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Prince
William County, Virginia |
Sudley North Government Center |
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Transmission Lines (Some of the files on this page are very large and may not download immediately) What's New There have been some new developments in the transmission
line issue. In a report filed July 28, 2008, State Corporation Commission (SCC)
Hearing Examiner Alexander Skirpan held that construction of the transmission
line proposed by Dominion Virginia Power is necessary to serve northern Virginia
and to resolve overloads projected to occur in 2011. The report recommends the
Commission grant approval for the applicants, Dominion Virginia Power, to
construct the proposed Meadow Brook – Loudoun 500 kV transmission line within
existing company owned right-of-way (ROW) for the entire path in Virginia; the
Dominion segment is generally known as the proposed “Southern” Route. Overview of the Issue Dominion
Power has proposed to build a
500kV transmission line from the Meadow Brook substation in In conjunction with the proposed transmission
lines, PJM
Interconnection, a regional
transmission organization of which Dominion is a member, has applied for a NIETC designation. Known
as the Allegheny
Mountain NIETC,,
it includes 15 Counties in On February 13, 2007, Dominion Power issued a
press release
announcing that they had chosen a preferred route for the Meadow Brook to
Loudoun Substation transmission line. This alignment is the "Existing
Corridor Alternative" which is approximately 68 miles long. While
this alignment is significantly different from the original proposed alignment,
the preferred alignment will still affect large portions of What Your Elected Officials Are Doing My office has been working closely with
Congressman Davis, Congressman Wolf, State Senator Colgan, Delegate Marshall as
well as representatives of neighboring jurisdictions, and local groups. We
have been coordinating our efforts in order to attain the greatest effect.
Below is a brief history of actions taken by me, the Prince William Board of On December 5, 2006, Dominion Power came before the Board of County Supervisors. In that meeting, Dominion Power committed to responding to several questions I had in writing so that I could distribute the answers to residents who were interested in the topic. After numerous requests, Dominion has finally sent a response to my questions. On December 12, 2006, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) unanimously passed a resolution opposing the transmission lines and the designation of a NIET corridor. As of February 2007, eight other jurisdictions and organizations have passed similar resolutions, with more expected to do so in the future. On January 24, 2007 I held an Emergency Town Hall Meeting on the proposed transmission lines at Battlefield High School. Approximately 800 people attended the meeting, which was intended to educate people on the issue and let people know what they can do to help. Congressman Davis, Congressman Wolf, and Delegate Marshall attended and spoke on their individual efforts on this issue. I have included the presentation slides given at this meeting. Senator Colgan, Delegate Marshall and other
legislators in the 1. Delegate Bob Marshall's HB 3031, which lets a locality set the conditions for the placement of overhead electric power transmission lines in conformity to the comprehensive plan of the locality. 2. Delegate Timothy Hugo’s HB 2708, requires service providers to purchase excess electricity generated by a customer-generator upon request of the customer-generator. 3. Senator Colgan’s SB 1362, requires the State Corporation Commission to review the monetary effect the facility will have on the value of land and structures along a proposed corridor, the applicant’s assessment of need, load flow analysis and method of installation. In addition, the bill requires a GIS map be made publicly available on the applicant’s website, and requires the Joint Commission on Technology and Science to convene a workgroup to develop recommendations as to the factors that should be considered by the State Corporation Commission in reviewing applications for the construction of electrical utility facilities. On February 5, 2007, Congressman Wolf and Congressman Davis introduced their cosponsored bill (H.R.829) before Congress, which if approved, will repeal the section of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that authorized the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to designate National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC) and/or grant permits for projects in those corridors. Progress of the bill can be tracked on the Library of Congress website. From the main page you can search for the bill by number (H.R. 829) or by the bill's sponsors. Several residents have contacted our office regarding the possible health effects of living near transmission lines. Congressman Wolf has sent our office literature from the Library of Congress. This information can be viewed on the internet through the following links: http://health.nih.gov/result.asp?disease_id=229&terms=electromagnetic http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/faq/pwrlines.htm http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/faq/substation.htm http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/magnetic-fields http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/emf/ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/electromagneticfields.html http://www.who.int/peh-emf/en/ http://www.mcw.edu/gcrc/cop/powerlines-cancer-FAQ/toc.html http://www.niehs.nih.gov/emfrapid/ www.epri.com/emf/294825_NIEHSreport1999.pdf http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2004/112-6/ss.html Energy Efficiency and Load Management: Dominion Power Filing: The SCC has not yet issued the scheduling order for this case. Representatives of the SCC have said that correspondence on this case should be held until appropriate email addresses and Post Offfice box can be set up. I will announce this information as soon as it becomes available. Department of Energy Public Hearing: This report states on page 131 that all applications for rehearing must be received within 30 days. Any resident who filed comments with DOE can consider applying for a rehearing (see page 130 for clarity). What Can You Do Now? 1. There are several
things every resident can do which will help our efforts. I have included
a contact list
of your elected officials. I encourage you to contact your elected
officials and let them know how you feel on this issue.
In particular, I would recommend that you contact Governor Tim Kaine as
he is instrumental in setting energy policy for the State of
2. Stay informed. I am periodically sending information to everyone who has requested updates on the issue. If you would like to be included, please email Gainesville@pwcgov.org and ask to be added to the distribution list. In addition to my website, several other organizations are following this issue. I have included links to different websites below: www.wewontglow.com 3. Attend public meetings and rallies. 4. Finally, spread
the word. Try to get at least five family members or friends to contact
their elected officials. There is strength in numbers.
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