PJM cancels MAPP power line
www.delawareonline.com 30 August 2012
The regional power grid operator has formally canceled the high-voltage electrical line project proposed by Delmarva Power’s parent company to bring current from Virginia into the Mid-Atlantic states.
The PJM Interconnection board voted to remove the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway from its regional planning process, confirmed Ray Dotter, PJM spokesman.
PJM also removed another planned high-voltage line, the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline, which was sponsored by Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power.
It was planned to link West Virginia to Frederick, Md.
Delmarva’s parent company, Pepco Holdings Inc., proposed the power pathway in 2006 as a $1.2 billion, 550-kilovolt transmission line. At the time, the economy was prosperous, energy use was high and people were expected to use more and more electricity.
As originally planned, the line would have started at Possum Point, Va., run through southern Maryland and across the Chesapeake Bay and southern Delaware to the power plant in Indian River.
Then the line would have run up the length of Delaware and across the Delaware River to the nuclear power plants in Salem, N.J.
Earlier this month, PJM reported in a release that “grid conditions have changed since the lines were originally planned, and our updated analysis no longer shows a need for the lines to maintain grid stability.”
Those conditions, PJM reported, include the slow economy, which has reduced demand from projected growth levels, and conservation of electricity.
Matt Likovich, Delmarva spokesman, said Monday the company acknowledged PJM’s decision.
“The company, nevertheless, is disappointed. MAPP would have enhanced electric system reliability in the Mid-Atlantic region. It would have supported offshore wind power and other renewable energy sources, as well as new gas-fired power plants,” Likovich said.
Pepco Holdings continues to upgrade its existing transmission lines and distribution system to increase reliability and maintains its support of energy efficiency programs and “economically feasible renewable power options,” Likovich said.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/30/pjm-cancels-mapp-power-line/