Latest news with #MARL
Dominion Post
2 days ago
- General
- Dominion Post
Hampshire County Commission: Say no to transmission projects
MORGANTOWN — The Hampshire County Commission is urging its counterpart in Monongalia County to take a public stand against high-voltage transmission projects looking at West Virginia as a means to an end. It's exceedingly likely that request will be granted Wednesday, when the Monongalia County Commission takes up a resolution regarding the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link project. In a letter dated July 15, the commissioners in Hampshire County say they're 'deeply concerned' with both the 500 kV MidAtlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) and 750 kV Valley Link projects and ask Monongalia County to help present a 'united front' before grid operator PJM Interconnection and the West Virginia Public Service Commission. 'We propose forming an informal coalition of affected counties and towns to share information, coordinate participation in regulatory proceedings and press for solutions that protect our property values, environment and quality of life,' the letter states. MARL is a 105-mile stretch of high-voltage transmission lines that will run from Greene County, Pa. to Frederick County, Va. Up to 13 miles of that project could run through Monongalia County depending on the route selected. Other West Virginia counties in the potential path include Preston, Mineral, Hampshire and Jefferson. The Valley Link project is a 261-mile high-voltage line that would run from Putnam County to Frederick County, Md. This project could impact more than a dozen counties in West Virginia, including Putnam, Kanawha, Roane, Calhoun, Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire and Jefferson. As one of three counties that could potentially see both transmission projects clear a 200-foot swath through the local countryside, the Hampshire County Commission says it believes there are better alternatives than 'carving through untouched landscapes.' One alternative, the letter explains, is the promotion of local power generation where the energy is actually needed. 'Hampshire County is deeply concerned that the 500 kV MARL project and the 765 kV Valley Link project would erect massive 160-foot transmission towers across our scenic ridges and valleys, primarily to carry electricity from generation in West Virginia and Pennsylvania to far-off data centers in Louden County, Virginia. These lines would impose significant burdens on our communities without providing any meaningful local benefit.' The comments out of Hampshire County are very similar to those shared by commissioners here when they sat down with representatives from NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic earlier this month. 'I don't see the benefit we're getting in Mon County at all,' Commissioner Tom Bloom said. 'You have a job to do, but I don't like it on the backs of Mon County residents, and that's what I'm worried about.'
Dominion Post
11-07-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
Mon Commission 'struggling to see a benefit' from transmission project
MORGANTOWN — What direct benefit will NextEra's MidAtlantic Resiliency Link power transmission project provide to Monongalia County and its residents in trade for clearing a 200-foot swath through up to 13 miles of countryside? Members of the Monongalia County Commission asked that question several different ways Wednesday when they sat for a work session with Kaitlin McCormick, the project's senior director for NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic To paraphrase the answers – that's yet to be determined, and it's for the greater good. The MidAtlantic Resiliency Link is a 105-mile stretch of 500-kilovolt transmission lines that will run from Greene County, Pa., to Frederick County, Va. The county commission was first notified in December that Monongalia County falls within the area being considered for the 'major highway for energy and electrons.' While the final route has yet to be selected, some residents within potentially impacted counties — Monongalia, Preston, Mineral, Hampshire and Jefferson counties in West Virginia — have started turning up the heat on local elected officials to take a public stand against what they see as little more than a massive extension cord being pulled across West Virginia to plug in power-hungry data centers in northern Virginia. To be clear, NextEra needs no approvals or support from counties. The backing it needs will ultimately come from the West Virginia Public Service Commission, which is where the political pressure lands as counties along the potential route say they want out. Since May 27, commissions in Hampshire, Preston and Mineral counties have issued resolutions opposing MARL in their counties. The Monongalia County Commission has yet to take a public position. When pressed for local benefits, McCormick primarily hammered the point that the project has been identified by grid operator PJM as necessary to ensure reliability in the face of growing electricity demand and aging infrastructure. As part of PJM's 13-state territory, McCormick continued, West Virginians will benefit from that increased reliability. 'A more resilient electric grid can help minimize the likelihood of power outages and blackouts. Winter and summer peaks continue to place increased strain on the current electric grid,' McCormick said. 