West Virginia's talk news has been all over the subject of the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link, or MARL, for the past couple of weeks. Despite their heroic efforts, they've barely scratched the surface of the truth about MARL. It's much more complicated than can be explained on a brief radio show, obviously, and probably more than can be covered in a brief facebook post. Isn't it time for everyone to dig a little deeper? I promise it won't be too complicated. I've learned to distill understandable facts from of the energy industry's big jug o' technospeak over the past 17 years. This won't hurt a bit!
I'm going to concentrate on a recent MetroNews Talkline radio interview of NextEra's Kaitlyn McCormick. Listening to it was pretty rough because Kaitlyn kept fading in and out and it was hard to understand much of what she said. Was she talking on a cell phone while driving through West Virginia's beautiful mountains? Or was she just waving her phone around while trying to talk on speaker? Take your pick. I'm going to use the equally bad transcript to try to decipher exactly what she said.
Let's begin with the fact that MARL is only one part of a larger project approved by PJM Interconnection. Even Kaitlyn admits that, although the radio hosts insist on treating it like an individual project. This is a map of the project PJM approved:
I'm going to concentrate on a recent MetroNews Talkline radio interview of NextEra's Kaitlyn McCormick. Listening to it was pretty rough because Kaitlyn kept fading in and out and it was hard to understand much of what she said. Was she talking on a cell phone while driving through West Virginia's beautiful mountains? Or was she just waving her phone around while trying to talk on speaker? Take your pick. I'm going to use the equally bad transcript to try to decipher exactly what she said.
Let's begin with the fact that MARL is only one part of a larger project approved by PJM Interconnection. Even Kaitlyn admits that, although the radio hosts insist on treating it like an individual project. This is a map of the project PJM approved:
MARL is the light peachy-colored line here that begins at the 502 Junction substation in Greene County, PA and ends just over the state border at Gore, VA. The blue line is a continuation of the new 500kV line to be built by rival company FirstEnergy. They are calling their project "Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek" after the substations it will connect. FirstEnergy's portion of the project begins where NextEra's ends and heads east to continue the electricity extension cord to its ultimate destination, a substation in Loudoun County's "data center alley" called Goose Creek. Neither one of these projects can stand alone. PJM needs BOTH of them to be built to deliver this power to a whole bunch of new data centers planned in Loudoun County. MARL is not delivering power to a data center in Frederick County, Virginia. It is simply plugging into FirstEnergy's portion of the project in Gore. If one of these two line segments isn't built, the other one won't be built either. It's all or nothing because PJM needs both segments to deliver the power from 502 Junction to Goose Creek.
And let's talk about 502 Junction for a moment, shall we? 502 Junction is an existing substation located in Greene County, PA. Think of 502 Junction as the Grand Central Station of electricity. It collects electricity generated by plants in the area and re-directs it to new destinations. Just because 502 Junction is located in Pennsylvania doesn't mean that all the electricity that passes through there is generated in Pennsylvania though. In fact, most of the electricity passing through 502 Junction is generated in West Virginia! Here's a map of PJM's transmission system showing 502 Junction and the lines that connect there.
And let's talk about 502 Junction for a moment, shall we? 502 Junction is an existing substation located in Greene County, PA. Think of 502 Junction as the Grand Central Station of electricity. It collects electricity generated by plants in the area and re-directs it to new destinations. Just because 502 Junction is located in Pennsylvania doesn't mean that all the electricity that passes through there is generated in Pennsylvania though. In fact, most of the electricity passing through 502 Junction is generated in West Virginia! Here's a map of PJM's transmission system showing 502 Junction and the lines that connect there.
This map shows what generators connect to 502 Junction to deliver their electricity for re-direction elsewhere. To the west is AEP's Mitchell plant. Connecting from the south is FirstEnergy's Harrison plant. In Morgantown, lines connect both the Longview and Ft. Martin power generators to 502 Junction. On its way to the southeast, this project will connect with lines feeding out of Dominion's Mt. Storm power station in Grant County, WV. That's over 7,000MW of hot, juicy, 100% West Virginia coal-fired electricity, and Virginia's green virtue signaling data center companies are hungry, hungry, hungry for it!
And they're hungry because Virginia has closed down many of its fossil fuel generators that can run when called in favor of intermittent solar and wind projects. Virginia has closed more generation than they have brought online, creating a power deficit. In addition, Northern Virginia is practically exploding with new data centers proposed by some of the wealthiest companies on the planet (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta). Virginia has no way to power all the stuff it's building. Virginia just keeps demanding that PJM import more and more power to Virginia, and PJM has only one place to get it... West Virginia!
