WEST VIRGINIA (LOOTPRESS) – A proposed transmission line through West Virginia is facing a potential delay after staff with the state Public Service Commission raised concerns about changes to the project and the completeness of its application.
PSC Staff Attorneys Victoria L. Wilson and Lucas R. Head filed a motion Aug. 19 asking the commission to require NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic to seek at least a 60-day pause in proceedings involving the proposed MidAtlantic Resiliency Link, or MARL.
If NextEra does not agree to the pause, known as tolling, PSC staff recommended that the company’s certificate application be dismissed as incomplete.
The ultimate decision remains with the PSC’s three-member Board of Commissioners. PSC staff serves separately as an investigative body representing the public interest during proceedings before the commission.
The request follows concerns over revisions to the proposed transmission route. Daniel Egnatoff, a technical analyst with the PSC’s Engineering Division, said in an accompanying memorandum that the timing of the changes has prevented investigators from completing necessary field studies.
According to the staff motion, the revised route also affects West Virginia property owners who were not previously identified as being impacted by the project. Staff argued those landowners were not given adequate time to participate in public hearings or prepare testimony.
Investigators determined the route revisions are significant and would add approximately $995,319 to the project’s cost.
PSC staff also questioned why a construction issue involving terrain along the proposed route was not discovered earlier in the process.
“The terrain along the proposed route is not an emergent phenomenon,” investigators wrote, arguing that the engineering concerns should have been identified before the route was submitted to the commission.
The motion also points to recent federal regulatory decisions and raises questions about who would ultimately bear the cost of the transmission infrastructure. Investigators expressed concern about whether West Virginia electric customers could face higher bills for transmission projects largely intended to serve data center demand in Northern Virginia.
West Virginians Against Transmission Injustice, a group opposing the project, voiced support for the staff motion. The organization also submitted 56 additional signed petitions to the PSC docket on Aug. 19.
The docket currently lists 5,988 formal protests opposing the transmission line and 152 filings in support.
Separate filings made Aug. 19 also addressed questions surrounding one of NextEra’s engineering witnesses. The company’s legal counsel, Jackson Kelly PLLC, objected to requests from intervenors seeking an explanation for why the witness is not licensed as a Professional Engineer in West Virginia.
NextEra has previously defended its proposed route and said the project is expected to support about 200 construction jobs while generating an estimated $113 million in tax revenue over a 40-year period.
The PSC Board of Commissioners had been expected to issue a final decision on the MARL certificate application in March 2027. A 60-day tolling period would push that deadline back.
