Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection

Letter From Rappahannock County Administrator
to Govenor Timothy Kaine Opposing Power Line

The Honorable Timothy M. Kaine
Office of the Governor
Executive Office Bldg., Third Floor
1111 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219

At their regular meeting of March 5, 2007, the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors directed that I seek your support for opposition to the proposed routing of a new 500kV electrical transmission corridor through Rappahannock County.

This preferred alternative of four that Dominion will be submitting to the State Corporation Commission is offensive to the citizens of our county and to the Board for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the fact that it was presented as their preferred alternative in the waning days of the General Assembly session while they were simultaneously attempting to garner the legislature’s support in a complex re-regulation of electrical power companies in the Commonwealth. Rappahannock feels that it has been placed in the proverbial cross-hairs as consequence of a larger and iniquitous process.

As Dominion serves not a single customer in Rappahannock County, and we already bear the burden of an existing 500kV line of theirs to serve our neighbors, we feel that we are already doing our part in support of the regional electric power service needs.

It is particularly galling that the power supply that this new line will access, coal-fired power plants in the Ohio River valley, are likewise a major component of the air pollution impacts we are suffering in our principal tourist attraction, the Shenandoah National Park. The Park has seen a dramatic decline in tourist patronage and air quality effects on visibility from the Park has often been cited as a main cause of that decline.

In sum, our land is being proposed for condemnation to further a project that will provide no local benefits, and which will perpetuate environmental degradation that dramatically affects the second largest industry in this community. This is not just, and we seek your wise counsel and leadership on this issue.

We urge you to consider amending the legislation re-regulating the electrical utility industry to include a prohibition against this proposed project or, failing that, adequate provisions for local governments and property owners to challenge the authority of utilities to construct projects that serve no local customers.

Go to Power Line Home Page

Go to RLEP home page

Go to Current Issues