'It's a no-brainer': Mon Commission opposes passthrough power lines
And with that, the Monongalia County Commission voted Wednesday to take a public position against the 105-mile MidAtlantic Resiliency Link power transmission project looking at parts of West Virginia as a path for 500-kilovolt power lines running from Greene County, Pa. to Frederick County, Va.
Five counties – Monongalia, Preston, Hampshire, Jefferson and Mineral – have been identified by NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic as part of the potential route
With Wednesday's resolution, all five county commissions have now said, 'No, thank you.'
Commissioner Sean Sikora, who offered the remarks that opened this report, explained further.
'When we had the work session with NextEra, everything that they're saying in regards to electricity needs is true. We just don't see a benefit to them running this line across our state – across our beautiful county – and not providing us any benefit.'
In regard to this project, one of the major sticking points raised by both residents and elected officials is that West Virginia – a next exporter of energy as the country's fifth-highest producer – is little more than countryside to be cleared in service to power-hungry data centers in northern Virginia.
Even so, it's believed the cost of the infrastructure will ultimately be paid through increased rates for all customers across the 13-state power grid operated by PJM Interconnection.
'To me, it's pretty simple. They want to shove these things down our throats and say, 'Oh, by the way, you also get to pay for it, and by the way, you don't get any benefit from it,'' Commission President Jeff Arnett said. 'It's a no-brainer.'
Arnett went on to say there was consensus across the political spectrum in terms of the numerous individuals who kept pressure on the commission to get involved.
One of those individuals was Delegate David McCormick, R-82nd District.
'This is a bipartisan issue. It's about property values and increased rates for ratepayers. I don't see West Virginia and West Virginians benefiting from this; it being just a vehicle to get more power to Virginia to help their economic development efforts with data centers. I'd rather see them come here, frankly,' McCormick said. 'Virginia doesn't have enough power? Well, maybe they shouldn't have closed all the power plants and they wouldn't have this problem.'
In addition to the resolution opposing MARL within Monongalia County, the commission also pledged to honor a recent request from the Hampshire County Commission to coordinate the efforts of the various counties leading up to and including participation in the West Virginia Public Service Commission's review of the final project route presented by NextEra.
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