Yesterday, the Jefferson County Commission passed a Resolution that nobody seemed to understand, maybe not even the Commissioners themselves.

I made public comment at the Commission meeting yesterday morning, completely oblivious to the Jefferson County First Resolution that was added to the packet after it was originally posted on Monday.  Unfortunately, nobody involved in the power line battle saw it ahead of time and I left the meeting for other adventures before it was discussed.  My bad.  It sure would have been nice if the Commissioners had been more upfront about their Resolution that will impact hundreds of county residents.  Even when asked before the meeting what the mysteriously-named Resolution was about, a Commissioner professed ignorance.

I addressed the Commissioners yesterday morning before the meeting specifically because I had heard a rumor being spread by state legislators that Jefferson County had no power over the transmission lines and that there was federal authority to approve it if West Virginia rejected it.  It seems this untrue rumor came from Del. Linville, who misspoke about the transmission lines at the February 20 meeting.

Jefferson County has enormous power over the fate of the transmission lines, although it has no direct permitting authority.  Jefferson County's power comes from its ability to influence the future decision about the power lines from the West Virginia Public Service Commission.  The County Commission speaks with a louder voice and can advocate for the county and its people as a whole.  We need and appreciate their support!

THERE IS NO FEDERAL BACKSTOP ON PERMITTING FOR THESE LINES!  I told the Commission that yesterday.  No wonder I got such odd looks.  I do understand the prohibition of having direct dialogue with a public commenter so I can't fault them for not saying anything.  However, you'd think that if they were doing something great for the citizens of the County who will be personally impacted by the transmission lines, they would have wanted to spread the word so we could be there to cheer them on.  It's sad that we can't have that relationship.  We're on the same page, but we're not reading from the same book.  I have been working in both the state and federal transmission planning and permitting realm for nearly two decades now.  I have a wealth of experience and knowledge that I can share with you until your eyes roll back in your head and your brain shuts down.  It is incredibly complicated with a lot of moving parts that need to be fully understood before decisions are made.

Transmission siting and permitting is completely under state jurisdiction, except in the event that a line is sited in a designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC).  A NIETC was proposed for Jefferson County (and other parts of the tri-state area) last year, however, that potential corridor was ABANDONED by the DOE in December 2024.  There is currently NO NIETC, and therefore no federal authority over the two proposed transmission lines in Jefferson County.  There is no other federal mechanism to usurp the jurisdiction of the West Virginia Public Service Commission.  The two transmission lines will live or die by the decision of the West Virginia Public Service Commission, which is a process where Jefferson County (and its citizens) can participate to influence the outcome.

This morning, we woke up to this.

The County Commission discussed their Resolution and unanimously supported its passage.  Unfortunately, the story doesn't say where the Resolution was sent.  It's not a bad Resolution, until it gets to the end where Jefferson County appears to give up and beg for a transmission owner lobbyist to simply whisper the magic words... "this transmission line will attract data centers to Jefferson County", even though that's not true at all.

How DO data centers get power?  Data centers use enormous amounts of power, equalling the power load of small cities in some instances.  When a county has attracted a data center customer (more on that later), the customer will request power service from the local distribution utility.  In our case, it's Potomac Edison.  The customer estimates how much power it will need, often beginning with a baseline amount that ramps up over time as the data center is built out.  Potomac Edison considers this request and determines if it can serve the load from its local system.  If not, it gets added to Potomac Edison's future load forecast that is subsequently relayed to PJM Interconnection  for planning purposes.  If the local utility cannot meet load requests, then it asks PJM to add it to its planning.  Remember, PJM's only tool is transmission.  It cannot order new generation, which is perhaps the better solution to large new load requests.  PJM uses these local load forecasts to create a regional load forecast.  Once PJM has its regional load forecast, it plugs that into its transmission planning and determines how much new transmission might be needed to meet the load requests (because it can't order new generation).  PJM opens a competitive transmission window to solve load (think RFP) and selects the transmission projects that it believes will meet the load.

This is a multi-year, multi-tiered process.  The two transmission lines through Jefferson County are the product of load forecasts and planning that occurred in 2022 and 2024.  The load that was forecast for PJM in those years is slated to occur in Loudoun and Prince William Counties, Virginia.  It's not for load requests from Jefferson County.  The power that these transmission lines will export is already spoken for by load requests that were made in earlier years by new data centers locating in Virginia.  Just because a new line will travel through Jefferson County doesn't mean it will serve new growth here.  

Attracting data centers to your locality is about much more than welcoming new transmission extension cords designed to serve data centers in other states.  It's about offering the data center companies incentives to locate here and providing the infrastructure they may need.  Just as crucial as a local supply of electricity, data centers need a fiber connection.  When Frederick County, Maryland, wanted to attract new data centers to a local campus, they arranged for a fiber backbone connected to Virginia's data center alley.  Jefferson County doesn't have this kind of infrastructure.  Data centers also need a vast supply of water for cooling.  If Jefferson County is going to allow a California company to come in here and pump and sell our water supply to outsiders, we won't have enough left for data centers.  Frederick County located its data center campus at the site of a former aluminum smelter.  Aluminum smelters use a lot of power (but nothing approaching data center proportions) so the site already had a 230kV transmission connection and substation.  Frederick County is using the existing lines to power its campus, not building new ones.  Frederick County maintains that its data center campus is not the reason for new transmission lines.  However, it is curious that both the new transmission lines proposed through Jefferson County land at substations in Frederick County before routing south along the river to make connections in Virginia's data center alley.

If Jefferson County wants to have data centers here, it needs to create a realistic plan, not just throw wide the doors for transmission extension cords for data centers in other states and hope that data centers develop through osmosis.

However, Jefferson County should also spend a great deal of time investigating how data centers have changed other communities that initially welcomed them for economic development purposes.  People are migrating here to live precisely because Jefferson County doesn't have data centers.  Citizens in Virginia hate living with them and can't wait to get out of the hellscape they have created under the guise of economic development.  Jefferson County is the peaceful, rural environment that has disappeared from Northern Virginia.  A good and affordable place to buy a home and raise a family.  Jefferson County needs to be very careful and deliberate with planning for new data centers so it doesn't turn itself into Loudoun County West.  Attracting data centers is something the West Virginia legislature should be studying as well.  State incentives are needed to attract data centers, not just local economic development efforts.

