The backers of a proposed electricity-transmission line from West Virginia to Maryland have asked to withdraw their application to run parts of it through Virginia, citing a study that shows its power will not be needed as soon as they had predicted.
That request is the latest setback for the proposed Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), a joint venture of Pennsylvania-based Allegheny Energy and Ohio-based American Electric Power. . .
"We remain committed to the project," said David Neurohr, a spokesman for Allegheny Energy. "We're saying we'd better have the full-blown, comprehensive . . . information in our hands before we go forward."
. . . In a series of public hearings -- in Loudoun County and other places in the line's path -- residents had criticized it as an unnecessary blight on rural areas and scenic views. . .
Earthjustice staff attorney Abigail Dillen said her group had contended that, because of a declining economy and improvements in energy-efficiency, the East Coast did not need the line's power. She said the line would have high environmental costs, because it would bring in energy from coal-burning power plants in the Ohio River Valley.
"We feel really vindicated" by the new data about electrical demand, Dillen said. "Because this is precisely what we've been saying."
