Feds Approve First Phase of NIETC Designation for Western Loudoun Power Line - Loudoun Now
Feds Approve First Phase of NIETC Designation for Western Loudoun Power Line | News | loudounnow.com
As area residents gear up efforts to oppose the construction of new power lines that could impact the county’s historic, agricultural, and scenic areas, the federal government just made that work more difficult. On Wednesday, the U.S. Secretary of Energy included parts of the county in the first step of identifying new National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.
A NIETC designation provides an expedited permitting and construction process for transmission lines. This is done when there is an urgent need to meet power demand in a region. A NIETC designation allows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue permits for siting transmission lines even if state authorities have denied an application.
In Virginia, the State Corporation Commission has regulatory authority over all high voltage transmission projects.
Typically, NIETCs are large geographic areas, but in December, the Department of Energy released new guidelines for the designation resulting in much narrower NIETC corridors.
Currently, the DOE is going through its four-phase designation process. In March, NextEra Energy filed a request with the DOE to have western Loudoun and parts of Maryland designated as a NIETC.
Today, the Grid Deployment office released a preliminary list of potential NIETCs, which included parts of Loudoun, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland in the Mid-Atlantic region.
“The Mid-Atlantic potential NIETC encompasses a geographic area where there is significant need for increased within-region transmission capacity in PJM to maintain and improve reliability and resilience, lower consumer costs, and meet future generation and demand growth,” according to the preliminary list of potential NIETCs.
The Loudoun Transmission Alliance released a statement calling the move “alarming and detrimental to residents.”
The Alliance includes 38 signed representatives from Loudoun County nonprofit organizations, community and neighborhood associations, businesses, and residents and was formed to oppose a transmission line project planned to cut through western Loudoun known as the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link.
"We're extraordinarily nervous about this," LTLA founder Sue Manch said. "I think that the NIETC designation can go both ways. It can be positive for us because it can involve the Department of Energy in a positive way in the sense that the Biden Administration has committed to using alternative technologies and trying to stay in existing pathways and limiting impact as they look at the national grid in a very comprehensive way."
But, Manch said, she is also concerned that with a NIETC designation, the DOE could override a denial of the project by the SCC.
"It just puts another scary layer with it," she said.
Manch said the biggest problem with the MARL is a lack of planning and that the community should be looking to 50 year energy solutions, not 10 year solutions.
"It seems like a lot of damage to inflict on Loudoun greens space for a 10 year solution," she said.
PJM Interconnection, the organization responsible for coordinating power across 13 states, including Virginia, in its 2022 Regional Transmission Plan expects a loss of 11 gigawatts of fossil fuel power generators and an additional 7.5 gigawatts of power growth in Northern Virginia over the next few years.
It anticipates summer and winter peak load over the entire PJM region to increase by 1.6% and 1.9% each year for the next 10 years, while Northern Virginia is expected to increase by 5.5% and 5% each year.
“Findings [by the DOE Needs Study] show eastern Maryland and Virginia … have experienced persistently high wholesale market prices in recent years. Additional transmission to bring cost-effective resources to demand would help reduce these wholesale prices, ultimately lowering congestion and reducing costs for consumers,” according to the April 8 announcement.
The Mid-Atlantic is one of 10 regions identified as potential NIETCs, following phase one of the process. Phase two consists of a 45-day comment period for the potential designations. Phase two will conclude June 24 at 5 p.m.
Phases three and four will included refining the boundaries of potential NIETCs, beginning any required environmental reviews, preparing a draft reporting, continuing community engagement and providing a final list of potential designations.
Comments may be emailed to NIETC@hq.doe.gov. An informational webinar will also be held May 16 at 3:30 p.m. Register online.
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