Does Jefferson County currently have any interest from companies wanting to locate new data centers here?  Have those companies developed their plans enough to make a request for service from Potomac Edison?  Or is this Resolution simply a blind expression of hope?  If so, it is unlikely to get to the right place.

Transmission companies use the same playbook every time.  By now, I know it by heart.

Projects are planned by the regional grid operator that many people don't even know exists.  Although the process is open to "stakeholders," those stakeholders have no idea that such an organization is planning a new transmission project that is going to cross their land and, perhaps, take their home.  Once approved by the grid operator, the utilities conduct secret meetings and grease the right palms.  They engage with your state agencies and elected officials to convince them that the project is a good idea.  It's all one big, happy party... SECRET happy party.  Your elected officials and your state agencies don't engage you or send notice.  They leave that up to the utility, and the utility doesn't want you to know until it's so far into the routing process that you can't have any real impact on where it goes.  You're supposed to remain dumb and happy until the last minute.  Then the utility springs it on you as a fait accompli and conducts a farcical public information and notification process.  At this point, they hope you're out of options and that you will jump into action to push the project off yourself and onto your neighbor.  That's the first reaction of the vast majority of people, until someone finally figures out it's not about where it goes, it's about whether it goes.

But, until you finally receive notice, you should know that the utility has been very busy consulting with everyone except the landowner who would be forced to host the transmission line on his property.  And don't you know it, NextEra has been very busy trying to schmooze a path for its portion of the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link (MARL).  This presentation recently surfaced, although it's been common knowledge to a bunch of people who were hiding it from you for months.

Perhaps your most important take away from this little peek into what's been going on behind your back is this slide.  Click to download the above file to see a larger version.  

This is the roadmap of NextEra's routing process.  The red box is where "we" are.  It's a point called "Engage Counties and KEY STAKEHOLDER With Preliminary Route."  Right... KEY STAKEHOLDER... but that doesn't include the most important KEY of all... the landowners who will be asked to host this project.  When are impacted landowners notified?  Three turns away at "Open Houses", which is nearly the last pit stop on this highway to hell.  By that time, everyone else that won't see it from their house has been consulted about the route and brought on board.  Landowners come last on this journey.

Landowners are presented with a couple of routing options and are expected to spend all their time fighting each other over where it goes, instead of joining forces against the real enemy.  And they call this "community consultation"... when the decision has already been made.

DAD - Decide, Announce, Defend.  DAD is a top-down, minimally participatory method of public management.  You're sheep and they are the sheepdogs.  This never works on a smart, engaged public because the last "D" never ends.  People won't give up when their very home is on the line.  And when the utilities are put on the defensive, they say and do the stupidest things, most of them dishonest.  Nobody is buying it.  We all know how to smell a rat.  Propaganda is a useless waste of money.

​So, what else is in that power point?  Well, there's a full map of the MARL project, including FirstEnergy's portion.  NextEra has been pretending that the eastern part of the project doesn't exist and that their project simply ends in Frederick County, Virginia.

But it's clearly shown on a map that the end of NextEra's MARL is simply the HANDOFF POINT.  That's where their transmission line connects directly to FirstEnergy's transmission line.

We're all in this together, folks!  Landowners and communities impacted by NextEra's MARL are in the same boat as landowners impacted by FirstEnergy's MARL.  Neither one of these line sections can happen without the other.  Kill one, kill them both.

Here's what the landowners impacted by NextEra's MARL are facing:

Landowners on FirstEnergy's portion are facing the tear down of an existing 138-kV transmission line, expansion of the existing easement at least 100 feet, and the building of a new 500kV line with a 138kV circuit on the same new towers.

Pay attention, people!  It's coming!  Although the most FirstEnergy has done is threaten to "survey" its existing easements on its part of this project, you should also know that they are working behind the scenes, much like NextEra, to schmooze KEY STAKEHOLDERS to accept the project before you even realize that they've decided on a route across your property.  The announcement will come later, with Open Houses of our own.  By that time, the route is set in stone.  Be prepared to fight!

Jefferson County is going to need a new slogan for roadside signs soon.  I suggest the above, maybe bolstered by some fine print... "All the electricity that makes Loudoun the wealthiest county in the nation comes through here first!"  What is Jefferson County getting from all this?  Homes and businesses taken using eminent domain, multiple huge new transmission lines of the highest voltage built in the U.S. in close proximity to our homes and schools, and higher electric bills.  What does Loudoun County get?  Data centers, lots and lots of new "economic development" data centers.  Loudoun County ended 2024 with a budget surplus of over $250M, thanks to all the data centers it has approved and built.  Loudoun County gets the gold, and West Virginia gets the shaft.  Again.

When are West Virginia lawmakers going to *wake up* and realize that we don't have to export the electricity generated here using our coal and gas resources?  We could use it right here to increase our own economic development!  Instead, we've been shipping the excess power we generate out of state so other areas can get rich using it to attract economic development like data centers.  Why not create incentives for data centers to locate here in West Virginia, right next to our existing generators?  West Virginia could finally start growing its own tech industry and use its plentiful resources to attract new business.  Data centers are hungry, hungry, hungry for steady, dispatchable electricity and promoting West Virginia as the ideal location for new data centers is win-win for West Virginia.  Exporting our electricity to Loudoun County over huge new high-voltage extension cords is lose-lose for West Virginia.

Yesterday, PJM Interconnection's Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee met for more than 4 hours.  A handful of intrepid electric ratepayers and citizens attended to make comment and ask questions.  At the end of the day, PJM stuck with its previous recommendation to order and build another new transmission line through Jefferson County.  Last year, PJM ordered the building of a different transmission line through our county.  Over the past two years, PJM has ordered two new major transmission lines crossing through Jefferson County on their way from West Virginia coal-fired generation stations to Loudoun County's data centers.  Yesterday, PJM informed us that it will be opening two more bidding windows in mid-2025 to solicit even more power lines for Virginia's data centers.  PJM is having trouble keeping up with Virginia's data center demand, and the only place with available power left is West Virginia.  Funny that Virginia hates our coal-fired power stations, and Virginia is on target to meet its VCEA requirement to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2045, but Virginia has no problem at all importing more and more coal-fired electricity to use in its data centers and pretending they're still meeting their environmental goals because it is not generated in Virginia.

