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TWO!!! Lovettsville and Neersville are now facing the possibility of a massive transmission infrastructure row 600' to 650' wide with an additional TWO HVAC transmission lines to support the Data Centers in Eastern Loudoun.
These will require both expanding the existing easements and new greenfield easements, if both transmission lines are approved the row would be almost four times as wide as a football field is wide and will take 365 acres in the Lovettsville and Neersville areas alone!
On top of the destruction of 365 acres of private property and the local environment, plus an unprecedented level of Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) for the people forced to live beside it, these structures would cut 140' to 180' into the skyline and will be the prominent feature of the view shed for the entire area.
If these are approved people in the Lovettsville and Neersville area will be living beside:
The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) is a proposed 500kV transmission line originating at the 502 Junction in West Virginia to bring coal fired energy into Loudoun County's "Data Center Alley.
If approved, this transmission line would traverse :
In Frederick County , Virginia , Jefferson County , West Virginia and Loudoun County, Virginia, it will require expansion of First Energy's existing 138kV easement by 50 ' - 100' and new easements of 200' in various locations to avoid structures and other impediments. This is proposed to be a monopole with the existing 138kV underbuilt.
From Jefferson County, West Virginia it enters Loudoun County, Virginia across Short Hill mountain, then traverses Neersville and Lovettsville, running approximately 15 miles to the Potomac River where it crosses into Frederick County, Maryland then heads south through Montgomery County, Maryland and crosses the Potomac again to finally connect into the Golden Substation in Eastern Loudoun County, Virginia.
This transmission line will also 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.
The MARL Transmission line is part of a set of transmission projects approved by PJM to import energy to meet the unprecedented power demands of the data center industry in Eastern Loudoun County, Virginia.
This is a second much larger transmission line to serve increased energy demands of data centers in Eastern Loudoun. This proposed 765kV transmission line originates at the John Amos generation plant in West Virginia to bring coal fired energy into Loudoun County's "Data Center Alley".
Vally Link (previously known as Project 262 /#708) ) is a proposal to build a 261-mile, 765kV transmission line (the biggest HVAC structure and line available) from the John Amos power station in Putnam County, WV through
The transmission companies proposal uses 140' to 180' guyed V-lattice towers These are possibly the foulest, most land use restrictive, intensive and invasive electric infrastructure available!
This would cross Western Loudoun County for about 15 miles and will take a new 200 ft. wide easement parallel to the existing Mount Storm - Doubs transmission lines. It would take approximately 365 acres of property in Loudoun County alone - devastating private property owners! It would also 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 . It will severely impact / destroy the scenic and historic value of these assets.
This is the same area in Frederick County, Virginia, Jefferson County, West Virginia and far Western Loudoun County, along the Potomac River that is the target of the proposed 500kV transmission line (Alternate MARL Re-Route) that was approved by PJM’s Board of Managers in August of 2024, which, if built, will also require taking additional easements.
The proposal is nearly identical to the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) project that we defeated in 2012.
NO!!! The Mid-Atlantic National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor was cancelled!
If any state denies the MARL (500kV) Transmission line or the Valley Link (765kV) transmission Line the Federal Government will not have the authority to site the transmission line and the transmission line will not be built!
There are a number of alternatives to building a 500kv transmission line through rural Virginia:
Possibly all of the above!
No, PJM has already moved the in-service date for MARL by three years and Dominion Energy has projected some data centers will need to wait up to 7 years to connect to the grid. The threat of brownouts and blackouts is just a scare tactic. The need is purely economical and driven by new data centers under construction and existing data centers that want to expand. Additionally, more data centers are being approved for development. The data centers estimate their energy use based on their business plans and submit energy requests to Dominion Energy. Those energy demand requests are used in PJM's forecasting and transmission planning. The data centers may use less or more energy than they have requested (or they may pack up and leave town). If the transmission line is not built by the requested in-service date, the data centers will not be able to build out their business ventures on the timeline they have planned.
PJM is the Regional Transmission Operator serving the approximately 65 Million electric customers in 13 states plus the District of Columbia. PJM's service area includes all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. PJM's mandate is to oversee the safety, security and reliability of the transmission system within its region. PJM has no authority to commission the building of electric generation facilities, therefore the only solution to any "problem" identified by PJM will be transmission, even though building generation closer to the energy demand maybe a more economical solution.
The approximately 65 million rate payers in the PJM region will share the "socialized" cost of the Transmission lines, as well as the cost of the rest of the projects that PJM approved to bring base load power into Eastern Loudoun County to provide energy to the data centers.
The approximately 65 million rate payers in the PJM region will share the "socialized" cost of the Transmission lines, as well as the cost of the rest of the projects that PJM approved to bring base load power into Eastern Loudoun County to provide energy to the data centers.
The approximately 65 million rate payers in the PJM region will share the "socialized" cost of the Transmission lines, as well as the cost of the rest of the projects that PJM approved to bring base load power into Eastern Loudoun County to provide energy to the data centers.
Expert Witness Testimony of Martin Blank 765kV
Direct Testimony of Martin Blank in the VA SCC PATH 765kV Case PUE 2009-00043 in which he stated: “There can be no doubt that the proposed addition of the 765kV line to the existing 500kV line 138 kV lines would add to the level of EMF and thereby create additional potential risk. This would be contrary to the recommendations of the May 1999 NIEHS Report to Congress.”
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