MORGANTOWN – Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom said Wednesday that the commission will file for intervenor status with the West Virginia Public Service Commission in regard to the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link project.
Bloom said he anticipates an action item on the commission’s agenda next week to that effect.
NextEra Energy Transmission LLC is seeking PSC approval for its Application for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and Related Relief for the MARL project – a proposed 107.5-mile, 500-kilovolt power line running from Greene County, Pennsylvania to Frederick County, Virginia.
About 58.9 miles of the line would cross through West Virginia, including 5.9 miles in Monongalia County. Mineral (10.9 miles), Preston (15.8) and Hampshire (26.2) counties would also be impacted.
The county commissions in each of the four counties have passed resolutions in opposition to West Virginia’s inclusion in the project. Monongalia County will be the last of the four to file as an intervenor in the case.
As an intervenor, the county will be a formal party in the PSC’s consideration of NextEra’s application, able to participate in hearings, submit testimony and evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and receive all case filings and updates. Further, only intervenors have the right to appeal the PSC decision.
But intervenor status isn’t reserved for political bodies.
Grassroots community organization WATI, or West Virginians Against Transmission Line Injustice, was the first to intervene in the MARL case. The group is recruiting more to the cause.
During Wednesday’s commission meeting, Judith Delagarza said WATI recently completed eight intervenor workshops across the four counties for individuals or other groups interested in getting involved.
The deadline to petition the PSC for intervenor status is June 1.
“In today’s paper, NextEra finally published their notice of filing for this county. It’s already come out in some of the other counties, but today was the first of the two required publications,” she said. “And so now we’re just waiting for NextEra to send out the certified letters to all of the impacted landowners in Mon County.”
Earlier this month, the PSC scheduled for public hearings to be held on the MARL project:
- Potomac State College Davis Conference Center, Keyser, 5:30 p.m., June 4
- Hampshire County Courthouse, Romney, 5:30 p.m., June 5
- Mon County Center in Mylan Park, Morgantown, 5:30 p.m., June 10
- Kingwood Civic Center, Kingwood, 5:30 p.m., June 11
As of last week, more than 4,000 letters of protest and 115 letters of support had been submitted to the PSC regarding the project.
In other commission news, the body approved a request from the Monongalia County Abandoned & Dilapidated Property Enforcement Agency to move four properties to the complaint stage.
Those properties are: 62 Brock Mine Road; 1272 Lazelle Union Road; 2363 Fairmont Road; and a property on Grafton Road located across from the intersection with Gum Springs Road.
Entering the complaint stage opens a 60-day window for property owners to complete the needed work before daily fines are imposed.