The project PJM will be recommending to its Board of Managers for approval is a new 765kV transmission line beginning at the John Amos coal-fired power station in Putnam County, and crossing 14 West Virginia counties on its way to data center alley (Putnam, Kanawha, Roane, Calhoun, Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire and Jefferson) 3 counties in Virginia (Clarke, Frederick and Loudoun) and end in Frederick County, Maryland at a new substation south of Point of Rocks. If you want to see maps of where this project will be routed in Jefferson, find them here.  Here's PJM's awful maps and listing of the project's components.
​

PJM's awful maps are insisting that the "new PATH" project will be constructed on "existing ROW or parallel to existing ROW" indicated by the pink line on the map.  Elsewhere in PJM's presentation was the statement that the new 765kV development would require 100% new right-of-way.  That's right... the new PATH will require a completely new 200 ft. wide right-of-way (ROW).  PJM and the new PATH sponsors are trying to pretend that they can create a new 200 ft. wide ROW directly adjacent and parallel with the existing transmission line corridor in Jefferson County.  PJM believes there is value and risk reduction in a parallel line siting.  That might be true, if there was actually land available parallel to the existing ROW, but there's not.  The existing ROW is lined with homes, schools, businesses and even new solar farms.  A new 200 ft. parallel ROW will destroy everything in its path.  For this reason, I insisted that PJM at least draw its "new PATH" correctly on its awful, out of proportion map as a new greenfield corridor.  PJM refused.   We can't even get a little honesty.

Who is PJM fooling?  Not us!  PJM is trying to fool its Board of Managers by telling them that nobody will mind this new 765kV transmission line and that it won't be taking any new land.  PJM thinks this will make the Board more likely to approve this project as non-controversial.  We're not going to let that happen, but that's another blog post coming soon -- writing to PJM's Board of Managers to insist they deal with the truth about this project.

As part of its creation of its new transmission plan, PJM is required to create a "Constructability and Financial Analysis Report" for the proposed projects to present to their Board when seeking approval.  PJM's Constructability Analysis is a complete joke!  The report starts out by detailing the "Approach", or method, of performing this study.

The approach calls for PJM to do an "in-depth" review of each project's ROW acquisition, land acquisition, and siting and permitting requirements, among others.  As part of this, PJM is required to do a "desk top" investigation of each project's land use mapping (using actual maps!) to include:

These are just a few of the things that must be studied as part of this Constructability study.  Did PJM do that?  No, they didn't.  PJM simply copied the narrative written by the project sponsor in its bid for the project and turned a blind eye to the actual impacts of this "new PATH" 765kV transmission line.

Here's what PJM's Constructability Study concluded about the project:

There's absolutely nothing in there about any of the development bordering the existing corridor they want to expand.  Perhaps if it doesn't have to acknowledge the destruction of Jefferson County's built community, then PJM can continue to believe that a parallel siting is somehow less risky than a new line somewhere else.

PJM negligence becomes even more glaring if you read the analyses of the other projects that were not selected.  Some of these other projects have very detailed narratives of how they will affect the built community.  Read it for yourself (full report).

Here's just a couple examples that caught my eye:

PJM also evaluated these projects based on the proposer's experience building similar lines.  In its report, PJM said that FirstEnergy (proposed owner of new PATH) passed this test.  When I questioned PJM about what 765kV lines FirstEnergy has ever owned or built, PJM said they were actually using the experience of another company, Transource (an AEP affiliate).  When asked how many 765kV lines Transource has ever owned or built, PJM again came up empty.  Ditto on Dominion.  The ONLY utility with this experience in the country is American Electric Power (AEP), parent company of Transource.  PJM's constructability analysis is not based on reality and has enough holes in it to drive a truck through.  The truth is that PJM simply FAKED this report based on biased information it was given by the project sponsors and didn't perform any analysis at all.  If this isn't true, then PJM is encouraged to produce the desktop study with all the required data and make a liar out of me.  PJM's Constructability Report is pure, unadulterated CRAP.

I also questioned PJM about whether the "new PATH" project was actually competitively bid.  Since 2011, FERC has required regional grid planners like PJM to open competitive bidding windows when it needs new transmission projects.  The idea is that utilities will compete with each other to create the best project at the least cost.  Bidders often include "cost caps" and other financial considerations that limit the costs to consumers.  PJM has been running these bidding windows for around 10 years now.  The big investor owned utilities did not like these windows because they don't want to have their profits limited by having to compete for projects.  So, the utilities started building smaller, local, supplemental projects that did not have to be approved by PJM as a way to avoid competition.  Because of this, there were pretty much no opportunities to build new transmission using competitive windows.  Therefore the utilities did not have to compete.  If you try to thwart the deep rooted greed of investor owned utilities, they will eventually find a way around whatever roadblock you construct. And now they have figured out a way around PJM's competitive bidding window.  The three biggest utilities in PJM got together ahead of time and came up with a scheme to limit competition and increase profits with their joint bid into this window.  FirstEnergy, AEP's Transource, and Dominion submitted "joint proposals" that did not have any cost caps or financial considerations for ratepayers.  If they didn't have to compete with each other, then they could score a project with an unlimited price tag.  Of course, this kind of behavior to limit competition and fix prices is what's known as a cartel.  Once the three utilities had their project selected, they have now decided to create a shell company "joint partnership" to own the projects because PJM cannot award a project submitted as a joint proposal to individual companies (that would violate FERC's rules!)  Reality is that this "competitive" window was illegally controlled by a cartel.

Last month, I sent an email requesting that PJM come to Jefferson County and give us a presentation about what it is they do so we can find out about their processes.  This was in response to a disparaging comment one of the PJM staff made to a Jefferson County citizen, telling her to "get a basic education" before asking questions at the TEAC.

This month, PJM came prepared with a long list of online "resources" that we can use to educate ourselves.

