Culpeper government, residents join legal fight against proposed high-voltage power lines

Date published: 7/27/2007

BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

WARRENTON--Landowners and jurisdictions along the proposed route of a 500-kilovolt power line filed last-minute legal protests as the state began public hearings on the plan yesterday.

Dominion Power wants to run the line through Fauquier, Rappahannock and Culpeper counties to feed growing demand for electricity in Northern Virginia.

While most businesses support the proposal, many residents living in the proposed route are opposed.

Concerned Culpeper Citizens and the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection announced yesterday that they have joined with a group of mostly Culpeper County residents to form the Powerline Landowners Association to fight Dominion Power's plan in court.

"We have engaged a lawyer and an appraiser to work with the 70-odd affected landowners," said David Rowe of the CCC.

The Culpeper County government also jumped into the fray yesterday, filing notice that it plans to join an existing administrative lawsuit against Dominion.

According to County Attorney Dave Maddox, Culpeper will join about 15 other counties, businesses and conservation groups to challenge the utility's southern route. That group includes Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties and the Piedmont Environmental Council.

At a public hearing by the State Corporation Commission yesterday, dozens of speakers testified, often dramatically, about why they did or did not want the line.

Opponents said they didn't want the power line, no matter where it is built.

"Dominion Power has made no clear case how this project will benefit the people of Fauquier and Prince William counties," said Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, who represents affected areas of the two counties.

Northern Virginia's business leaders said they didn't care where the line is run, just as long as it's built.

"The number of residents and businesses in Northern Virginia is growing and we need to plan for the future," said Laurie Wieder, representing the Prince William County Chamber of Commerce.

Dominion initially proposed running the line along the Interstate 66 corridor from the West Virginia state line through Warren, Fauquier and Loudoun counties.

But with opposition mounting in that area, