Plans for Pepco Power Line Advance

A new high-voltage power transmission line would begin in Northern Virginia and stretch through Southern Maryland before crossing under the Chesapeake Bay and ending in New Jersey, under a proposal that advanced yesterday.

The operator of the mid-Atlantic electricity grid, PJM Interconnection, recommended yesterday that its board approve the proposal by Pepco Holdings Inc. for a 230-mile power line, PJM spokesman Ray Dotter said. The board will vote in October.

The 500,000-volt power line could cost about $1 billion and be built in stages over several years, Pepco spokesman Robert Dobkin said. Construction costs would be shared among the utility's 1.9 million customers in four states and the District, he said.

Like transmission lines that the PJM board has approved to be built in Northern Virginia and Western Maryland, the Pepco line could provide more space on the electric power grid serving the Washington region, where overloads are anticipated as soon as 2012.

"It's about reliability, keeping the lights on," Dotter said. "The proposed line is a strong solution to some of the reliability problems in the region."

But because the line could cut through environmentally sensitive terrain, including the bottom of the bay, the proposal could generate opposition if it is approved by PJM and advances to state and federal regulators.

"People in the area where the lines go obviously have concerns, and they've got to be addressed," said Maryland Del. Murray D. Levy (D), whose Charles County district would be affected.

The line would begin about 30 miles south of the District at the Possum Point substation in Prince William County. It would cross the Potomac River and pass through the Burches Hill, Chalk Point and Calvert Cliffs power plants in Southern Maryland. From there, the line would travel underwater to the Eastern Shore and through Delaware, ending at the Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey.

The specific route has not been determined, but Dobkin said the sections in Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland probably would include land already used for power lines.

"Most of this line will go within or be adjacent to existing right of way," Dobkin said.

Two other high-voltage transmission lines have been approved by PJM's board: one by Dominion Virginia Power that would wind through Loudoun and Prince William counties, and one that would start in West Virginia and end just shy of the Montgomery County border in Maryland.

All three lines could test a new law that gives power companies the authority to bypass states and secure land through the federal government if their services are deemed vital to national energy interests.

Staff writer Sandhya Somashekhar contributed to this report.