Last year, regional grid planner PJM Interconnection approved a new 500kV transmission line from a cluster of coal-fired power plants in northern West Virginia to Virginia's data center alley.  That line is assigned to Florida-based NextEra Transmission (Greene County PA, Mon, Preston, Mineral and Hampshire Counties WV, Garrett and Allegheny Counties, MD portions) and Ohio-based FirstEnergy (Frederick, Clarke, and Loudoun Counties, VA, Frederick County, MD, and Jefferson County, WV portions).  On a map, that combined project looks like this:

Locally here in Jefferson County, the project is proposed to tear down the existing 138kV transmission line and replace it with a combined 500kV line with 138kV underbuild (double circuit) on an expanded right-of-way.  The current line configuration across southern Jefferson looks like this:

The big metal towers will stay the same.  The smaller wooden towers will be torn down and replaced with a big metal tower that has the two new circuits on it.  It will be 30-50 ft. taller than the existing one it parallels.  The end result will be two big metal towers on an expanded right-of-way.

Now PJM needs another transmission extension cord for Virginia's data centers.  The first one just wasn't enough power because Virginia just can't stop building the data centers.  PJM's latest proposal is a 765kV transmission line (the largest AC transmission line in the country) from the John Amos coal-fired power station in Putnam County, WV to Virginia's data center alley.  On PJM's map, the project looks like this:

This new 765kV is proposed by a joint partnership between FirstEnergy, American Electric Power and Dominion Energy.  It is proposed to cross 14 counties in West Virginia (Putnam, Kanawha, Roane, Calhoun, Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire and Jefferson) 3 counties in Virginia (Clarke, Frederick and Loudoun) and end in Frederick County, Maryland at a new substation north of Point of Rocks.  It is proposed to be built on a new 200 ft. wide right-of-way on towers that look like this:

In Jefferson County, it has been proposed that the new transmission line run parallel to the existing 500/138kV right-of-way that is already slated to be expanded with the addition of a second 500kV line that was approved last year.  If approved, this would expand that existing right-of-way another 200 ft. and add a third transmission tower bigger than the other two.

PJM is still discussing this proposal in its Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee.  The next meeting (and final opportunity for the public to comment) is scheduled for January 7, beginning at 11:15 a.m.  Anyone who is concerned about this proposal is invited to participate, either over the phone, via Webex, or in person at PJM's office in Valley Forge, PA.  Participation requires that you register in advance.  You can sign up for the meeting here.

After the meeting, PJM's committee will recommend that the PJM Board of Managers approve the project and add it to the regional plan.  At that time, we can write to the Board of Managers to ask that they not approve it (but that's a task for another day).  If the project is approved by the Board of Managers, then it is assigned to the responsible utilities who will finalize a route and submit applications to the three state public utility commissions for approval to build it.  If the state commissions approve it, then the utility will have eminent domain authority to take property for its new right-of-way.  This whole process is going to take years, so let's stay focused on the PJM process for the moment.

So, many are asking themselves... am I impacted?  PJM's maps are purposefully vague because PJM is not a transmission line router.  It simply approves a transmission line between two substations... where the route actually goes is a function of the utility assigned to build it, and that route must be approved by the state commissions.  So, we don't know for certain at this time where the new 765kV project will be routed.

What we do know, however, is that this new 765kV project appears in all proposals to be identical to the failed Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) project that was proposed back in 2008.  That project was subsequently cancelled in 2012, before any state approved a final route.  However, the PATH legacy lives on in the memories of the folks who battled it last time.

I still have the detailed Jefferson County maps from the PATH project.  On these maps, you can zoom in to see an aerial photo of your area and where the existing transmission lines run, along with the proposed location of the PATH project.  Sorry it doesn't have any of the newer fancy GPS features like typing your address into a finder, but we're dealing with something circa 2009 here.  The map tiles should give you a general idea of how the new 765k line may impact your property.  

Couple of notes before you look at the maps.  There is one overview tile (above) and 11 other map tiles that trace the route across Jefferson County, tile by tile.  You'll have to find the tile with your property on it, then you can zoom in to take a closer look.

The PATH route is the yellow dotted line.  In some places, it deviated from the existing transmission corridor due to space constraints.  In some cases, the deviation took it miles away from the existing lines, so keep in mind that this line could be routed anywhere and will not necessarily stay parallel to the existing transmission lines.  In some places, there's a black dotted line that says "rebuild of existing 500kV line".  This was a way PATH planned to snake through narrow areas, however that rebuild can no longer happen due to the new 500kV/138kV line that was approved last year.  FirstEnergy is already using the space that the 138kV line currently sits on for its new 500kV line.  It cannot also use that same space for the 765kV line.  While it is possible to double-circuit a 138kV line with a 500 or 765kV line, it is not possible to double circuit 500 or 765kV lines with each other.  The new 765kV transmission line will have to be routed on a new 200 ft. wide right-of-way.  If you live in one of those dotted black line areas, it is likely that the new 765kV transmission line will take your home.  There's simply no where else to put it unless they deviate miles away from the existing transmission corridor.  It is virtually impossible to avoid everything and everyone.  It is a certainty that homes in Jefferson will be lost.  Yours may be one of them... sacrificed to the data center Gods in Virginia.

Also keep in mind that these aerial maps are 15 years old and cover a portion of Jefferson County that has seen enormous growth over the past several years.  Much of what was once farmland is now solar farms and new housing developments (and the building continues!). If you live in a newer development, your home might be represented in an old photo that shows the farms that were there before.  The true extent of the horror of how this line will impact Jefferson County isn't shown.

Now, the maps.  You may need to open several to find the one where your property is shown.  The tiles begin at the western edge of Jefferson and proceed east.

If your property is anywhere near the route for the failed PATH project, you should be concerned.  PATH is going to have a much harder time routing through Jefferson this time around and some properties will be sacrificed.

It's time to step up and get involved!  It's never too early to oppose new transmission needed only to serve Virginia's data centers.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Energy cancelled 7 out of 10 proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.  Millions of landowners who would have been affected by the corridors are celebrating today.

