WASHINGTON — State regulators are questioning the need for new high-voltage transmission lines in Prince William County, and have ordered new hearings with interested parties.
Virginia鈥檚 State Corporation Commission wants a hearing examiner to gather more information from Dominion Energy and groups opposed to the Haymarket Transmission Line Project.
“We’re back to the basic premise again, in terms of, one, need, and two, if needed what is the proper route,”聽SCC spokesman Ken Schrad said. “The commission’s object is to make sure that all parties have due process.”
Opponents include , which has concerns about the project’s impact on the environment and private property.
Dominion Energy believes聽growing demand for power in Prince William County makes the project necessary. It wants to extend new overhead power聽lines from a聽Gainesville substation聽to Haymarket, where a new substation would be built.
鈥淲e are looking forward to providing the commission with the requested information about this important project and continuing to provide reliable energy to customers in the Haymarket region,鈥� spokesman Chuck Penn said in聽an email to 草莓传媒.
This is the latest wrinkle in a process that’s been underway since July 2014.聽Multiple paths for the power lines have been proposed by Dominion聽and rejected for various reasons, including聽proximity to a historic African-American community.
Schrad expects聽a hearing examiner will set the schedule for information-gathering hearings after the first of the year.
