Lawyers representing James City County will go before the Supreme Court of Virginia today to argue against a proposed over-river power line that would cross the James River near Carter’s Grove with steel-framed power lines as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
The 500kV power line would stretch from a point near the Southeastern edge of Hog Island State Waterfowl Refuge in Surry County to land owned by German chemical company BASF Corporation in Grove. The lines would be visible in places such as Kingsmill, the Colonial Parkway and Carter’s Grove.
The county is joined in its opposition to the project by the James River Association and the Save the James Alliance. The three groups are appealing the court to reverse a November 2013 decision by the State Corporation Commission — a group of state regulators who have regulatory authority over utilities — granting permission to construct the 7.76-mile line.
Opponents of the line believe it would mar the viewshed of the James River, which some preservationist groups have argued is much as it was when the first English explorers sailed up the river to Jamestown Island.
For its part, James City County is opposed because of how the line would affect the river’s appearance and the area’s history. The county is also concerned the lines could deter tourists from visiting the area.
The court will consider matters such as whether the SCC properly considered how the line would affect the area’s history and whether the SCC was correct in ruling Dominion would not need a special-use permit issued by the county to build the line. A decision will not be rendered Tuesday but will likely come later this year.
Should the court side with the county on the permit issue, the James City County Board of Supervisors could then reject an application from Dominion for a special-use permit to build the line. The special-use permit is a tool employed by Virginia localities to control how certain lands are used.
Also going before the court today are lawyers representing BASF Corporation, which opposes the project. The chemical company owns the land where Dominion wants the power line to come ashore in James City County.
BASF Corporation has owned the land in Grove for decades and once operated a chemical plant there. The plant closed in the 1990s, and the land has since been for sale. From that site, the line would go to a planned switching station near Skiffes Creek, where a new line would carry power to Hampton.
For Dominion, the line represents the best way to bring needed power to the Peninsula.
Impending regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency will force the utility to shutter much of the Yorktown Power Station, a coal and oil plant capable of producing power for 750,000 to 1 million people. Because much of that plant’s ability to produce power must be taken offline to satisfy those regulations, the utility needs to find a way to make up for the lost power.
The utility investigated retrofitting the Yorktown Power Station to allow it to continue operating within the new regulations. The trend in recent years has been to crack down on coal-fired power generation, so were the utility to retrofit the plant, it may have to confront even more stringent regulations in the future, Scott Hathaway, the utility’s vice president for electric transmission, said during a public hearing on the project in September.
That power is available at the Surry Nuclear Power Station across the river. The line will connect resources there to the Peninsula.
Hathaway said in September that if nothing is done to bring more power to the Peninsula, the utility would be in a position where it would need to start shedding customers during the summer and winter months when the demand for power is high. That would mean about 80 days per year when customers faced the risk of losing power.
The supreme court appeal is not the only challenge facing the project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently considering Dominion’s application to build the line and has not yet issued a permit to the utility.
At a public hearing in September, more than a dozen preservation-minded groups voiced opposition to the project to Army Corps regulators tasked with reviewing the project.
The Army Corps has not identified a date by which it will reach a decision. Dominion has already started some work on the line but cannot erect the towers in the river until the Army Corps gives its OK.
The line has been the subject of a lengthy debate stretching back to 2012. Some opponents of the over-river line have suggested burying it, but Dominion counters that would cost far more money and that only a handful of 500kV lines have ever been built underground. If something were to go wrong with the line, repairing it could take months, or even years.
Another criticism of the project is that Dominion has not done enough to explore other routes the line could take to get from Surry to the 51-acre Dominion-owned site in Grove where the switching station is to be built.
Several groups have tossed their hats in the ring against the project, including the National Park Service, Preservation Virginia, Colonial Williamsburg and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Related Coverage:
- Preservation, Government Groups to Gather to Share Concerns on Proposed Over-River Line
- Virginia Supreme Court Agrees to Hear JCC Appeal on Dominion’s Over-River Power Line
- JCC Authority Won’t Grant Easement for Over-River Power Line
- Dominion Begins Construction in Surry for Over-River Power Line Despite Missing Permits
- BASF Appeals to James City Authority for Help to Prevent Power Line Route
- State Commission Approves Dominion-Preferred Over-River Power Line
- Dominion Asks SCC to Decide on Over-River Power Line by March
- SCC Hearing Examiner Recommends Against Dominion-Preferred Power Line Route
- Dominion Seeks Extension to Keep Yorktown Station Running Longer
- Dominion May Need to Resubmit Army Crops Application for Over-River Power Line
- James River Association Joins JCC Appeal on Over-River Power Line
- JCC Supervisors Vote to Appeal SCC Ruling on Dominion Over-River Power Line
- SCC Reopens Over-River Power Line Case, Sets Hearing Date
- SCC Reopens Case on Dominion-Proposed Power Line Over James River
