MORGANTOWN — While the exact route remains a work in progress, Monongalia County appears to be in the path of a major power transmission project.
On Wednesday, representatives of NextEra Energy Transmission sat down with members of the Monongalia County Commission to discuss the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL), a 105-mile transmission line that’s going to run from Greene County, Pa. to Frederick County, Va.
“That’s going to be a 500-kV line, which is one of the big, major transmission lines. Think about it as if it’s a major highway for energy and electrons,” NextEra Energy Transmission Senior Director Kaitlin McCormick said, adding, “We have a small component in Pennsylvania, then we’ll be crossing through West Virginia, into Maryland, back into West Virginia and then ending in Virginia.”
When pressed for any specifics in terms of potential location, McCormick explained NextEra was looking at the northern part of the county, stating, “I think we’re primarily looking at areas that don’t have zoning districts within them.”
PJM Interconnection manages the electrical transmission system for a 13-state region that runs from Michigan to Tennessee and from Illinois to Delaware. West Virginia is included in that region. So is the Washington D.C. area, for which PJM is predicting a dramatic increase in the number of power-hungry data centers coming online.
“PJM is working through a lot of stuff and a lot of changes as demand for electricity changes, the uses change, particularly there are some major industrial users that are looking for things. It’s a total change in landscape and we’re just a piece of that,” McCormick said.
NextEra’s MARL project was one of several selected by PJM to help meet the region’s shifting power demands.
NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic will finance, develop, own, construct, operate and maintain the transmission line, which is expected to take two years to construct.
“The way those work, it’s not affiliated with any one generation source or any one power source. It’s just working to help provide a backbone to move electricity across the grid and through the region,” McCormick said. “That’s a major capital investment here in the region and in the state and in Mon County as well.”
In January, postcards will go out to anyone living within a miles-wide swath identified for the potential route. That study area will be centered around existing transmission corridors.
McCormick said the company wants to run the line parallel to existing infrastructure, if possible.
“We recognize some of those transmission lines have been there for decades and where we can’t parallel, we’re looking to go around some of the human environment that’s built up around that,” she said.
The company will ultimately need a 200-foot wide right of way.
Interactive online maps and a survey will be part of the public feedback process, as will a public comment period and open meetings tentatively planned for the March/April 2025 timeframe.
For more information, check out midatlanticresiliencylink.com.
