Dominion Virginia Power may have to restart the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting process before it can build a power line across the James River, a process that could take nearly two years.
Dominion submitted an application to USACE for its preferred power line route in August, three months before the State Corporation Commission approved of a different variation. A USACE permit is required before Dominion can build a 500kV power line on towers across the James River, and the permit must be issued for the route approved by the SCC.
The power company submitted a request to the SCC in 2012 for a line planned to move power to the Hampton area. Several line variations were planned, but only a few lines were deemed viable due to home and airspace encroachments.
Dominion preferred a route called “Variation 1” that would run from the Surry Nuclear Power Station across the James River, bisecting land owned by BASF Corporation – a chemical company with property in James City County – to end at the planned Skiffes Creek Switching Station. From the switching station, power would be carried on 230kV lines down the Peninsula to Hampton. Dominion submitted an application to USACE based on this route.
BASF objected to the variation Dominion preferred because it would cross an area where the company had been performing work to purge the land of chemical pollution. Instead, BASF supported the Variation 4 route that crossed the northern edge of its property, traversing property owned by the James City County Economic Development Authority and Colonial Williamsburg subsidiary Williamsburg Developments Inc.
James City County opposed an over-river power line altogether, but the SCC approved the over-river line BASF preferred in November.
At a limited hearing Tuesday, Dominion argued for an alternate route approval, again pushing Variation 1 as its first choice because the company has been unable to secure a signed right of way agreement from the county’s EDA. The EDA has passed a resolution to issue a right of way to Dominion five times, each time with the caveat WDI is satisfied with the plan.
Liz Harper, Dominion’s siting and permitting specialist, said the company applied for a permit for Variation 1. If the SCC does not approve that route, the company will likely have to resubmit its application to USACE, restarting the entire public notice, public comment and review process.
USACE has not released any information about the time it needs to issue a decision, but Harper estimated a decision would be announced by May. If the SCC does not approve Variation 1, the USACE decision will not matter.
Whether USACE will require a study on environmental impacts from the line also remains unclear. Dominion has not started a study, which Harper estimated would take about a year to complete. In total, she estimated 21 months would be required to complete a study and obtain USACE approval if the SCC does not approve Variation 1.
SCC Hearing Examiner Alexander Skirpan promised an expedited decision on the James City County piece of the line, but offered no timeline for his decision.
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