For Release: Nov. 5, 2007
Contact: J. Tucker Martin or David Clementson
Email: tucker.martin@oag.state.va.us or dclementson@oag.state.va.us
Phone: 804-786-2071
Governor Kaine, Attorney General McDonnell, Congressman Frank Wolf, Congressman Tom Davis Jointly Call for Removal of Virginia from National Energy Transmission Corridor
Richmond - Governor Tim Kaine, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, Congressman Frank Wolf (R) and Congressman Tom Davis (R) today joined together to call for Virginia’s removal from the Mid-Atlantic National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor.
The four did so as the Attorney General, joined by the Governor, officially filed an Application for Rehearing with the United States Department of Energy (DOE), asking that all Virginia counties and cities (full list below) included in the agencies recent designation of a Mid-Atlantic National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) be removed from the designation.
“Our goal has always been to ensure a reliable, affordable, environmentally sustainable supply of energy,” Gov. Kaine said. “Important decisions about energy resources are best handled at the state level.
“We have in place processes that ensure the concerns and rights of all stakeholders, including citizens, consumers, property owners, local governments, and energy suppliers are represented. There is no need for the federal government to override a process that is well-handled and better handled at the state level.”
Attorney General McDonnell added, “A reliable and consistent supply of energy is critical to the future vitality and security of our country. Virginia has set in place the proper framework to ensure this supply in the years ahead, not only in the Commonwealth, but throughout the Middle Atlantic region. What is not helpful in this effort is the Department of Energy’s usurpation of the state’s proper role in the siting and approving of electric transmission corridor’s. We sincerely hope the agency will hear us, and agree to reconsider the result of their work, in light of how that work was conducted, and the objections that we have noted.”
McDonnell continued, “We also hope that Congress will take note of the Department’s performance in this regard, and develop some meaningful protections to prevent the future trampling of state interests. I know that Congressman Wolf and Congressman Davis will continue to provide leadership on this, and I look forward to continuing to support their efforts. The NIETC provisions of the Federal Power Act are overzealous and unsupported by the facts. They present an unnecessary and ill considered encroachment upon state sovereignty that reflects a failure of respect for the important principles of federalism that lie at the heart of our freedom.”
Congressman Frank Wolf, who has long been an outspoken critic of the creation of the corridors, said he continues to be disappointed in the department's decision to go forward with the designation. "These designations have the potential to destroy neighborhoods and desecrate huge swaths of historically significant land," Wolf said.
Wolf continued, "The fact that power companies can continue to give short shrift to the need for increased energy conservation and smart technology remains extremely troublesome. It's almost as if the department ignored all the criticism about creating these corridors."
Congressman Tom Davis added, “I believe the Commonwealth of Virginia is best able to decide these matters. The NIET corridor designation is unnecessary.”
Explaining that important sovereign interests - in the environment and conservation, in historic resources, in economic development, in land use planning and in private property rights - are at stake, and that Virginia has never failed to adequately respond to local and regional energy transmission needs, the Application asserts that the DOE acted beyond the scope of its authority because it failed to comply with a statutory requirement that States be consulted in conducting a study of electric transmission congestion in advance of the decision to designate NIETCs.
Pursuant to the Federal Power Act of 2005, designation of NIETCs permits the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - at the application of private companies who have proposed transmission projects and applied for approval of siting to state commissions - to take over the decision-making concerning such proposals anytime a state commission either fails to make a decision on an application within a year, or decides within a year, but does not approve the project. The mechanism essentially allows state law, policy and practice to be entirely displaced by a federal administrative process, without any substantive justification for doing so. There has been no meaningful assertion that Virginia’s laws, policies and practices have been or are in any way inadequate to protect the state and regional interest in expanded transmission infrastructure.
The DOE designated the following Virginia counties as part of the Mid-Atlantic Area NIETC: Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudon, Madison, Page, Prince William, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Stafford, Warren; and the following Virginia cities: Alexandria, Harrisonburg, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Winchester.
Click here for a map of the full Mid-Atlantic Area NIETC.
