The Winchester Star, October 11, 2008

by Drew Houff

WINCHESTER — U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, has joined forces with a member of the Virginia General Assembly to ask Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell to appeal Tuesday’s decision granting permission for a 500-kilovolt transmission line through Northern Virginia.

Wolf wrote a letter to McDonnell in support of a request by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Manassas, to appeal the State Corporation Commission’s decision.

Wolf and Marshall suggest in their letters that the Virginia SCC is letting the final decision be made in Pennsylvania. That state will contain only a portion of the 240-mile project, which would stretch from Washington County in Pennsylvania through West Virginia and into Virginia, stopping in Loudoun County.

The 93-mile portion in Virginia would enter Frederick County at the Virginia-West Virginia border, connect to the Meadow Brook electrical substation south of Stephens City, and then travel through Warren County and on to a substation in Loudoun County.

Wolf’s letter asks McDonnell to act on behalf of Virginia consumers who will be affected by the decision.

“I continue to believe that some in Virginia have lost trust in the regulatory process and decisions like this perpetuate this perception,” wrote Wolf.

He explained that the SCC’s final order even stated that other options might be a more efficient use of capital and much less intrusive on the landscape.

“This statement indicates that the decision could place an unnecessary economic burden on ratepayers in Virginia as it may be more expensive to build transmission lines rather than exploring other options such as integrated planning that considers not only transmission, but generation and conservation,” Wolf also wrote.

In closing, Wolf pleaded with McDonnell to do all that he can to examine the issue to protect Virginia’s interests rather than allow it to be decided in other states.

“I urge you to exhaust every option under your authority and consider the ramifications of such a massive project, particularly given these concerns raised by the SCC commissioners in the final order,” he concluded in his letter.

Marshall’s own letter, dated Tuesday, asked McDonnell to appeal the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court.

“I do not agree with the SCC commissioners’ reading of the Virginia power statute that the General Assembly in effect gave away the authority to regulate the placement of the transmission lines out of the hands of the SCC, and instead gave it to a private entity because that would be an unconstitutional delegation of public authority, which the General Assembly cannot do,” wrote Marshall.

He added that the private entity, PJM Interconnection, may cause the overbuilding of transmission rather than other alternatives, affecting the appearance of the Virginia landscape.

“It is clear that this transmission line is not for the benefit of Virginia electric power consumers because even the Virginia SCC grants only preliminary approval to the line dependent upon the actions of Pennsylvania,” Marshall added. “No such abdication of legislative intent was ever discussed as part of the deregulation bill which passed the General Assembly several years ago, and I doubt it would have passed if that were the clear legislative intent.”