Stagnant Dominion
Richmond Times-Dispatch
December 3, 2006
The Commonwealth has an opportunity to get ahead of the demand curve and prevent massive congestion in Northern Virginia. But a coalition of environmentalists, preservationists, and sympathetic politicians is blocking the path to progress.
Or at least, that's one way to look at the issue. Another way is to ask whether the Old Dominion should consider a new approach to transportation that embraces a more dispersed network and technological innovation rather than the old system of major hubs connected by broad corridors.
We're not talking about roads transporting cars and people and goods -- but rather, about power lines transporting electrons.
Anticipating demand for electric power a few years hence, Dominion Virginia Power has proposed stringing a high-voltage power line through Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William. The recommended route would skirt historically significant real estate such as the Bull Run battlefield, as well as areas set aside for conservation. Nevertheless, because "the power line would pass through other Civil War sites, small towns, and what many consider to be among the state's most attractive countryside," as a recent news report summarized, there is "intense opposition from a powerful coalition of residents, conservationists, and politicians who have repeatedly fought development in the area."
If the power line is not built, the results would not be good -- at least if the Commonwealth maintains its current system of electricity generation, which relies on massive power plants and giant transmission lines. Some have raised the possibility of a different approach involving a dispersed network of mini-generation plants, which offer certain advantages -- such as, perhaps, less concentrated environmental effects and a lower likelihood of a cascading power outage. And (perhaps) fewer thick cables strung atop unsightly steel towers erected on strips of razed land.
However: Any such dispersal of power generation is years, if not decades, away. The long lead time required to build power plants (even small ones) is one reason electricity deregulation has proved so tricky to get right. And Dominion cannot rewire the Commonwealth quickly, any more than a homeowner can rewire his house overnight. These things take time.
Dominion needs the new power transmission route, which means Northern Virginia needs it. Opponents say the company is interested merely in piping in cheap power from the Midwest, and that it should cut demand instead. Reducing unnecessary demand always is desirable. But so is the new transmission line: Cars can idle in heavy traffic until a lane opens up -- but electrons can't.
