Dive Brief:
- The Virginia Gazette reports Dominion and the Army Corps of Engineers may not be able to find common ground on an $85 million mitigation plan that is needed to move ahead a proposed transmission line.
- Without constructing the Surry-Skiffes Creek across the James River, Dominion has warned that some areas could face blackouts next year.
- Opponents of the power line, which would include more than a dozen transmission towers, is not appropriate for the scenic river near Jamestown, where the first English colony in America was located.
Dive Insight:
The Army Corps will need to sign off on Dominion Virginia Power's proposed transmission line, but according to the Gazette chances appear to be fading.
Tom Walker, who heads up the Norfolk District's regulatory office, told the newspaper that "it's definitely a possibility we may go through the termination route. We do these things fairly often. ... Usually we kind of get a good sense that everybody is on board and it will be OK. We don't necessarily have that with this one."
The project includes 17 towers, some almost as tall as a football field's length.
According to the Daily Press, the transmission line is needed to replace two decades-old coal facilities which run infrequently and violate environmental emissions standards.
In April, the Virginia Supreme Court handed line opponents a victory when it ruled aspects of the line were subject to local siting rules. The utility has warned that the project is essential to the region's power supply, which could face shortages and blackouts as soon as 2017 if construction is not begun soon.
Dominion Virginia Power's project is a 7.76-mile 500 KV overhead transmission line running from the Surry nuclear power plant switching station in Surry County to the proposed Skiffs Creek switching station. Without agreement on mitigation, the Corps can request an environmental impact study or memorandum of agreement to allow the line to go forward.