And this leads us back to WHY PJM Interconnection ordered this project. PJM did NOT select the two end points for this project. PJM only selected one, Goose Creek, where the data center load is located. PJM was open to any transmission extension cords bringing up to 7,500MW of new electric supply from anywhere, as long as it connected to Goose Creek. It was NextEra who decided that there was an opportunity to suck up to 7,500MW of coal-fired electricity out of West Virginia. Here's a PJM slide that verifies this need, as well as what the need is for.
And they're hungry because Virginia has closed down many of its fossil fuel generators that can run when called in favor of intermittent solar and wind projects. Virginia has closed more generation than they have brought online, creating a power deficit. In addition, Northern Virginia is practically exploding with new data centers proposed by some of the wealthiest companies on the planet (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta). Virginia has no way to power all the stuff it's building. Virginia just keeps demanding that PJM import more and more power to Virginia, and PJM has only one place to get it... West Virginia!
And this leads us back to WHY PJM Interconnection ordered this project. PJM did NOT select the two end points for this project. PJM only selected one, Goose Creek, where the data center load is located. PJM was open to any transmission extension cords bringing up to 7,500MW of new electric supply from anywhere, as long as it connected to Goose Creek. It was NextEra who decided that there was an opportunity to suck up to 7,500MW of coal-fired electricity out of West Virginia. Here's a PJM slide that verifies this need, as well as what the need is for.
PJM needed new transmission to address reliability problems that would develop on its system if it connected 7,500MW of new data center load in Northern Virginia. If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. While PJM's job is to keep the lights on by making sure power flows throughout the region when needed, PJM's only tool to get the job done is transmission. PJM cannot order new generation to be built, and Virginia is taking advantage of that. Virginia considers itself a "clean" state and passed a "Clean Economy Act" that relies on importing more and more coal-fired power from West Virginia. It's okay for Virginia to pollute our state, but not their own. West Virginia is just their dirty little energy colony. It's time to stand up and say enough is enough!
MARL is located in West Virginia simply because West Virginia is in the way of the extension cord from 502 Junction to Loudoun's data center alley. There's no way to get West Virginia generated electricity to those Virginia data centers without destroying West Virginia along the way. NextEra doesn't care about that. They're going to make billions! Virginia doesn't care about that. They're also going to make billions in new tax revenue if they can build new data centers powered by West Virginia coal imported via gigantic transmission extension cords.
Kaitlyn made much of MARL connecting to an existing substation at the Mineral/Allegeny border. That substation is called Black Oak. It's been there for decades. MARL needs to connect there for what PJM calls "voltage support." When transmission lines are long and don't connect anywhere along their path (such as a line from 502 Junction to Goose Creek) they can get unstable and need injection of reactive power along the way to maintain the correct voltage. MARL is connecting with Black Oak to suck power out of that substation in order to stabilize its voltage, not to deliver power to either county. PJM has stated that there will be no new substations planned along MARL's route. MARL isn't for West Virginia, or any community along the way. MARL's entire capacity is already called for by data centers in Loudoun County, VA. There is no way for West Virginia to benefit from additional substations. That's not how new demand is planned.
In order to plan to build new load in any location, there has to be an actual customer who requests electric service. No utility (or PJM) plans to build power lines or generators with the hope that doing so would attract new load. All utility infrastructure must be used and useful to the consumers who pay for it. So, a real data center must request electric service in your county. Then the utility that serves your county must evaluate whether they can serve the load with the existing system. If so, the new load is connected. If not, then the utility sends a load request up to PJM, who includes that in their next transmission planning load forecast. This is exactly how MARL was planned. It wasn't planned for us, it was planned for data centers in Virginia.
Kaitlyn's blathering about congestion and reliability in West Virginia avoids the real issue... connecting more data center load in Virginia is what destabilizes the system because Virginia is not also connecting more electric generation to match its load request. There are only congestion and reliability issues in West Virginia if those data centers in Virginia are connected. If West Virginia doesn't approve MARL, then those data centers will have to wait longer to be connected, or will simply go elsewhere that has available power. PJM will not connect new data centers that will cause blackouts on the system. PJM's first job is to maintain the reliability of the existing system.
Kaitlyn tries to pull a fast one on these radio hosts and listeners. She says that everyone's goal is to minimize overall impacts. This presumes that everyone agrees that MARL must be built. West Virginians do NOT agree it needs to be built, or that MARL is a fait accompli. West Virginians believe that this project is not logical or helpful to West Virginia and that it can be stopped!
