Alternate Routes In Highway Easements
One of the reasons for the selected primary route for the MARL transmission line is to use an existing Appalachian Trail crossing. There are three highways (Route 7, Route 9 and Route 50) that also cross the Appalachian Trail to the south / south west of the existing Mt. Storm - Doubs transmission line crossing. Using highway easements of any one of these would avoid taking private property to host the MARL transmission line.
"Data Center Alley" - the destination for all this power is on Route 7. Additionally, both Route 7 and Route 9 run directly to / towards "Data Center Alley".
Page 14: of "Loudoun County Virginia Data Center Capital of the World "A strategy for a changing Paradigm" by Mike Turner , Loudoun County Supervisor for Aspen:
states ".. a second line down Rte. 7 is probably next up. After that, Dominion will have likely used the last available routing to “Data Center Alley” that won’t require using eminent domain".
Additionally , the technology exists to put these lines underground - using High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC)
NextGen Highways advocates for using existing highway ROWs to co-locate infrastructure such as transmission lines , they can be contracted with to study the feasibility of routing transmission lines along highways within a state. In 2022 NextGen Highways did a feasibility study for Minnesota Department of Transportation for Buried High Voltage Direct Current Transmission. The study concluded buried HVDC is cost competitive.
HVDC Down the Shenandoah and Potomac
There are multiple project in the north east (Champlaine Hudson Power Express, the Hudson Project and the Neptune Project) that uses both buried HVDC Cables and underwater HVDC Cables. No study has been done on the Shenandoah or Potomac to determine if this would be a feasible option.
In 2022 NextGen Highways did a feasibility study for Minnesota Department of Transportation for Buried High Voltage Direct Current Transmission. The study concluded buried HVDC is cost competitive.