Regulators urge dismissal of PATH line

PATH Transmission Line Withdrawal reflects PJM Interconnection's demand forecast, prompting AEP and FirstEnergy to suspend the 275-mile project as SCC regulators review the motion to withdraw for the mid-Atlantic electric grid.

Virginia regulators are recommending the dismissal of an application to build a $2 billion power line from West Virginia to Maryland.

A hearing examiner with the State Corporation Commission said that regulators should approve a motion to withdraw filed by American Electric Power and FirstEnergy Corp.

The utilities had pulled their Virginia line application earlier and suspended the plan to build the 765-kilowatt line in February because PJM Interconnection, the group that oversees the electric grid for a 13-state region, forecasts weaker-than-expected demand for electricity in mid-Atlantic states and directed the companies to halt the project.

The 275-mile Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline PATH was to run from AEP's John Amos power station in Putnam County, West Virginia, 31 miles across three counties in northern Virginia, to a substation near Kemptown, Maryland. It was originally envisioned to meet expectations of growing demand for electricity in the region, but AEP moved to withdraw from PATH after forecasts weakened. Officials predicted that if the line wasn't built, the region would suffer from brownouts and blackouts.

The SCC must still issue a final order even as regulators will not delay proceedings in related matters. West Virginia regulators, who had delayed a decision earlier in the process, and Maryland regulators have already granted withdrawal requests.

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