The DOE's proposed NIETC map went from this:

To this:

I don't know any groups fighting against the corridors that are left, but I know plenty of folks who fought the ones that were eliminated.  So, what's left?  Lake Erie connector, which is created for a transmission line to connect the U.S. to Canada.  This project has been bumping around for years and will be routed underwater and underground.  Buried transmission that doesn't need new easements generally doesn't create opposition.  There's a Tribal Energy project in the Dakotas and Nebraska that will supposedly help the tribes develop their assets.  And there's the Southwestern corridor that begins in Kiowa County, Colorado and comes to an abrupt end at the border of White Sands in New Mexico.  On its way, it crosses over into the Oklahoma panhandle and is supposedly for benefit of NextEra's Heartland Spirit Connector transmission line, although that project begins in the panhandle and heads east, not west.

Although the DOE kept millions of landowners in suspense for months, the idea of building new transmission is what really took a beating during that time.  Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled these corridors have been scrapped, but it almost seemed like it was too easy, or predictable, sort of like the conclusion of a Hallmark Christmas movie.  Why were those other 7 corridors even suggested in the first place?  Was the DOE so captive to the submissions of greedy transmission developers that they just couldn't say no?  Was it because DOE took it upon itself to tie designation of a NIETC to receiving government handouts in the form of loans and contracts, even though there was no statutory reason to do so?  Has DOE changed its mind about NIETCs "unlocking" the vat of taxpayer money at DOE HQ?

Were they scrapped because DOE finally realized the truth of what I'd been telling them for the past several years at every comment opportunity?  NIETCs and the other transmission facilitation tools are actually going to HARM transmission and draw greater opposition than the transmission project could ever draw on its own.  What's worse than a greedy corporation taking your property by eminent domain?  A greedy corporation being joined by the federal government while trying to take your land by eminent domain, that's what!  Dang, DOE, it took you long enough to buy a clue!

So, what's the real story?  Couple of things leaking out...

DOE was quoted saying that the NIETCs can "disrupt" transmission planning or on going development.  Right... just like I've been telling you, DOE, NIETCs were like a magnet for more transmission opposition.

DOE also said there appeared to be little NIETCs could do to facilitate transmission in the near term.  In other words, don't try to apply corridors to projects that are already underway.  If you need to know why, see previous paragraph.

DOE turned out to be wrong about everything from the very beginning.  In fact, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that revived the NIETCs to put them into practice was wrong, too.  That's because it was concocted by "clean energy" proponents who don't have a clue in the world how landowners feel about eminent domain.  Oh, sure, these same environmental and special interest groups showed up for all the rulemakings that came out of their bespoke legislation for the purpose of building more transmission (for wind and solar).  And when they showed up in rulemakings they always pretended they were representing the interests of landowners and that they had experience working with landowners.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It was all a giant lie.  The real landowners have spoken.  NIETCs were about as popular as catching herpes in the hot tub of a cheap motel.

Now that the majority of the NIETCs are off the table, we can take a moment to relish the victory.  However, keep in mind that the NIETC process is a continual and revolving 3-year long process.  Every three years, DOE must make another transmission study, accept new ideas for NIETCs, and then go through the designation process all over again.  We could be right back here at the end of 2026 if Congress doesn't end NIETCs for good through amendment of Sec. 216 of the Energy Policy Act. 

We'll be working towards that goal while we're all back to work opposing the particular transmission proposals in our own community.  Landowner groups are coming together to fight transmission on a united front more than ever before.

Here in my neck of the woods, we'll be putting our effort into opposing two new transmission proposals from PJM Interconnection to build transmission extension cords from West Virginia's coal-fired power stations to new data centers in Loudoun County, Va.  Virginia can't build any new power generation because it's too "dirty", but they also can't stop building new power load in the form of data centers.  Data center taxes cover a large chunk of Loudoun County's budget.  How do you think Loudoun got to be the wealthiest county in the nation?  Through parasitic sucking of all the energy and wealth out of surrounding states.

There's still much work to do, but having a victory now and again is as invigorating as a polar plunge.  Happy Holidays, everyone!

PJM's Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee (TEAC) meets next week during a special meeting devoted to new proposals to solve PJM's 2024 Window 1.  This may be your last opportunity to see the proposals and ask PJM questions about them.  It may also be your last opportunity to make comment to PJM before they make their selection.

Do you want more transmission in Jefferson County?  Window 1 is IN ADDITION TO the already ordered Window 3 project that proposes to widen the existing easement through southern Jefferson and build larger metal towers there that contain both the existing line and a new 500kV transmission line.

Window 3 is for the purpose of exporting coal-fired electricity from West Virginia to Virginia's out-of-control data center alley.  It's not for us.  We are simply fly over country.

Turns out Window 3 wasn't enough.  Virginia's data centers have exploded because they are all racing to deploy AI, and AI uses 10 times as much power as a regular data center.  Now PJM is looking for ANOTHER extension cord to power Virginia's data centers.

Here's some of the contenders...

A "new" PATH project (yes, the same project we defeated in 2011).  It begins at AEP's John Amos coal-fired generation station in Putnam Co., West Virginia and crosses through 14 counties in West Virginia (Putnam, Kanawha, Roane, Calhoun, Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire and Jefferson) before ending at a new substation in Frederick County, MD.  From there, it will be sent on a direct path to data center alley in Loudoun County, VA.   That project looks like this in PJM's plan:

The 765kV "new PATH" would also cross through southern Jefferson County on a new 200 foot wide easement next to the existing transmission corridor, taking another 200 feet of people's property, and in some instances their actual homes.  The towers will be 175' tall metal lattice with 4 guy wires holding up each one.

Another idea PJM is entertaining is building two new 500kV transmission lines from  the west that would cross Jefferson County in two places on a new parallel easement 200 ft. wide next to existing 500kV transmission lines.  This proposal would widen both these corridors by another 200 ft. and would gobble up homes.  One of these lines crosses the very northern portion of Jefferson in a subdivision called Leisure Acres, and the other one parallels the existing transmission corridor through southern Jefferson that has seen so many of these awful proposals over the past several years.  On a map, that proposal looks like this:

Why is Jefferson County always the target for new transmission extension cords for data center alley?  Because there are existing lines here already.  PJM and the utilities are under the impression that if you already live near a transmission line you would be eager to have another taking even more of your property, and possibly the very roof over your head.  PJM refuses to listen to the fact that expanding existing transmission corridors is more damaging to the communities than new lines that can be carefully sited to avoid homes and other development (or better yet buried on existing road and rail corridors).  Another reason that Jefferson is always a target is the two linear national parks that sit on our borders.  The C&O Canal follows the Potomac on the Maryland side.  The Appalachian Trail roughly follows our border with Virginia.  Both of these national parks should be protected from multiple infrastructure crossings, therefore the transmission companies try to simply widen existing crossings instead of creating new ones.  These parks that must be crossed to get to data center alley are one reason the same people are targeted over and over again.

