Maryland blocks new power line, raising possibility huge substation would be built in West Virginia

We reported more than a year ago that West Virginia had approved the plans for a massive electric transmission line that would stretch across most of the northern part of the state. Now the Maryland Public Service Commission has stalled construction of the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highway with a Wednesday ruling that Allegheny Energy subsidiary Potomac Edison could not get approval for the project because it wasn't going to be operating the line, Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette reports.

The ruling does not prevent PE from refiling the petition on its own merit, Ward reports. Allegheny Energy said in a statement that it and American Electric Power "continue to move forward with approval proceedings in West Virginia and Virginia as options concerning the Maryland segment of the line are considered."

Ward quotes Bill Howley of The Powerline blog: "West Virginians should consider what would happen if AEP/Allegheny pulled out of Maryland completely and ended the line in Jefferson County. The planned substation that is currently the eastern end of PATH at Kemptown, Md., is planned to take in about 50 acres, and would be one of the largest substations of its kind in the world. That would be a great addition to historic Shepherdstown."(Read more)