two regional utilities–Allegheny Energy and Dominion Virginia Power–have proposed building a 240-mile-long, 500-kilovolt power line from southwestern Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia.
The currently proposed route of that power line would not cross Rappahannock County. It would cross Frederick, Warren, Fauquier, Prince William and Loudoun Counties, and has stirred strong opposition in those areas. The final route of the power line won’t be chosen until spring or later.
Allegheny and Dominion belong to a regional power-transmission organization, PJM Interconnection, which has requested the U.S. Department of Energy to designate an area including Rappahannock County as a so-called “national interest electric transmission corridor.” Such designation, if approved, would grant the utilities power of eminent domain in siting their power lines–a power that utilities have not had in the past.
The resolution passed by the Rappahannock supervisors notes that “this would be the first creation of a NIETC and would extend the power of eminent domain to the electric power companies in a manner inconsistent with our understanding of the public’s interest.”
The resolution also noted that the proposed Allegeny-Dominion power line would increase power generation from coal-fired utility plants in the Ohio River Valley “which are operating under a variety of exemptions from the Clean Air Act’s emission standards.” The resolution expressed concern that this would increase air pollution from such plants, which degrades the air quality of Shenandoah National Park, which has suffered a decline in tourist visitors in recent years.
Any worsening of air pollution in the Park could hurt the tourism it generates and which benefits “a great portion of our local economy,” according to the resolution. The Board said it “opposes any plan that facilitates the continued avoidance of Clean Air Act standards by power producers whose emissions harm the lives and livelihoods of the citizens of the Commonwealth in general and of the County of Rappahannock in particular.”
The resolution passed unanimously by voice vote with little discussion.
-- James P. Gannon
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