Kaitlyn prattles on about paralleling existing transmission lines as a least impactful solution. That's only if you don't live near those existing lines. Where's the equity in property impacts between those properties already doing their part to host unwanted public infrastructure and the rest of us who don't have to do anything to help? Paralleling existing transmission lines is actually MORE impactful because it cannot deviate around homes or other land uses like a line sited on unburdened land. Paralleling is only "better" in the minds of transmission executives and PJM planners who think landowners who live next to existing easements will be a push over. How about now? How about one of the biggest waves of transmission opposition in PJM history? Is paralleling still such a great idea? It's not. It's an idea that needs to die.
MARL will cost West Virginians hundreds of millions of dollars. Kaitlyn really needs to find out how those rates are set. This is the second time she's told a lie about the state utility commissions setting rates for MARL. Even after she was invited to her own company's annual formula rate update meeting! Maybe she's just playing dumb so she can lie with a straight face? Transmission rates are set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. State utility commissions have no jurisdiction to set those rates and must pass them through to their state consumers unscathed. Kaitlyn needs to stop making me think she's dumb as a box of rocks and perhaps get some training about transmission cost allocation and rates.
The only way we're going to get to the bottom of this is to keep digging!
MARL is located in West Virginia simply because West Virginia is in the way of the extension cord from 502 Junction to Loudoun's data center alley. There's no way to get West Virginia generated electricity to those Virginia data centers without destroying West Virginia along the way. NextEra doesn't care about that. They're going to make billions! Virginia doesn't care about that. They're also going to make billions in new tax revenue if they can build new data centers powered by West Virginia coal imported via gigantic transmission extension cords.
Kaitlyn made much of MARL connecting to an existing substation at the Mineral/Allegeny border. That substation is called Black Oak. It's been there for decades. MARL needs to connect there for what PJM calls "voltage support." When transmission lines are long and don't connect anywhere along their path (such as a line from 502 Junction to Goose Creek) they can get unstable and need injection of reactive power along the way to maintain the correct voltage. MARL is connecting with Black Oak to suck power out of that substation in order to stabilize its voltage, not to deliver power to either county. PJM has stated that there will be no new substations planned along MARL's route. MARL isn't for West Virginia, or any community along the way. MARL's entire capacity is already called for by data centers in Loudoun County, VA. There is no way for West Virginia to benefit from additional substations. That's not how new demand is planned.
In order to plan to build new load in any location, there has to be an actual customer who requests electric service. No utility (or PJM) plans to build power lines or generators with the hope that doing so would attract new load. All utility infrastructure must be used and useful to the consumers who pay for it. So, a real data center must request electric service in your county. Then the utility that serves your county must evaluate whether they can serve the load with the existing system. If so, the new load is connected. If not, then the utility sends a load request up to PJM, who includes that in their next transmission planning load forecast. This is exactly how MARL was planned. It wasn't planned for us, it was planned for data centers in Virginia.
Kaitlyn's blathering about congestion and reliability in West Virginia avoids the real issue... connecting more data center load in Virginia is what destabilizes the system because Virginia is not also connecting more electric generation to match its load request. There are only congestion and reliability issues in West Virginia if those data centers in Virginia are connected. If West Virginia doesn't approve MARL, then those data centers will have to wait longer to be connected, or will simply go elsewhere that has available power. PJM will not connect new data centers that will cause blackouts on the system. PJM's first job is to maintain the reliability of the existing system.
Kaitlyn tries to pull a fast one on these radio hosts and listeners. She says that everyone's goal is to minimize overall impacts. This presumes that everyone agrees that MARL must be built. West Virginians do NOT agree it needs to be built, or that MARL is a fait accompli. West Virginians believe that this project is not logical or helpful to West Virginia and that it can be stopped!
Kaitlyn prattles on about paralleling existing transmission lines as a least impactful solution. That's only if you don't live near those existing lines. Where's the equity in property impacts between those properties already doing their part to host unwanted public infrastructure and the rest of us who don't have to do anything to help? Paralleling existing transmission lines is actually MORE impactful because it cannot deviate around homes or other land uses like a line sited on unburdened land. Paralleling is only "better" in the minds of transmission executives and PJM planners who think landowners who live next to existing easements will be a push over. How about now? How about one of the biggest waves of transmission opposition in PJM history? Is paralleling still such a great idea? It's not. It's an idea that needs to die.
MARL will cost West Virginians hundreds of millions of dollars. Kaitlyn really needs to find out how those rates are set. This is the second time she's told a lie about the state utility commissions setting rates for MARL. Even after she was invited to her own company's annual formula rate update meeting! Maybe she's just playing dumb so she can lie with a straight face? Transmission rates are set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. State utility commissions have no jurisdiction to set those rates and must pass them through to their state consumers unscathed. Kaitlyn needs to stop making me think she's dumb as a box of rocks and perhaps get some training about transmission cost allocation and rates.
The only way we're going to get to the bottom of this is to keep digging!
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