PSC questions local impacts of grid expansion through W.Va.
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CHARLESTON - Two out of the three members of the West Virginia Public Service Commission questioned the necessity of proposed 500 kilovolt electric transmission line through parts of the state during the second day of evidentiary hearings Tuesday.
PSC Chairwoman Charlotte Lane and commissioner Bill Rainey questioned Sami Abdulsalam, senior director of transmission planning at PJM Interconnection, the 13-state regional transmission organization which West Virginia is a member of.
Abdulsalam was asked about the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) project, a 500-kilovolt high-voltage transmission line that would begin in Greene County, Pa., and go through parts of Monongalia, Preston, Mineral and Hampshire counties before ending in Frederick County, Va.
According to NextEra Energy Transmission LLC, the company working on MARL, the project was the result of PJM's anticipated needs - based on a 2022 long-range Regional Transmission Expansion Plan – to provide electricity to Northern Virginia's data centers and reduce the load on existing transmission infrastructure on the regional grid. But the $1.17 billion project needs approval by the PSC.
Abdulsalam said that PJM prioritized the MARL project over competing proposals because half of its proposed path already utilizes existing rights-of-way and would involve the least number of regulatory hurdles in order to complete. He said the demand for electricity by existing data centers in Virginia and Maryland combined with local retirements of base-load electric generation require the need for high-voltage power lines from sources outside of the Virginia/Maryland corridor.
"We decided to start walking before running, if you may say, and putting in the 500 kV solution. And if the needs continue to arise, either we will adjust the need or we will complement it," Abdulsalam said.
The MARL project is the first step, Abdulsalam said, with the need for at least two additional 765 kilovolt high-voltage transmission lines needed for the PJM regional grid. One of those projects includes Valley Link, a 375-mile project that would traverse parts of West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, though a specific route has not been approved. Valley Link's partners include Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission and Transource (partially owned by American Electric Power).
"We actually need both," Abdulsalam said.
The project has come under sharp criticisms from local residents who do not want to see new transmission lines across their properties, as well as advocacy groups and local county governments who question the direct benefits to West Virginians and whether in-state ratepayers will see their bills continue to rise to pay for the project.
The MARL line lacks substations within its proposed West Virginia footprint, though Abdulsalam argued that the state’s local electric grid would benefit by the reduced strain that a new 500 kilovolt line would alleviate. He also said that new capacity is required to clear future transmission congestion from proposed new generation, such as the 1,200-megawatt natural gas-fired plant in Maidsville/Fort Martin, so that the plant can export surplus power.
Rainey asked Abdulsalam about PJM's forecasts and how much its future needs are contingent on significant data center projects, such as proposed 2,000-acre Dulles South Innovation Campus data center project in Prince William County, Va. A vote in July by the Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously to not change its zoning laws to allow the project to move forward.
"Is the ultimate decision about MARL going to depend on this load forecast that we have today and not be changed in any way from the time the shovel goes in the ground," Rainey asked. "Or are we going to be dealing with an outdated forecast when you begin to move the equipment in to build MARL?"
"PJM does not have a dog in this race, so we are not benefiting from building," Abdulsalam said.
"You do have a dog in the fight," Rainey said. "It might not be a big dog, but you’ve got a dog."
"We may take care of the dog, but we are not the owners of the dog, and we do not benefit from feeding it," Abdulsalam said.
Lane asked Abdulsalam about the effect of coal-fired power plant retirements on the need to build new transmission lines from existing power plants. She also questioned how much solar electrical generation was built into PJM's future assumptions.
"Had (PJM) not allowed the closure of all of these coal and gas-fired plants, would we still be needing this transmission line,' Lane asked. "I mean, does it make sense that when those coal coal-fired plants and those gas plants were generating electricity, the electricity was getting to the customers, and we didn’t have to have this moral line?"
In-state utility regulators, such as the PSC, retain authority over certificate of public convenience and necessity approvals, local rate recovery mechanisms, and siting, states within the regional grid are often at the mercy of PJM and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which maintains jurisdiction over transmission cost allocations.
"I hope everyone in Valley Forge understands that you’re asking us ... to take folks’ property, raise their rates, affect their property taxes," said Rainey, a past president of the West Virginia Coal Association. "It’s a difficult thing."