Dominion Virginia Power Prefers Existing Corridor Route For Northern Virginia 500kV Transmission Line
Updated
PJM Interconnection load model leads to company’s
decision
Filing with State Corporation Commission to be made by end of April
RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion Virginia Power announced
Tuesday that it has chosen a preferred route for a needed 500,000-volt transmission
line in Northern Virginia. The entire route is along an existing power
line corridor connecting substations in eastern Frederick, southern Fauquier,
western Prince William and eastern Loudoun counties.
The transmission line is needed by the summer
of 2011 to alleviate potential overloads on other power lines serving Northern
Virginia. These overloads can be avoided only by increased transmission line
investment in the region or through mandatory load curtailment actions such
as "rolling blackouts." Dominion
reached its decision after working closely with regional grid operator PJM
Interconnection to evaluate the changes in the latest load flow computer model.
The changes have resulted in higher overloads, increasing the need for this
line.
"As expected, the forecasting model showed a dramatic
increase in demand for electricity in Northern Virginia. At the same
time, new information regarding generating unit dispatch west to east enabled
us to eliminate key differences among our alternate routes, making this path
along existing corridors viable and now our preferred route," said John
D. Smatlak, vice president-Electric Transmission.
"From the beginning,
we have emphasized that a line is needed to serve Northern Virginia and the
region, and now we have a route that takes advantage of existing corridors. Given
this updated model from PJM, this route is now our priority for our engineering
resources," said Smatlak.
Electrical demand in Northern Virginia has grown
by about 40 percent over the last decade. PJM Interconnection has cited
Dominion as having the fastest growing demand for electricity at peak times
among any of the PJM regions across 13 states. PJM likened the increase
in demand on the Dominion system to adding approximately 1 million new houses
over the next five years.
Elected officials, including state Sens. Russell
Potts and Charles Colgan and Delegates Joe May and Clay Athey, have encouraged
Dominion to look for routes that use existing corridors for this power line
instead of building through upper Fauquier County, which is home to key historical
and cultural landmarks and rolling countryside.
"We also listened to the
hundreds of citizens who came to our public workshops. We remained committed
to working with PJM to take into account each and every load and generator
change. By working continuously throughout
this process, we believe this route will accommodate the needs of Northern
Virginia," said Smatlak.
The preferred route is estimated to cost about
$210 million. The entire
route is along an existing transmission right of way that begins at the Meadow
Brook substation in Frederick County and goes south into Rappahannock, Culpeper
and Fauquier counties to a substation near Remington. From there, the
line would head east and then north — again along existing rights of
way — through Prince William County to the Loudoun substation in Loudoun
County. The
Loudoun substation serves about 30 percent of the electric load in Northern
Virginia.
Dominion will file
this preferred route with the State Corporation Commission by the end of April. The
application also will include direct testimony about the necessity for the
line. The SCC must approve construction of
all transmission lines in Virginia with a voltage of 150,000 volts or more.
Dominion
is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio
of about 28,000 megawatts of generation, about 6.5 trillion cubic feet equivalent
of proved natural gas reserves and 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Dominion
also operates the nation's largest underground natural gas storage systems with
more than 960 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy
customers in 11 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the
company's Web site at www.dom.com.
