PATH agrees to extend procedural schedule

PATH transmission project aligns proceedings in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, as applicants seek revised procedural schedules. Backed by PJM Interconnection for grid reliability, the 280-mile line targets a 2014 in-service date at Kemptown substation.

Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power (AEP) announced that their affiliates have filed a response to a motion by the Staff of the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) to dismiss an application to build the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH).

In the filing, the PATH applicants agree to postpone a decision in the West Virginia approval process if a satisfactory extension of the current procedural schedule is established. The applicants also indicated that a similar request would be filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

Requests for revised procedural schedules in West Virginia and Virginia – combined with a decision in the near future to seek approval for the Maryland segments of PATH and note a related transmission line rebuild already approved – would effectively align the proceedings in the three states. It also would enable the project to meet its required in-service completion date in 2014.

In September, the Maryland commission ruled that procedurally, The Potomac Edison Company, an Allegheny Energy subsidiary, may not seek authorization to construct PATH on behalf of its affiliate, PATH Allegheny Transmission Company, LLC. Citing the project’s uncertainty in Maryland, and project peril raised in recent reports, commission staffs in Virginia and West Virginia last month requested dismissal, without prejudice, of the PATH application. In response to the staff motions, PATH reiterated that the overall project route and eastern terminus at the proposed Kemptown substation near New Market, Md., remain unchanged.

Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power, partners in the joint venture to build the 280-mile multi-state transmission line while pursuing an AEP FERC rate request with regulators, remain committed to the PATH project. According to the most recent analysis by regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, PATH is needed by June 2014 to resolve reliability concerns on the existing system.

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