Aug. 28—dbeard @dominionpost.com MORGANTOWN — Public protests against the proposed MARL transmission line have begun pouring in to the state Public Service Commission — 158 so far.
NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic told the PSC on Wednesday that it intends to apply for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for its MidAtlantic Resiliency Link Project. And the PSC began posting the letters of protest the same day.
The first batch contained 155 letters. Three are from individuals, submitted electronically.
The other 152 are in the form of three handwritten letters drafted by and with signatures collected by a single individual who lives in Virginia. Many of the signatories live in the Eastern Panhandle.
The signatures were collected back on May 10 and May 14 and date-stamped by the PSC on Wednesday when the case officially opened.
This letter says: “We, the people signed below, are opposed to the new transmission line. It will decrease our property value and limit the use of our land. It will have an impact on our lives and land. It will also ruin our scenic view. Our property shouldn’t become a huge power grid.”
The two letters from May 14 add a phrase to the final sentence: “… if more is needed in the future.”
Of the three letters submitted electronically, one is from a Bruceton Mills resident and says, “I am a Preston County resident. I do not want any part of this project to be completed. It does not benefit West Virginia residents in any way.”
A letter filed electronically on Thursday, comes from Beth Ann Bossio, who works at a Christmas tree business based in Morgantown, and Fairchance and Smithfield, Pa. She spoke at a public meeting about MARL held in Morgantown in early August.
Her letter to PSC says, “The proposed routes would significantly harm landowners, farms, forests, and communities. In addition, the project would be funded through utility rate increases, placing an unnecessary financial burden on West Virginians. This infrastructure is designed primarily to serve data centers in Virginia, turning West Virginia into an ‘extension cord’ while we shoulder the damage.
She continues, “This type of infrastructure would scar the natural beauty of “Almost Heaven, ” one of our state’s greatest treasures. My concerns do not end here ; there are many more. This project does not serve our people and would cause lasting damage to the landscapes and communities of our region.”
Several of the letters address Potomac Edison’s Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek Improvement Project, which is a separate project from NextEra’s. These letters will be discussed in a forthcoming story.
MARL 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.
PJM Interconnection, the regional 13-state power grid operator, selected 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., 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.