'Just recently, there was a heat wave in this region, and in fact, on June 24, PJM experienced the highest load that it's had in over a decade within the system.' While McCormick said the MARL project would support 'ongoing technological advancements,' she stopped short of engaging in discussion of data centers, which groups like the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis have identified as the primary beneficiary of the MARL project. A data center is a physical room, building or facility that houses IT infrastructure for building, running and delivering online applications and services. A single center can match the power draw of a metropolitan area. Northern Virginia is the data center hub of the East Coast. The facilities are the backbone of our always-online existence and increasingly in demand as advancements like artificial intelligence continue to push the need for additional capacity. According to the IEEFA, electricity demand across the PJM territory has remained relatively flat for nearly two decades. That's changed the last three years almost exclusively to the rise of data centers, which accounted for more than one-quarter of Virginia's electricity consumption in 2023. Asked why the power couldn't be pulled from a source closer to where it's needed, in northern Virginia, McCormick said, 'There is a lot to this project. The project is providing reliability benefits to the entire region. It is not simply providing any single load or user with electricity.' Throughout the meeting, members of the commission addressed a number of NextEra's talking points, noting the jobs created by the project would be temporary and filled from 'the broader region,' not necessarily Monongalia County or even West Virginia. Further, Commissioner Sean Sikora said the tax revenue dollars estimated for Monongalia County by NextEra aren't worth 'seeing our county severely impacted by this and seeing our citizens severely impacted.' 'I look at things from a cost-benefit analysis and I'm struggling with the benefits. I really am. And I'm not trying to be disrespectful. I'm just trying to understand the overall benefit to Mon County. We, as a state, get used a lot. You know, we're very proud of what we have here in Mon County. Our residents are very proud of their properties,' Sikora continued. 'We're concerned, and we echo their concerns about what the impact is to our community. It's hard to find a benefit.' It was noted during the meeting that Monongalia County has two power plants and West Virginia is a net exporter of power onto the PJM grid. Asked whether West Virginia ratepayers — and ratepayers across the PJM region — would ultimately foot the bill for the project via rate increases, McCormick explained it would fall to PJM and the PSC to make that determination. 'For the most part, I don't see a large benefit from it in Monongalia County, and that's primarily what we're interested in,' Commission President Jeff Arnett concluded. 'That's what we're tasked with protecting, and that's who we're tasked with serving.'
Dominion Post
28-06-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
Monongalia County Commission wants to sit down with NextEra
MORGANTOWN — After being inundated in recent weeks with correspondence and public comment against a power transmission project eyeing a potential route through parts of Monongalia County, the Monongalia County Commission is seeking an audience with NextEra, the company building it. The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link, or MARL, is a 105-mile, 550-kilovolt 'major highway' of overhead transmission lines stretching from Greene County, Pa. to Frederick County, Va. It's to be constructed by NextEra by the end of 2031. While the exact path from Point A to Point B has yet to be selected, Monongalia, Preston, Hampshire and Mineral counties are within the route selection study area in West Virginia. Maryland's Allegany and Garrett counties are also included, as is Fayette County in Pennsylvania. The project will require a 200-foot right of way along its entire length, and some residents in the potentially-impacted areas have started organizing and voicing concerns about the possibility of an 'electricity superhighway' running through or near their properties. The possible impacts are made more disturbing, critics say, because rural parts of West Virginia will serve as no more than a pass-through in order to plug in a power hungry portion of northern Virginia that serves as the data center hub of the east coast. Monongalia County Commissioner Sean Sikora said representatives from NextEra initially indicated they would be in town, so the commission scheduled a work session following its June 25 meeting. 'After providing that availability, we scheduled a meeting and they indicated that they weren't available,' Sikora said. 