Northern Virginia Business Leaders Support Transmission Line
WARRENTON, Va. – Several small business owners
told a Virginia State Corporation Commission hearing examiner Thursday that
Northern Virginia needs a new 500,000-volt transmission line proposed by
Dominion Virginia Power to improve reliability and meet their business growth
needs.
"Small businesses
cannot grow unless they are assured there will be power to support their growth,"
Jennifer Bisceglie, president of InTEROS Solutions Inc. of McLean, Va., told
the hearing examiner. Her company,
which she expects to double from four to eight employees by 2008, helps industries
improve their manufacturing and distribution processes and supply chains.
"Our
listeners depend on us for continuous news information and entertainment. Our
advertisers also depend on us, and we depend upon a constant supply of energy
to meet the needs of our listeners and our advertisers," said
another small businesswoman, Clara Marshall of Radio Fiesta, an Hispanic radio
station in Woodbridge, Va.
Dominion Virginia Power has applied with the SCC
to build a 65-mile transmission line to alleviate projected overloads of the
transmission system in the summer of 2011. The proposed route is atop
or adjacent to an existing power line between electric substations in Frederick
County and Loudoun County.
The SCC began a series of public hearings Thursday
about Dominion’s
application at Fauquier County High School. Other hearings are scheduled
for mid-August in Prince William, Warren and Frederick counties. Hearings
will resume in Richmond in January 2008.
"The success of the high-tech
industry in Fairfax County and the rest of Northern Virginia depends on having
continued access to dependable electricity supplies," said William Lecos,
president and chief executive officer of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce
and its 800 members. "The
same can be said for the success of all businesses in our region and across
the Commonwealth. Electricity is their lifeblood. They cannot survive
without it."
Other chamber leaders who spoke in support included:
Hugh Keogh, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia state chamber;
Laurie Wieder, president of the Prince William regional chamber; and Diane
Poldy, president of the Vienna – Tysons
regional chamber.
Resolutions and letters of support have been offered by many
other businesses and organizations, including:
The Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority, which operates both Washington Dulles International Airport in
Loudoun County and Washington Reagan National Airport in Alexandria.
Ashlawn Group LLC
of Alexandria, Va., which produces hydrogen fuel cell power supplies to power
munitions.
Automate of Ashburn, Va., which provides and integrates
"smart" home,
energy saving and home control systems to residential and commercial clients.
The
Coulter Companies of McLean, Va., whose staff of 40 serves national and international
non-profit organizations.
The City of Manassas, Va., Utility Commission
In his letter of support, James E. Bennett, president
and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority,
wrote, "Our
need for increased electrical power grows annually. Passenger traffic
at Reagan National exceeded 18.5 million last year … and passenger loads
at Dulles will nearly double by 2020 when our current 23 million customers
served each year will exceed 40 million passengers annually. Accommodating
new passengers traveling on Metrorail and other mass-transit projects under
consideration requires parallel planning for expected increases in electrical
consumption."
Electric demand in Northern Virginia has grown by about
40 percent over the last decade and is projected to grow by another 8 percent
by 2011. Six
counties – Loudoun, Spotsylvania, Culpeper, Stafford, King George and
Prince William – are among the 100 fastest-growing counties, the U.S.
Census Bureau has reported. This region was the only part of Dominion’s
service area in which the company had to reduce voltage during the summer 2005
peak to maintain the system and was included in a voltage reduction warning
during the all-time peak of 19,375 megawatts set Aug. 3, 2006.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of
energy, with a portfolio of more than 26,500 megawatts of generation. Dominion
serves retail energy customers in 11 states. For more information about Dominion,
visit the company's Web site at http://www.dom.com. For
more information about the transmission line, search on keyword "Meadow
Brook."
