So many lies, so little time:
Dominion Power submits application
for new power line in county

by Cory Caulfield, Spring 2007

	Composite photo showing the existing power line running through Rappahannock on the right, with a simulation of the proposed new line on the left. Photo courtesy of the Piedmont Environmental Council.

Let's start with some cold, hard facts:

• Emitting roughly 33 million metric tons of carbon annually makes Dominion Power the 20th largest polluter in the S&P 500 stock index. According to the Virginians For Sensible Energy Policies (VSEP) newsletter, if Dominion were a country, it would rank 34th out of the 192 countries in the United Nations in terms of pollution.
• Dominion was rated by the federal government as last among all the power companies in the United States on energy efficiency and reducing demand by customers.
• Dominion is one of the nation's largest energy producers, supplying customers in 11 states.
• Dominion is one of the most profitable utility companies in the nation, with a net income of $1.81 billion in 2006.
• Power capacity in Virginia is "not a reliability concern at this time," according to a 10-year outlook by the North American Electric Reliability Council in 2005.
• Dominion is using scare tactics—threatening rolling blackouts—in a series of misleading radio and print advertisements. In the last two weeks of January, Dominion spent nearly $500,000 on full-page advertisements in The Washington Post alone, according to the VSEP newsletter.
• Dominion has employed 24 lobbyists working in Richmond to ensure legislation in their favor is passed. To date, this is the largest contingent of lobbyists ever employed at one time by one company or interest group to influence our lawmakers.
• Dominion has spent almost $3.8 million dollars on campaign contributions and gifts to politicians since 1996, according to a recent Virginia Pilot news article.
• If Dominion's plan to construct more towers is successful, private property will be seized, while other private property will be devalued without compensation—and we will all suffer the effects on our beautiful landscape.
• The energy transmission industry has technologies that would eradicate the need for more power lines!

A Bright Idea for Energy Conservation "If every household in the U.S. replaced one (standard incandescent) light bulb with an Energy Star– qualified compact fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road." —from the Federal Energy Star Program Dominion Valley Country Club (in Prince William County), is encouraging its residents to switch from incandescent to compact-fluorescent light bulbs. Although Dominion Valley is on what is now the utility company's "alternative" route, residents are stepping up the light bulb swapout. Says Cathy Strittmater, a resident of Dominion Valley and member of the homeowners association board, "... if we can conserve energy and prove we can conserve energy, maybe there wouldn't be any need for the power lines." —from The Washington Post

These are some sobering facts. Here is another one: Dominion recently shifted its focus from the originally proposed lines to "an existing corridor." The "existing" corridor Dominion is touting is the one that runs from Meadowbrook to Morrisville through Rappahannock County.

At first glance that seems like a logical idea—use what is already there and take no more land. However, Dominion's definition of "existing" is putting up another set of towers and lines next to the existing ones, taking more land for their right-of-way and doubling the already-existing scar across Rappahannock's eastern side. The sad part of this is that the technology is there to use the existing towers and take no more land in our county or anyone else's.

Why does Dominion want to construct more power lines? The company has been vague in its explanations and has skirted many direct questions posed to them about this "existing" corridor. They say they want to add capacity for Virginians. Other explanations are more compelling.

One explanation is that Dominion could increase their earnings by bringing a surplus of energy into the mid-Atlantic power grid. Dominion would then be able to sell this excess electricity to New York and New Jersey at a great profit. On this premise, Dominion will be taking our lands, possibly through eminent domain, solely for their benefit, while we get nothing in return, nothing other than additional scars across Rappahannock, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Piedmont.

Along with campaign donations to our lawmakers in Richmond and an intense lobbying campaign, Dominion has launched a massive media battle—a battle that misleads but also is intended to divide the citizens of Virginia and pit residents in different localities against each other. One recent radio advertisement by Dominion dramatically threatens rolling blackouts in "technology corridors, our homes and our schools….we can't let this catastrophe happen.…" Another goes on to imply that it is the citizens of the Piedmont who are trying to stop this power line to the detriment of the citizens living in more suburban areas. In other words, saying that those folks in the country only care about their unspoiled land and are happy to leave the rest of Northern Virginia to suffer for it.

If the facts are truly on Dominion's side, why are they spending millions on lobbyists, political contributions, and a misleading advertising campaign that employs scare tactics instead of providing facts to back up their argument?

Dominion has formally submitted its proposal to the State Corporation Commission. It identifies the Rappahannock County route as the preferred one for a new 500-kV transmission line. Now the battle lines are drawn and the real fight begins.

Questions? Please contact us!

Email: powerline@RLEP.org
Address:
Power Line Task Force
c/o Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection
P.O. Box 94
Washington, VA 22747