been the strongest opposition to any previous transmission line

been the strongest opposition to any previous transmission line project.”

Dominion wants the line operating by 2011. Without it, Northern Virginia could face “rolling blackouts,” according to the company.

The Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council will continue to fight Dominion’s plan for a line, even though the utility wants to move it farther south, the organization’s vice president Doug Larson said Tuesday.

“We still fundamentally feel [Dominion officials] have never addressed the demand for the power line,” Larson said. "Ibis is merely moving it to a different location.”

PEC will hold an information meeting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 in Liberty High School’s auditorium to provide southern Fauquier residents an overview of Dominion’s proposal.

“So, by no means is [Dominion’s new route] the end of opposition to this line,” Larson said.

Dominion claims the line primarily would serve Northern Virginia. PEC insists it would provide cheap electricity to the Northeast. Such a line would generate huge profits for Dominion, which would collect revenue based on the number of megawatts it carries.

Dominion officials were scheduled to meet with McCarthy on Wednesday to discuss the new route, but the meeting was canceled following an ice storm Tuesday night.

Dominion routing specialist John Bailey and two consultants planned to explain the project’s history and purpose to McCarthy at a closed meeting in his office on Gay Street. The county administrator said the meeting has been rescheduled for next week.

McCarthy last Wednesday talked by phone with a Dominion representative who told him Bailey would be “in the area” this week. They wanted to know if the county administrator would be available to discuss using the existing right-of-way for the proposed line.

“And my response was “Yeah, we definitely want to!’ “ McCarthy recalled.