A major new power line is humming across the Appalachians "in a suprisingly quick five years," Environment & Energy News reports: "More elaborate variations of the saga of this power line are likely to be repeated throughout the United States as the nation's power grid struggles to serve the rising transmission needs of renewable power generation. But the variations may not be as quick, or as relatively inexpensive or as easy to justify."
The Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL) of regional grid manager PJM Interconnection runs from southern Pennsylvania to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. E & E reporter Beter Behr notes, "It won its approval before the recession changed electricity's growth forecasts," and PJM is re-evaluating the need for other lines.
After opposition from owners of horse farms and major estates worried about views, the line's path was moved to parallel a Dominion Power line. That put it through the cattle farm of Virginia Dorkey, left, in southern Fauquier County, Virginia. "There's a hell of a lot more money in north Fauquier County than there is here," she told Behr, noting the 40-foot Dominion towers were "not an eyesore," like the new 140-footers, Behr writes.
The fight against the line in Virginia was led by the Piedmont Environmental Council. Its questions about expected electricity demand did prompt PJM to suspend plans for the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), which we reported on here.
The battle "also led, indirectly, to a stunning policy reversal on siting transmission lines," Behr reports. In a Piedmont Council lawsuit, a federal appeals court nullified a 2005 law giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission "siting authority for siting major transmission lines in the mid-Atlantic, one of the 'national interest' corridors where congestion threatens grid reliability. The court ruled that under the law's plain language, FERC could intervene if state commissions failed to act on a transmission proposal lying in a national corridor, but not if a state rejected the project outright. That court decision strengthens the hand of mid-Atlantic state governors who want to build offshore wind power farms on their coasts rather than see Midwestern wind power imported into their urban areas." (Read more, subscription required)
The fight against the line in Virginia was led by the Piedmont Environmental Council. Its questions about expected electricity demand did prompt PJM to suspend plans for the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), which we reported on here.
The battle "also led, indirectly, to a stunning policy reversal on siting transmission lines," Behr reports. In a Piedmont Council lawsuit, a federal appeals court nullified a 2005 law giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission "siting authority for siting major transmission lines in the mid-Atlantic, one of the 'national interest' corridors where congestion threatens grid reliability. The court ruled that under the law's plain language, FERC could intervene if state commissions failed to act on a transmission proposal lying in a national corridor, but not if a state rejected the project outright. That court decision strengthens the hand of mid-Atlantic state governors who want to build offshore wind power farms on their coasts rather than see Midwestern wind power imported into their urban areas." (Read more, subscription required)
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