There are other options PJM can select that don't involve Jefferson County this time.  It's up to us to convince them to look elsewhere.

So, what can you do?  This is your last chance to tell PJM what you think before they make their selections!  If you can, please attend PJM's TEAC meeting on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM.  You can attend over the telephone, or (recommended) via Webex on your computer.  Webex is recommended because you can view the presentation slides as they are discussed, and enter the question queue to ask a question or make a comment.  The meeting is open to everyone, and everyone is welcome to make a comment or ask a question.  However, you must sign up in advance to attend the meeting. 

You can sign up here.  Signing up requires you to create a PJM account.  Many people have had difficulty getting the account created.  If you experience issues, contact PJM by emailing [email protected] or calling (866) 400-8980.  These folks are very helpful and will get you fixed up in a jiffy.

What if you can't attend the meeting?  Please send an email to PJM and let them know what you think.  Download this document for the email addresses and suggested text.  If you don't tell PJM what you think, they're going to think Jefferson County doesn't care about becoming the electric transmission superhighway for Loudoun County's data centers.

This is our LAST CHANCE to try to influence PJM's selection.  You silence will be interpreted as acceptance.

Virginia is trying to shove the barn door closed after the horses escaped by holding a technical conference regarding its proliferation of data centers and who pays to provide their electric service.  Questions to be addressed include:

In other words, should Virginia create another rate class for electric service to "large users" (aka data centers) and assign them the cost of all the new transmission lines they make necessary?

Well, bravo, Virginia!  However, Virginia only has jurisdiction to assign the costs that are assigned to Virginia load serving utilities, like Dominion.  The cost allocation of these big lines is a federal responsibility under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  FERC approves the assignment of costs made by regional grid operator PJM Interconnection.  PJM's current approved cost allocation methodology assigns the costs of lines 500kV and above to the entire PJM region.  The PJM region includes all or parts of 13 other states:  West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee.  When PJM orders a new line 500kV or above, it allocates the costs among all 13 states based on the percent of the entire system that state has used over the past year.  Every state in the region uses the PJM system, and every one of those states gets a portion of the cost.  Each state then assigns the costs to its electric consumers using state rate classes.  Virginia is thinking about taking its portion and charging it directly to the data centers that take service in Virginia.  

But what about all the costs for data center transmission lines that are assigned to other states?  The other states cannot charge them to Virginia's data centers, they can only charge them to the customers who take service in their own state.  We're all still stuck with the cost of transmission extension cords that serve Virginia's data centers.

How can this change?  It can only change at the federal level where PJM's transmission cost allocation formula is approved.  That's FERC's jurisdiction.  When consumers and consumer advocates asked FERC to make PJM change its cost allocation formula to make the state with the data centers needing new transmission responsible for their entire cost, they were rejected 2-1.  Only when the entire cost of the transmission gets allocated to the state where the data centers take service can it be properly allocated to the actual users of these new extension cords through the very process Virginia is currently proposing.  Virginia's proposal only passes Virginia's share of the transmission line costs to Virginia's data centers.  The data centers that need the new transmission are not taking service in those other states and therefore the other states have no choice but to allocate the costs of new transmission service for Virginia's data centers to their own consumers.

Perhaps Virginia should first be asking FERC to change PJM's cost allocation formula so that Virginia is responsible for the entire cost of their transmission needs.  Instead, Virginia is happy to be a parasite and let other state electric consumers pay the cost of serving their data centers.

When consumers and consumer advocates questioned PJM's cost allocations for its Window 3 projects last year, the majority of the Commissioners were of the opinion that since PJM's cost allocations are already set and the cost allocations for Window 3 followed that cost allocation scheme, the only thing the Commission could do was approve them.  However, Commissioner Christie had a different opinion (although he legally had to concur).  He thought that the Commission should take up the issue of who pays for state public policies that cause new transmission, such as building data centers, or closing fossil fuel power plants.

So while Virginia is acting parochially to solve problems for its own ratepayers, it is avoiding asking FERC to weigh in on this issue and solve the transmission extension cord rate burden on other states.  What's it going to take to solve this issue at FERC?  The other states need to speak up to ask FERC to solve it.

Meanwhile, Virginia will be taking comments after it holds its technical conference on December 16.  You don't need to live in Virginia to submit a comment asking them to raise the issue at FERC so that ALL its data center extension cord costs are allocated to Virginia, who can then re-allocate them to the data centers.  Nothing is ever going to change unless the other states speak up.

Click here for more information about Virginia's technical conference, Case No. PUR-2024-00144.

What's scarier to greedy corporate interests than a grassroots movement against their industry?  Your success!  Corporate interests, whether it's the electric transmission industry, housing, data centers, or any other invasive and destructive industry are terrified of being thwarted by grassroots movements in the communities where they want to make money.

Last week, a grassroots group opposed to a new transmission line through central Maryland took their fight to the industry at a conference celebrating the data center industry in Frederick, Maryland.  

Let's examine this article using one of my favorite tools -- the seven common propaganda devices.  This tool is one of the oldest in the propaganda handbook.

The device employed most frequently by the conference organizers was "Name Calling."  

First example -- in the quoted paragraph above the demonstration was referred to as "the ruckus."  Protestors were also referred to as "noisy", a "flashmob", and "outraged".  A noisy, outraged, flashmob ruckus, a description that is intended to turn the reader against the protestors.  It's an ad hominem argument... don't pay any attention to what those people are saying because they are members of an unacceptable group.

​Protestors were also called uneducated.

