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opened the door to transmission lines that would move electricity from areas with too much to areas without enough.
That same year Dominion Resources became a member of PJM.
In June 2006, PJM released its Regional Transmission Expansion Plan, a five-year project that would expand the existing transmission line grid and “identify transmission constraints and other reliability concerns.”
Part of the expansion plan was the construction of a 240mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line from southwestern Pennsylvania to Virginia.
The National Electric Transmission Congestion Study was released on Aug. 8,2006, by the Department of Energy. This study, which is to be updated every three years, pledges any corridor designation would be done in consultation with the affected states, regional entities, and other affected agencies and entities.
We pause here for this public service announcement: The core mission of this jockeying and studying has been to provide the country the cheapest, most reliable electrical power possible.
None of the documents, from Vice President Cheney’s task force study to the National Energy Policy to the congestion study, claim more power lines are the ultimate answer. Each document encourages or instructs the search for alternatives.
All of the attention and applications thus far have focused on building and rebuilding power lines.
And that brings us back to our question: Why didn’t we know about this earlier?
We didn’t know because the federal government used closeddoor meetings to set public policy. Vice President Dick Cheney, who chaired a special energy task force in 2001, wouldn’t even respond to questions from Congress’ General Accounting Office. Despite the fact the GAO is empowered to collect such information.
From that cradle came procedures and policies that ffy in the face of environmental and conservation laws. The whole thing has earned the ire of governors from Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
We didn’t know because the Department of Energy and big business have been bulldozing other federal agencies, state governments, regional and local entities, and the public
Utility companies have announced plans to build or expand before a study or report was released that identified the need.
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