Monongalia County Commission Joins Neighbors In Opposition To Transmission Line

The Monongalia County Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to formally oppose the construction of the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL), and called on all county elected officials to do the same. 

The MARL project would connect power stations in southwestern Pennsylvania to a substation in Virginia with 105 miles of 500 kV transmission line crossing through four West Virginia counties.

Commissioner Sean Sikora acknowledged that the energy needs the builder NextEra is trying to address with the project are real.

“We just don’t see a benefit to them running this line across our state, across our beautiful county, and not providing us any benefit,” he said. 

The Monongalia County Commission met with NextEra company spokesperson Katlin McCormick after their July 9 meeting

“It’s to solve a problem, but somebody else’s problem,” Sikora said. “And not to be ‘Not in my backyard,’ we as West Virginians have done a lot for this region, and we’ve already done our fair share. To be forced to accept this project without any benefit to our citizens while extremely impacting our citizens isn’t something that this commission can stand for.”

Commissioner Tom Bloom asked how residents of Virginia would react if they were asked to take on a similar project. 

“How would the Virginia residents feel if we built the transmission lines along the beaches? Which is what the residents are asking our citizens to do over our lakes and our property,” he said. “West Virginia is known as one of the most majestic states in the country. So why are we building the lines against the backs of our citizens, and that’s why I will be supporting this resolution.”

Monongalia County is not alone in pushing back against the project. Both the Hampshire County and Preston County commissions approved similar resolutions opposing the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link in May. 

Earlier this month, the Hampshire County Commission sent a letter to surrounding counties, proposing creating a coalition of local governments in opposition to the project. The Preston County Commission voted to join the coalition last week.

State delegates have also voiced their opposition. NextEra has said they will not file an application with the West Virginia Public Service Commission until the fall. But Del. Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire, posted a letter to WVPSC Chair Charlotte Lane in June voicing his opposition to the project.

“As a strong advocate for energy development, I recognize the critical need for grid resiliency to meet West Virginia’s and the nation’s growing electricity demands,” Hillenbrand wrote. “However, if, as MARL’s developers state, the electricity will primarily benefit Virginia and its taxpayers, why should West Virginians bear a substantial cost?”

Del. David McCormick, R-Monongalia, told the commission Wednesday that opposition to the project had become a bipartisan issue, affecting property values and increased rates for customers.

“I don’t see West Virginia and West Virginians benefiting from this in being just a vehicle to get more power to Virginia to help their economic development efforts with data centers,” he said. “I’d rather see them come here, frankly. Virginia doesn’t have enough power? Well, maybe they shouldn’t have closed all the power plants, and they wouldn’t have this problem.”

Commissioner Jeffrey Arnett said McCormick was one of the first to raise the issue of the MARL project to the Monongalia County Commission. He said public response to the issue had been very one-sided, and voting to oppose it was easy.

“To me, it’s pretty simple. They want to shove those things down our throats and say, ‘Oh, by the way, you also get to pay for it, and by the way, you don’t get any benefit for it.’ It’s a no brainer,” Arnett said. “We heard from folks on both sides of the aisle. It’s the most one sided thing I’ve ever been a part of with the Commission. As far as folks reaching out, I haven’t heard a single person, other than the folks proposing it, that were in favor of it. To a man and woman, everybody that called me was in opposition to this project, and I can see why.”