...another name calling technique to marginalize you and steal your power.  I'm going to guess that Rick Weldon knows a lot less about MPRP than any one of the protestors, but he uses his position to create a presumption of superior knowledge.  The "education deficit" model has been a long time favorite of transmission project proponents.  They like to think that opposition to transmission only happens because the community doesn't have enough information to make a sensible decision.  However the opposite is actually true, the more you know about a proposed transmission project, the worse it sounds.  No amount of information or "education" can change the mind of a landowner threatened by new transmission ripping through his largest investment.

Uneducated outrage is how opponents were framed in order to make conference attendees see them as an unacceptable group who should not be acknowledged.

Meanwhile, conference organizers employed "Glittering Generalities" to boost their own position.  Jobs, school funding, dramatic growth in local businesses, Maryland's economy, land conservation, hiking and biking trails, and the most vague of all... a bright future!

Conference organizers also tried to sever Maryland's data centers from the MPRP.  Either they are uneducated themselves, or they are spinning a carefully crafted alternate reality.  Although Quantum Loophole's power supply is being provided by upgrading a dedicated transmission line to the old Eastalco plant, that doesn't mean QL won't benefit from MPRP.  Quantum Loophole's dedicated transmission line feeds power from the Doubs substation to Quantum Loophole.  Doubs is also the endpoint for the MPRP.  All power flowing through MPRP is delivered to Doubs, where it is transferred to the numerous lines feeding out of Doubs, including the one to Quantum Loophole.  Power from MPRP will absolutely be used at Quantum Loophole.  Could Quantum Loophole get as much power as it needed if MPRP was cancelled?  PJM Interconnection planned MPRP as one of several new 500kV transmission lines to serve data center load in Virginia and Maryland.  And since Quantum Loophole seems to support MPRP, it stands to reason they think they will benefit from it.

The public relations war is heating up.  But what will they say when those same protestors put down their protest signs and go inside the PSC to defend their properties through the legal process?  Will Quantum Loophole step up to defend MPRP?  Or will it use proxies to do so, such as labor unions and local business groups?  A different kind of war will break out at the PSC once the application is filed, and that's where the ultimate decision will be made.

Loudoun County, Virginia, has the largest concentration of data centers in the world.  The world!  It also has the nickname "Data Center Alley."  Loudoun County has become gross with data centers, and continues building more.  The data centers are Loudoun County's cash cow, providing a third of its annual budget.  Loudoun County is also the wealthiest county in the nation.  The entire nation!  Loudoun County is home to the rich and, due to its proximity to Washington, D.C., the powerful as well.  The rich and powerful thought nothing of Loudoun destroying its eastern regions, tossing them on the altar of the data center cash cow.  After all, more data center tax revenue means less taxes for the rich and powerful in the western regions of Loudoun.  Out of sight, out of mind!  Living near nasty infrastructure was fine for the plebeians, as long as the benefits from hosting it flowed to the rich and powerful.

But then something happened... the data centers needed more resources than Loudoun County had.  Now, normal people in that situation would begin building the resources needed to feed their cash cow, but that's not how things are done in Loudoun.  Loudoun continued to build its data centers and expected the needed resources would come from neighboring states just like magic.  Except importing those resources come with consequences, like new transmission extension cords.  Perish the thought!  Transmission lines are fine for those other states that still *gasp* burn coal to create electricity to power Loudoun's data centers, but they absolutely cannot happen in Loudoun!  Loudoun is ruled by the rich and powerful, don't cha know, and they absolutely cannot be burdened with anything so ugly and gauche as an electric transmission line bringing power to their data centers.

So the rich and powerful grabbed their government servants by the scruff of their necks and demanded that the government make the bad stuff go away... or else!

The Loudoun County government and local elected officials began holding secret meetings with NextEra, other transmission companies, PJM, and Western Loudoun's Sacred Cows to find a way to push the transmission nasties out of Loudoun.  After all, aren't those other states lesser trash cans in service of the rich and powerful in Loudoun?  When other citizens who would be impacted by a transmission line re-route asked to be included in the meetings, they were purposely excluded.  And wouldn't you know it... that's exactly where the MARL transmission line ended up... on the property of the landowners who tried to be included in the secret government meetings.  Loudoun County met with and did the bidding of a handful of rich and powerful citizens to TAKE property from other citizens not as fortunate.  Pepe' Le Pew tells me that kind of discrimination stinks to high heaven!

And so the MARL transmission line got pushed out of Loudoun County and over into Frederick and Montgomery Counties Maryland.  Benefits for Loudoun, impacts for neighboring states.  

The re-route will cost everyone in PJM an additional $167M to spare the sacred cows in Loudoun.  Loudoun thought nothing of this, even though other towns who ask for transmission siting concessions are usually required to pay the difference.

I'm starting to understand why Loudoun is the wealthiest county in the U.S. -- it doesn't pay its own way.  Loudoun County takes from neighboring states like a parasitic worm.

And now here they go again, with another transmission line that Loudoun County has demanded be buried for a short section that abuts another group of Sacred Cow homes.  That's all fine and good, but the burial is going to cost an additional $423M, a project cost increase of 61%!  Between these two transmission projects, saving Loudoun will cost electric consumers in other states more than half a billion dollars!

And who pays for that?  Every last electric customer in the PJM region.  Both of these projects that disturb Loudoun's delicate sensibilities are regional reliability projects that are charged 50% to all PJM consumers based on their load share ratio, and the other 50% is charged to the "users" of the project, which spreads to neighboring states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.  Virginia is only paying a portion of the cost of the new transmission extension cords to serve their data centers.  Any increase in costs will come out of the pockets of everyone in the PJM region.

So, how does Loudoun County think the burial of transmission lines near Landsdowne should be paid for?  

Well, that's a low-information expert for ya... Buddy Rizer doesn't know diddly about utility rates.  While Virginia *could* create a new rate class, it absolutely will not do so within this docket.  Asking for something like that is outside the bounds of this proceeding.  Therefore, Loudoun is not providing any way to pay for the excess cost.  And, even if Virginia created a new data center customer class to charge its share of the transmission extension cords to the data centers it hosts, that doesn't do a damned thing for the ratepayers in other states, who don't have any data centers (or data center classes) to charge their share of the excess cost of burying lines in Loudoun County in order to spare Loudoun any impacts.  It's another selfish suggestion on the part of Loudoun County.  And where was Loudoun County when we were arguing at FERC about whether Virginia's data centers should pick up the entire $5B cost of the Window 3 projects meant to serve them?  Nowhere.  It doesn't want to pay for the projects it has caused.  It just wants all the benefits without any of the impacts.

