Alert & Action: West VA: 4/29/ 2025 Jefferson County Transmission Town Hall

ACTION: Deadline Midnight, March 14, 2025 to Appeal Loudoun County Property Tax Real Estate Assessment 

If there is a transmission line on your property or in your view shed you may want to consider appealing your Loudoun County property tax assessment.  

The impact on property valuations due to the view shed impediment on a 6.5 mile 500kV/230kV transmission line along Route 7 in Data Center Alley was estimated to be  between -1.0% and -19.2% of the current assessment. 

According to the expert witness hired by Loudoun County, the valuation of the properties in this area,  will decrease by a combined $252,025,000 in the set of properties within the mass appraisal study area, where the differential reflects the damages that will be done by the installation of the 500kV/230kV transmission lines! 

For the Aspen-Golden 500kV/230kVtransmission line, no easements were sited on residential private property and the majority of the transmission line was sited along the Route 7 highway - the projected decrease in valuation is entirely due to the view shed impediment. 

*** ALERT ACTION NEEDED : DEADLINE: Email and Letters must be received by PJM By Monday, February 17, 2025

New Proposed Project 262 (Transsource #708: Amos - Welton Springs - Rocky Point 765kV) 

On January 7, PJM’s Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee (TEAC) stated they would recommend approval of  transmission Project 262 to PJM’s Board of Managers. This project includes a 261-mile, 765kV transmission line from the John Amos power station in Putnam County, WV WV through 14 counties in West Virginia (Putnam, Kanawha, Roane, Calhoun, Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire and Jefferson) through Frederick, Clarke and Loudoun counties in Virginia to a new substation in Frederick County, MD, to be built by 2029. This proposal is nearly identical to the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) project that we defeated in 2012.  This will cross Loudoun County for about 15 miles and will take a new 200 ft. wide easement parallel to the existing transmission lines - approximately 365 acres of property in Loudoun County alone! This is the same area in Western Loudoun County that is the target of another new 500kV transmission line that was approved by PJM’s Board of Managers in August of  2024, which if built will also require taking additional easements. Again, this new transmission project is for the sole purpose of powering new data centers in Eastern Loudoun. This is for the data center's business expansion but we will be expected to sacrifice our land and perhaps our very homes and on top of that we will be paying for this line in our electric bills! . 

Write a letter to the PJM Board of Managers then either forward it electronically or mail it.

=> Tell the Board of Managers your reasons for opposing the project. Include the reasons (see list below) and tell PJM’s Board your own story - impacts to your property and/or home and community, your quality of life and enjoyment of the state and national parks that would be effected. What would it mean to you if your home is seized and razed to make way for this data center extension cord. 

=> Most Important Ask the Board of Managers to REJECT Project 262 (Transsource #708: Amos - Welton Springs - Rocky Point 765kV)   Tell PJM to find a solution that does not destroy private property across Western Loudoun County as well as the Harper's Ferry National Park, the Appalachian Trail, the C&O Canal National Park and the view shed all along the Potomac River!

=> Address Letters to: The PJM Board of Managers, Mark Takahashi, Chairman and

                                               Manu Asthana, PJM President and CEO PJM Interconnection L.L.C.

=> Mail Letters to: 

             The PJM Board of Managers

              Mark Takahashi, Chairman and

              Manu Asthana, PJM President and CEO PJM Interconnection L.L.C.

              2750 Monroe Boulevard

              Audubon, Pennsylvania 19403

=> Email:

        • Use Subject: Opposition to Project 262 / 708 2024 Window 1 – 765kV 261-mile transmission line

        • Send your letter as an email attachment to: David.Anders@pjm.com. (Do not address your letter to    

         Mr.  Anders, he has no decision-making authority he only delivers the mail) 

Reasons why PJM’s Board of Managers should NOT approve Project 262:

1) The project was not competitively bid or awarded. PJM utilities FirstEnergy, American Electric Power and Dominion made a joint proposal in order to thwart competition and fix prices. The utilities did not have to compete with each other to propose a project that was "cost effective" for ratepayers, and the project bid did not include any cost caps. Even then,  project is under bid as it is based on "cheaper" Guyed V-lattice tower construction which will not work due to terrain. Guyed V-lattice towers are possibly the foulest, most land use restrictive, intensive and invasive electric infrastructure available!

2) PJM’s Constructability and Financial Analysis of the project was not performed as required. PJM’s stated process for the analysis required a review of land use mapping that identified residences within both 100 feet and 250 feet of the proposed line, along with identification of conservation easements, public land, and historic structures and districts in acres and the count as well as a Public Lands mapping review with types, acreage and counts (etc). PJM did not perform this analysis at all.

3) PJM’s maps of the project claim the project will be built on existing easements when PJM has stated that it will require a new easement for its entire 261-mile length.  The proposed route crosses 15 miles of private property and conservation easements in Western Loudoun County that would be subject to eminent domain taking for a new 200' easement. This is another @365 acres of private property just in Loudoun to be taken to support data center expansion. This will have a devastating effect on property owners all along the route.

4)The project will cross  the Monongahela National Forest, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park,Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail and it will run parallel down the view shed of the Potomac River and will severely impact / destroy the scenic and historic value of these assets. 

5) Project 262 was rated the most risky project for its In-Service Date of 2029 due to both schedule and constructability risks. PJM’s Reliability Report states that PJM is attempting to manage this risk by extending the In Service Date to 2032.

6)The project is another extension cord to export coal-fired electric resources from West Virginia's aging coal generation plants (in this case John Amos built in 1971) into Virginia. 

7) Project 262 is NOT the only solution for transmission nor is transmission the only solution for the data center expansion / projected energy load in Loudoun County, Virginia.