'So, I relayed to them my displeasure that they didn't come to talk to us because we've been getting a lot of correspondence regarding this project, and we're not hearing from them. All we're hearing is from the public.' In an emailed response, NextEra Senior Development Director Kaitlin McCormick assured the commission that no decisions have been made about the route of the project, and that the path chosen by the company will ultimately be subject to review by the public service commissions of the impacted states. Further, she reminded the commission that the company recently held eight open houses across the project study area to collect public input. Lastly, McCormick reiterated NextEra's belief that the project could generate anywhere from $150 million to $400 million in tax revenue for West Virginia and $50 million to $100 million for Monongalia depending on the route selected. McCormick and other NextEra representatives originally sat down with the commission in December to generally describe the project and let the body know Monongalia County is within its route study area. Many of the communications being received by the commission of late are highlighting the actions of its Preston County counterpart. On May 29, the Preston County Commission passed a resolution opposing the MARL project as currently proposed and urging state and federal regulators, as well as NextEra, to halt any development of the project through Preston County. Sikora has said the Mon Commission is looking into the matter. 'The commission is doing its fact finding to understand all angles of the project. Just because we've been silent doesn't mean we're not getting educated on the issue,' he said. 'It's the intent of this commission to generally research issues and make sure we have all the facts before we weigh in.' It's expected that at least one member of the commission plans will attend a community-organized meeting planned for 1 p.m. Sunday at Rexroad Auction, located at 887 Rexroad Farm Road, in Bruceton Mills.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Monongalia County Commission wants to sit down with NextEra
Jun. 27—MORGANTOWN — After being inundated in recent weeks with correspondence and public comment against a power transmission project eyeing a potential route through parts of Monongalia County, the Monongalia County Commission is seeking an audience with NextEra, the company building it. The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link, or MARL, is a 105-mile, 550-kilovolt "major highway " of overhead transmission lines stretching from Greene County, Pa. to Frederick County, Va. It's to be constructed by NextEra by the end of 2031. While the exact path from Point A to Point B has yet to be selected, Monongalia, Preston, Hampshire and Mineral counties are within the route selection study area in West Virginia. Maryland's Allegany and Garrett counties are also included, as is Fayette County in Pennsylvania. The project will require a 200-foot right of way along its entire length, and some residents in the potentially-impacted areas have started organizing and voicing concerns about the possibility of an "electricity superhighway " running through or near their properties. The possible impacts are made more disturbing, critics say, because rural parts of West Virginia will serve as no more than a pass-through in order to plug in a power hungry portion of northern Virginia that serves as the data center hub of the east coast. Monongalia County Commissioner Sean Sikora said representatives from NextEra initially indicated they would be in town, so the commission scheduled a work session following its June 25 meeting. "After providing that availability, we scheduled a meeting and they indicated that they weren't available, " Sikora said. "So, I relayed to them my displeasure that they didn't come to talk to us because we've been getting a lot of correspondence regarding this project, and we're not hearing from them. All we're hearing is from the public." In an emailed response, NextEra Senior Development Director Kaitlin McCormick assured the commission that no decisions have been made about the route of the project, and that the path chosen by the company will ultimately be subject to review by the public service commissions of the impacted states. Further, she reminded the commission that the company recently held eight open houses across the project study area to collect public input. Lastly, McCormick reiterated NextEra's belief that the project could generate anywhere from $150 million to $400 million in tax revenue for West Virginia and $50 million to $100 million for Monongalia depending on the route selected. McCormick and other NextEra representatives originally sat down with the commission in December to generally describe the project and let the body know Monongalia County is within its route study area. Many of the communications being received by the commission of late are highlighting the actions of its Preston County counterpart. On May 29, the Preston County Commission passed a resolution opposing the MARL project as currently proposed and urging state and federal regulators, as well as NextEra, to halt any development of the project through Preston County. Sikora has said the Mon Commission is looking into the matter. "The commission is doing its fact finding to understand all angles of the project. Just because we've been silent doesn't mean we're not getting educated on the issue, " he said. "It's the intent of this commission to generally research issues and make sure we have all the facts before we weigh in." It's expected that at least one member of the commission plans will attend a community-organized meeting planned for 1 p.m. Sunday at Rexroad Auction, located at 887 Rexroad Farm Road, in Bruceton Mills.
