This came out on Friday...in case you missed it. Great news!
Legal Challenges Filed Against Wise County Power PlantProceedings Begin in Virginia Supreme Court and Richmond Circuit Court
Richmond - The Southern Environmental Law Center today submitted three separate court filings challenging the state's actions in granting Dominion Power permission to build a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant in Wise County, Virginia. The lawsuits culminate more than a year of administrative procedures, during which tens of thousands of Virginians opposed the project due to air pollution, health impacts, and concerns over mountaintop removal mining and global warming.
"We are bringing these challenges now because this coal plant, as permitted, would fail to meet core Clean Air Act requirements," said SELC Senior Attorney Cale Jaffe, who filed the court papers on behalf of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Sierra Club. "At nearly two billion dollars and without any means to capture its carbon dioxide pollution, this plant represents a remarkably bad deal for Virginia."
Two of the filings are in the Virginia Circuit Court for the City of Richmond, and name the State Air Pollution Control Board as the defendant. These filings include an appeal of the "Prevention of Significant Deterioration" (PSD) air pollution permit and an appeal of the "Maximum Achievable Control Technology" (MACT) permit. Both permits were issued to Dominion on June 30, 2008.In the PSD appeal, the coalition of citizen organizations will raise, among other claims, that emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants must be controlled. In the MACT appeal, the coalition will argue that the permit fails to adequately control emissions of hazardous air toxics, such as mercury, which can cause severe neurological deficits in infants, fetuses, and young children.
The third filing is in the Supreme Court of Virginia, and names both Dominion and the State Corporation Commission as defendants. On March 30, 2008, the Commission approved the plant, relying on a Virginia statute that requires Dominion to "utilize Virginia coal." The statute violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits states from unduly interfering with foreign or interstate commerce.
Additional filings will be due in court, on all three challenges, over the coming weeks and months.
"In determining the route for the transmission line, Skirpan recommends the Commission consider locating the lines partially or wholly within existing transmission right-of-way for the entire path in Virginia. For the Dominion segment, this is generally known as the "Southern" route. Skirpan concludes the use of existing right-of-way will have less of an impact on historic and cultural assets."
The southern routes runs the line southeastward down existing ROW in Fauquier County then north thru Manassas area to Loundoun's Arcola substation.
From the report's conclusion.
1. The PJM generation deliverability and load deliverability tests and the Dominion test properly apply mandatory NERC transmission reliability planning standards ;2. The Applicants' load forecasts are based on reasonable assumptions for transmission planning purposes, including assumptions that project future savings from DSM programs to remain at current levels;
3. The Applicants' assumptions regarding future generation are consistent with the federally-mandated functional separation of transmission and generation, and PJM's general lack of authority to cause generation to be constructed. However, I find that PJM's generation ssumptions produce less and less reliable load-flow results the farther projections are made into
the planning horizon;4. The Applicants' projected load-flow results for 201 1 and 2012 support the need for additional transmission to address violations of NERC transmission reliability planning standards;
The case goes before the 3-judge SCC panel for final review. We should expect a decision probably w/i 3 to 8 weeks if additional information is not requested.
Its expansion plans to the grid like this and Wise County, which under the current grid setup, creates alot of waste and overlap. Without a regional generation authority to marry regional transmission planning, states like Virginia wind up carrying the burden for other states needs. Other states refuse to shoulder their own burden, because they'd rather import their electricity, rather than create it themselves, thus saving themselves property, land & air issues. Imported electricity by way of transmission, is less efficient than generation capacity sited w/i a particular load center. Electricity is loss simply thru line loss, around 7 to 12% of total output. Its the macrogrid we have and it based on a pre-1950's technology and engineering.
This is a start but it should encompass the whole dang grid, region by region.
If NOVA, DC and the major cities up the i-95 corridor want clean electricity, their elected state and local officials should start some sort of consortium of suppliers which to give them what they want.
The alternative is that those utilities must act on their own, under the mandates and provisions set forth in regulation, to supply a electricity thru a variety of resources, which consider cost, reliability, and climate, just as they are now doing.
Getting a smart grid up and running also would make suppliers in renewable generation that much more attractive.
Gov't + utilities + free market ---> cooperation = real solutions. As it stands now, the gov't is inept, the free market (esp. consumers) hate utilities moreorless, and utilities know the free market consumers don't know nor do jack (i.e. doesn't conserve).