The Monongalia County Commission is making its thoughts on the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link project known in Charleston.
In letters addressed to both Gov. Patrick Morrisey and the West Virginia Public Service Commission, the county commission conveyed its “strong opposition” to Monongalia County being included in the path of the 500-kilovolt overhead power line project running from Greene County, Pa. to Frederick County, Va.
A handful of counties in West Virginia – Monongalia, Preston, Hampshire and Mineral – have been identified by project developer NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic as part of the potential route.
Each of the counties has passed a resolution voicing opposition.
In correspondence dated Sept. 17, the commission tells both Morrisey and the WVPSC that it believes bringing the lines through Monongalia County would “impose significant and lasting harm on our community while providing no meaningful local benefit.”
Much like the aforementioned resolution, the letters say the power lines would irreparably impact family-owned land, farms, forests and environmentally sensitive areas. The commission says the project is a risk to property values, agricultural operations, tourism and the scenic character of the county.
It also points out that West Virginia and Monongalia County are already doing their part to support the power grid.
“West Virginia is a leader in energy production, ranking fifth nationally, and Monongalia County has already made substantial contributions to meeting regional energy needs. Our county is home to two coal-fired power plants and has approved the construction of a natural gas plant, demonstrating a longstanding commitment to supporting reliable energy generation,” the letters state. “Despite this, the MARL project seeks to turn Monongalia County into a transmission corridor primarily serving out-of-state interests, particularly data centers in Northern Virginia.”
In late 2023, grid operator PJM, which oversees the distribution of power to the 13-state region that includes West Virginia, approved MARL as part of a series of “baseline reliability” projects needed to offset the deactivation of more than 11,000 MW of power generation and “significant impacts to the grid from up to 7,500 MW of new data centers to be cited in Virginia and Maryland.”
NextEra Energy Transmission informed the WVPSC on Aug. 27 that it intends to apply for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for MARL within 30 to 90 days.
As of Friday afternoon, the WVPSC had received 864 pieces of correspondence opposing the project.