Dominion Post
22-06-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
Stewartstown residents share opposition to MARL transmission line
dbeard@ MORGANTOWN– Stewartstown-area residents gathered at the community building Saturday afternoon to learn about and share their concerns about the NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic Resiliency Link project. 'This is a raising local awareness effort here today,' said Kent Hunter, who lives on the next hill over from the community center. 'We probably can't stop this but we can maybe impact where the route eventually ends up.' Some residents check out the information tables before the meeting while others at their seats talk about the project. MARL, as it's called, is a proposed transmission project to build a new 105-mile 500-kilovolt transmission line stretching from Greene County, Pa., to Frederick County, Va. Depending on the route selected, it could pass through Monongalia and Preston counties, along with Hampshire County and Mineral counties, Allegany Garrett county in Maryland and Fayette County in Pennsylvania. The project also consists of building a new 500/138-kV substation in Frederick County, Va. Hunter was one of four speakers to address the residents. He said he learned about MARL in December after NextEra met with the Monongalia County Commission. He was among the landowners on the possible local routes who received a postcard from NextEra in February. Concerned, he contacted former Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer and Delegate Evan Hansen, and they got involved in the awareness-and-opposition effort. Among the concerns Hunter and others cited is, who pays for this. 'It just takes away our land,' he said. 'It doesn't help us in any way at all that we can find.' And it will likely decrease property values of those whose land it crosses. At a May open house, NextEra's Kaitlin McCormick answered a question from The Dominion Post about the expected local benefits. She cited three: reliable power; the opportunity for high-demand customers to interconnect; and local tax revenue – $50 million to $100 million over the 40-year life of the project. Residents remain skeptical, though. Speakers several times cited a study by Cathy Kunkel, energy consultant at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, that indicates West Virginia ratepayers will pay more than $440 million in increased electricity rates over the next 40 years for MARL and the related Valley Link Transmission line that is planned to run from the John Amos plant in Putnam County eastward to Frederick County, Md. PJM Interconnection, the regional 13-state power grid operator, selected MARL and Valley Link, among a number of projects, based on its long-range Regional Transmission Expansion Plan, to address reliability issues associated with loss of power generation sources, support for new power sources and additional electricity demand in the region. Public perception – echoed in Kunkel's report – ties much of that new demand to data centers in Virginia. Fleischauer, one of the speakers, said there's not enough local benefit to justify the rate hikes. 'We don't see the value in being a pass through.' Speaker Rachel Stevens, who lives just north of Bruceton Mills and whose neighbors are on a potential route, listed several areas of concern about the line. Along with diminished property values and higher electric bills, she cited possible environmental impacts along the route and the impacts on landowners who will be subject to possible eminent domain proceedings for the line's 200-foot right of way. Speaker Jim Kotcon, a retired WVU professor, explained some of the process ahead. After selecting a route, NextEra is looking to file applications with the state Public Service Commission and other state's regulators early this fall. A project timeline shows expected state regulatory approvals in spring 2027, start of construction in fall 2029, completion by fall 2031 and lines in service by winter 2031. PSC has 270 days from NextEra's application date to grant or deny approval, he said, and any eminent domain proceedings to gain access to land would begin after that. He suggested four strategies to respond: take the best possible offer for the right of way (but don't be the first to agree because they get the worst offers); work to get the line moved to another route; make sure the line avoids public lands (though this would affect more private landowners); or simply just oppose the line. Fleischauer continued that line of thought. 'There's hope that we can do something about this,' she said. The key fight will be when the PSC is considering approval. And 'not in my back yard' won't sway them. They will need clear evidence that the line won't benefit West Virginia. During a public Q&A session, residents cited some other concerns, including the effects on Cheat Lake recreation and business with new, big, unsightly power lines passing overhead. One lakeside landowner said, 'It's very disturbing.' There was a general understanding that landowners along all the proposed routes aren't going to want the line in their yards and will be opposing it. Fleischauer said, 'If we are going to succeed, we are going to have to make the most noise.' Another community informational meeting is set for 1 p.m. June 29 at Rexroad Auction in Bruceton Mills.
