The Virginia State Corporation Commission will conduct a hearing in Loudoun County in early August to hear public comments on a controversial electrical transmission line proposed by Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power.
The Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) would cross Frederick, Clarke, and Loudoun counties. Thirty-one miles of the line would pass through Northern Virginia.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has been an outspoken opponent of the project.
“I have yet to see anything to convince me that unless these huge power lines are built across our region, we will be sitting in dark homes and offices,” Wolf wrote in a letter to the Virginia SCC dated May 26. “Instead, in my review of these plans, all I see is that regions along the East Coast where the power will be shipped will reap the benefits and the ‘benefits’ for our region will be towering structures strung with wire dotting the countryside and backyards of the places we call home, not to mention higher rates for our consumers to pay for new power lines that will not bring power to their homes.”
One of the major arguments for the line is the need to upgrade and fully power the area into the near future.
In the letter, Wolf also called for more information to be provided to the public.
“I respectfully request that that you, as the commissioners of the SCC, hold public hearings in the affected areas and that at least one of you attend each hearing…Some believe that the SCC has become a rubber stamp for the industries it regulates,” he wrote. “I believe that having at least one commissioner attend any public hearing held would help to restore public confidence.”
If you go
The hearing will be in Purcellville and is scheduled for Wed., Aug. 5 in the Loudoun Valley High School auditorium at 340 North Maple Avenue. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. and reconvene at 7 p.m. It will continue on Thursday, August 6 at 10 a.m.
