The State Corporation Commission hearing examiner has suggested against approving the Surry-Skiffes Creek over-river power line route Dominion Virginia Power prefers.
After reviewing information submitted in a Jan. 30 limited hearing held to discuss options for rerouting the proposed 500kV line over land in James City County, SCC Hearing Examiner Alexander Skirpan issued a report on the alignment Thursday. Skirpan recommended the commissioners approve a line route called Variation 4.1. Dominion was seeking approval of Variation 1.
The Variation 1 route Dominion preferred would cross the James River before making land in James City County on a piece of property owned by the chemical company BASF Corporation. The line would then bisect the property BASF owns and has been trying to sell; it would also affect land the company has been working to purge of chemical pollution.
BASF preferred a line called Variation 4.2, which would cross its property to the north, leaving a larger piece of property open. Dominion suggested another route, Variation 4.1, which crosses BASF’s property, but does not bisect it, though the line does bisect property owned by Colonial Penniman LLC.
Initially, the SCC approved Variation 4, which crossed BASF’s property to the north and then crossed property owned by Colonial Williamsburg subsidiary Williamsburg Developments Inc. and the James City County Economic Development Authority. Because Dominion did not obtain the easements it needed from WDI and the EDA, the company approached the SCC to request an alternate route be approved.
Variation 4.1, which the hearing examiner suggested in his report the commissioners approve, does not cross either WDI or EDA property.
If the commissioners choose to follow the hearing examiner’s suggestion and approve the line, Dominion will be faced with further delays before the power line can be built.
Dominion will need to apply to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for a one-year waiver to keep the entire Yorktown Power Station running past April 2015, when two coal-fired generation units at the station must be closed because of new environmental regulations. Also, Dominion may need an additional extension from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to keep the units running for an additional year, into April 2017. A Dominion spokesperson said Friday the company will apply for an extension from the EPA if necessary.
The company already announced its plans to apply for a one-year waiver from the DEQ.
Without the waivers to keep the coal-fired units running longer, the units will have to be shut down, which could cause reliability issues for power customers in Hampton Roads, including in James City and York counties and the City of Williamsburg.
In addition to the waivers, Dominion will need to resubmit an application for a permit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has been reviewing an unapproved line — Variation 1 — since August last year. Dominion submitted the application to USACE in advance of the SCC’s decision and then did not amend or refile an application after the SCC ruled Variation 1 was not the line Dominion could build.
According to a schedule submitted during the limited hearing, Dominion plans to submit a new application to USACE for Variation 4.1 in March, at the same time it expects SCC commissioner approval. A Dominion spokesperson said Friday the company did not yet know when it would refile with USACE.
Based on the March submission, the company plans on receiving approval from USACE in December, but that timeline does not take into account the possibility an environmental impact study may be required.
If the study is required, it could take about a year — or longer — to complete. A call Friday to USACE for additional information about the possibility of a required study has been returned.
If USACE does not require the study and does issue approval by December, Dominion projected the 500kV over-river line would be completed by May 2016, with the 230 kV line planned to run from Skiffes Creek to a Hampton substation completed in September 2016.
If the SCC initially approved the Dominion-preferred Variation 1, Dominion projected the entire project would be complete by June 1, 2015.
Though Skirpan suggested the commissioners approve Variation 4.1, it is not a done deal until the commissioners issue their final ruling. Prior to the commissioners issuing a ruling, comments on the hearing examiner’s report can be filed through Friday.
C. Lewis Waltrip II, manager of Colonial Penniman, filed a letter with the SCC on Feb. 2 to argue against Variation 4.1.
“Given the public’s concern over working/living this close to a high capacity transmission main, the marketability of the site will be significantly impacted; not just the land located under the alignment route,” Waltrip wrote. “Even though the science of a connection between transmission mains and impacts to personal health is a hotly debated issue, the reality is that the public’s perception of a potential health connection is all that is necessary to drive a potential client away to another non-impacted location.”
Waltrip wrote Colonial Penniman invested $4.5 million in purchasing and improving the property it owns. The company is currently marketing the space to tenants with warehouse needs. The Variation 4.1 line would cross the Colonial Penniman security building and the edge of the required line easement is 10 feet from its office building.
No representative from the company spoke at the limited hearing Jan. 30 and the letter was not mentioned in the hearing examiner’s ruling.
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