It's all over Buddy Rizer's testimony.  And for the rest of us who don't benefit from Loudoun's data centers, or keeping Loudoun free from invasive transmission projects, it's positively revolting!

Don't get me wrong... I don't believe anybody should be impacted by transmission lines.  And that's the difference between me and Loudoun County... Loudoun County seems to think that only its special residents should be free from the impacts of its data center extension cords.  Loudoun County is perfectly okay with impacts to landowners in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Loudoun County isn't advocating for its extension cords to be buried in those other states.  Those people simply don't matter to Loudoun County, except when they pay the extra cost of keeping Loudoun transmission line free.

It's about time that Loudoun started shouldering its own data center burden.  The data center transmission problem is completely of Loudoun County's making.  It could end it in a hot minute by putting a moratorium on data centers.  It could also solve it by building some new electric generators in Loudoun near the data centers.  Why don't you do these things instead of taking from neighboring states to fill your own coffers, Loudoun County?  Solve your own problem!  Your neighbors are quite sick of your hubris.  Here's a little advice from one of your favorite people!

PJM's recent capacity auction resulted in huge price spikes in the cost of supplying power to electric customers in the PJM region for the 2025-2026 year.  It was directly caused by the actions of PJM and FERC.  These entities aren't protecting ratepayers, they are harming them!  Let me explain...

PJM holds annual capacity auctions to secure the provision of electricity three years in advance.  A capacity auction is not actual electricity, it is a promise from a generator to supply a certain amount of energy at a future point in time.  This is how PJM ensures that it will have enough electricity supply available three years from the auction.  PJM is paying these generators to be available to produce energy when needed during the auction year.  PJM starts by announcing a certain amount of electricity is needed for the auction year.  Generators submit bids of how much it will cost to be standing by to produce that electricity during the auction year.  PJM stacks the bids by price, and each bid is represented by an amount of electricity and a price.  PJM then looks at its bid stack and finds the place where the capacity need is met.  Whatever the price of that bid is the clearing price for all the capacity bids lower in the stack.  Those bids that go over the capacity price are not accepted.  At the end of the auction, PJM has a stable of committed generators sure to provide the power when needed 3 years from the auction date.

PJM does not order generation.  Generation is a market construct, where generators build when the capacity prices are profitable.  If the clearing price at auction is high, it would entice the development of new generation.  If the clearing price is low, many generators may not have enough revenue to continue to operate at a profit.  This is how PJM manages generation to make sure there is always enough, but not too much.  The auction serves as an important warning bell... when clearing prices are high, it means more generation needs to be built.  The auction sends a signal to generators to build more when the prices are high.  More generators lowers prices because there is more competition in the supply.  But what happens when the prices are high at the auction and no new generators get built?  That's exactly what just happened... there is a dearth of needed generation in PJM so prices shot through the roof to record highs.

The problem here began with PJM making a proposal to change the parameters of its auction.  In order to do so, it needed FERC's permission.  A battle broke out at FERC, with many other parties objecting to the auction changes.  FERC moves at a snail's pace and can take years to make a decision on a request.  The more parties to a case, the longer it takes to resolve it.

Because of the battle going on at FERC, the auctions got put on hold.  As Power magazine says, 

FERC suspended PJM's capacity auctions while it resolved the issue.  That's like turning off the warning system.  PJM's annual capacity auction couldn't send the market signal to build new generation because it wasn't being held.

During this time, an extreme change in the power needs of the PJM region was underway.  Many baseload fossil fuel generators closed, either the result of the last auction's low capacity prices, or because they were "dirty" and no longer socially acceptable.  The new generation that entered the market could not keep up with the amount of generation that was closing.  As a result, we had less generation available.  Also during this time, the building of new data centers and increasing power demands for AI shot through the roof.  No new generation to supply power for these data centers was proposed or built because PJM's auction warning bell was not sounding due to the auctions being suspended.

PJM used the only tool it had available to meet regional need... transmission.  PJM conducted a competitive transmission window to connect the remaining generators with the new data center load.  Unfortunately, the majority of the available generators are located in WV and PA, and the data center load is in Northern Virginia.  PJM asked for new transmission to connect the two, and it ended up with a whole bunch of new projects, including MARL and MPRP.  PJM says they are "needed" to supply power to the data centers because no new generation has been built anywhere near the data centers.

Now that FERC has finally resolved the issue and PJM has its new market parameters, PJM recently began holding auctions again.  The first new auction for the 2025-2026 year was held just 10 months before the auction year begins, instead of 3 years in advance.  There's no way new generators can be built in 10 months, even if the prices are generous enough to support them economically.  That's why the auction is always held 3 years in advance, in order to give time for new generation to be built to reduce auction prices.

Instead, we're looking at a transmission bandaid to keep the existing generation flowing to the places that need it.  And PJM has opened another transmission planning window to add another 4,500MW of generation imports to Northern Virginia because there is no generation currently proposed to fill that need.

Eventually, if PJM's market signal works as intended, new generation will be built near the load.  However, certain states like Virginia and Maryland have passed laws that prevent the building of new fossil fuel generation.  That leaves only the nuclear option to supply the outrageous amount of power needed by the data centers.  Can you imagine how long it would take to build a new nuclear plant in Northern Virginia?  It would be completed on the 12th of Never.  Meanwhile, transmission is the only viable option.

PJM's market system didn't work to get generation built in time to meet new need because PJM and FERC had turned it off and were asleep at the switch.  Now we have a disaster of epic proportions on our hands.

What's going to happen first?  The construction of hotly opposed transmission projects, or the building of new generation?  And where will that generation be built?  Continuing to build in PA and WV only perpetuates the transmission problem.  We need new generation at load.  It's probably cheaper than billions of dollars of new transmission, but it takes a willingness to sacrifice for its own benefit on the part of the data center loving states.

New generation is coming to market... and how much of it will obviate the need for new transmission?  That's an unknown at this point, but it's going to happen.  PJM's transmission project needs will change and fall apart.  Let's hold the line, folks!  This battle is far from over!