Transmission line proposal up for discussion

Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council will provide an update on the proposed Dominion Virginia Power transmission line project during a meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Jeffersonton Community Center in northern Culpeper County.

"In one word, it's unneeded," PEC spokesman Bob Lazaro said of the 68-mile power line extension that would cross Culpeper County's South Wales housing development. "This isn't about keeping the lights on in northern Virginia or in Culpeper or Orange County.

"This is about sending cheap power to New York City."
Richmond-based Dominion, on the other hand, has said the project is needed because existing power lines in the region are expected to reach full capacity in the next four years, and without it blackouts could occur. The company attributes its need for more power to population growth and greater electric consumption.

At the center of the debate are the 15-story towers that would be erected to transmit the power. Opponents say the tall towers - which in some cases would tower 165 feet above ground - would obstruct views and could pose health risks to nearby homeowners.

The State Corporation Commission, Virginia's utility regulatory agency, is reviewing the Dominion proposal and will host one more public hearing next month before beginning the formal case Feb. 24.

As part of Tuesday's meeting, the PEC will share the documents it filed with the SCC last week regarding the case.

Lazaro said the 13-pound, several hundred-page packet includes expert testimony on numerous fronts including the question of need for the new power lines, energy conservation, real estate valuations, scenic and cultural damage and installing the lines underground.

Citizens have until Dec. 14 to submit public comments to the SCC on the proposal, via mail or online. Lazaro said the SCC would likely issue its final ruling in late spring or early summer of 2008.

In a related matter, the U.S. Department of Energy last week said it would grant a rehearing on its October decision to designate Virginia localities - including Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Rappahannock counties - as a "national interest electric transmission corridor."

Per the federal designation, the federal government could approve a major power line project, like the Dominion proposal, if state officials failed to do so after a year.

According to the Associated Press, "Such a decision would mark the first time the federal government assumed that type of authority over what has historically been regarded as a state decision." Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Attorney General Bob McDonnell both weighed in on the October decision, asking that Virginia's 15 counties and seven cities be excluded from the electric transmission corridor.

Kaine welcomed last week's announcement, telling the AP that he hoped the federal government would "honor the historic and traditional right of the states to make these decisions."

The PEC had also requested the rehearing, and Lazaro said the recent turn of events provides some hope.

"That said, we are not popping any corks on the champagne bottle," he said, because as it stands now power companies can still apply to locate within the Virginia corridor. "They did not issue a stay. While it is nice that they said they will reconsider, we are not celebrating."

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or

Want to go-
The Piedmont Environmental Council will give an update Tuesday on Dominion Virginia Power's plan to erect 15-story
towers in northern Culpeper County as part of its 68-mile electric line expansion. The public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Jeffersonton Community Center, 5073 Jeffersonton Road.