Power

Power

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“Obviously, the big difference with’' the new route “is it’s all along existing right-ofway,” Dominion spokesman Jim Norvelle said Tuesday. “The other ones we would have to acquire right-of-way. This led us to preferring this route we’re announcing today”

Right-of-way for the new alignment measures at least 150 wide, according to Smatlak. In places, Dominion would need to expand it to accommodate the new line.

On Wednesday, County Administrator John McCarthy said in an e-mail that the plan calls for an additional 100 to 150 feet of right-of-way paralleling the existing line, which stretches from Chester Gap to Amissville in the eastern part of Rappahannock.

In places where there are residences on both sides of the corridor, McCarthy said Dominion officials would attempt to build an alternate facility that would require less space or “perhaps even work in existing right-of-way for short stretches.”

McCarthy said Dominion officials indicated that they intended “as far as possible” to respect existing properties in conservation easements, but not any new “blocking” easements.

New towers averaging 125 feet to 140 feet tall would replace existing structures to accommodate the proposed line. The right-of-way includes 500,000-, 230,000- and 115,000volt lines, Smatlak said.

Dominion seldom discloses a preferred transmission line route before making an application to the State Corporation Commission, which determines need and location issues. “I would say it’s unusual,” Norvelle said of Tuesday's announcement

Dominion will seek SCC approval for a line in April.

Nationally, the placement of transmission lines has become an increasingly “open and collaborative” process, said Norvelle, who joined Dominion 21 years ago.

Asked about reaction to the project, he said: “It certainly has