http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/06/06climatewire-energy-conservation-helps-stymie-a-major-tra-71702.html?pagewanted=1 by Peter Behr of ClimateWire
Transmission projects have traditionally come under attack by environmental, scenic and "not in my backyard" partisans. Now a major mid-Atlantic power line proposal may be held up instead by a weak economy and a growing energy conservation movement.
A Virginia regulatory examiner plans this week to rule on a request by PATH Allegheny Virginia Transmission Corp. to withdraw its proposal to build a 276-mile, $1.8 billion high-voltage transmission line from West Virginia through Virginia's northwest corner to a proposed substation near Frederick, Md. The project would be resubmitted this fall, its backers say. . .
The new planning scenarios "suggest that the PATH Project appears not to be needed in 2014," said Steven Herling, PJM's vice president for planning, in a Dec. 28 letter to the project's developers, American Electric Power and Allegheny Energy Inc...
"Clearly, the big impact of the delay [in last spring's forecast] related to the economy," Herling said in an interview. "The analysis we did at the beginning of 2009 was based on load forecast that included the recession. That pushed the line to 2014." Last month's analysis added demand response, and that showed that the line was no longer required in 2014. "Demand response is having a significant effect," Herling said. . .
"We knew the economy was lousy last spring. We knew these efficiency measures were in place. They have been ignoring the facts right along," said Malcolm Baldwin, who owns a farm in Lovettsville in Loudoun County, Va., and is a board member of the Piedmont Environmental Council. The council opposes the PATH project and a second major project, the TRAIL power line that is now under construction from West Virginia to Northern Virginia.
PJM's new preliminary analysis indicates that because of reduced demand, key high-voltage power lines into Maryland and northern Virginia aren't threatened with overloading until 2021 or later, based on assessments of how much power they can safely carry. Herling said reliability limits on voltages, however, could be reached in the region as early as 2016. . .
