Power line project on schedule

Construction is under way on a 500-kilovolt regional power line that’s sparked powerful protests from area residents and environmental groups.

The 65-mile-long Meadow Brook to Loudoun project is part of a three-state electric transmission line proposed by Dominion Virginia power. The rest of the project, which is proposed by Allegheny Energy, will run from Pennsylvania, through West Virginia and Virginia. Overall, the 240-mile-long, multi-state project carries an estimated $1.3 billion price tag.

Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson confirmed that work on the project in the Culpeper and Fauquier areas is on schedule. She said about seven miles of the project will pass through northern Culpeper County in the South Wales area near U.S. 211.

Dominion plans to put the $243 million Meadow Brook-to-Loudoun line in service by June 1, 2011, according to the company’s Web site. Dominion says the line is essential to meet the region’s growing demand for electricity.

The company also says the route proposed and subsequently recommended by the State Corporation Commission is adjacent to or within an existing utility right-of-way through Warren, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Fauquier, Prince William and Loudoun counties.

However, many residents in the area have opposed the plan from the beginning. They say the growth numbers presented by company officials and state utility regulators don’t add up and that alternative routings for the line and consideration of programs to reduce, rather than expand energy consumption, were dismissed too quickly.

Dominion filed an application with the SCC in April 2007. In October 2008, the SCC unanimously approved the project. The Piedmont Environmental Coalition last November filed an appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court.

“We’re still waiting on a decision on that,” PEC spokesman Robert Lazaro said. He added the court’s decision might come later this month.

Pending the court decision, Lazaro indicated it wasn’t immediately clear what the PEC’s next step might be. Last year, during a meeting at the Jeffersonton Community Center, PEC President Chris Miller advised residents to seek their own legal help if they’re worried about the project’s impact on their individual properties.

Anderson confirmed that Dominion is working one-on-one with some landowners with “unique situations” to mitigate the impact of the project.

“We’ve had to make some minor adjustments, but we are using the approved route from the SCC,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the average height of the towers supporting the overhead lines is 140 feet, with adjustments made for local topography. When completed, she said, the electric corridor will have 3,450 megavolt-amperes of additional capacity.

One of the main complaints about the project is the height of the towers. Anderson said the height is necessary for safety reasons.

“We have to maintain a certain distance between where the line is and the ground and we have to take into account the sag that the line will have when there’s electricity flowing through,” she said.
Anderson said contractors are handling much of the work, but added that Dominion workers have hands-on roles as well.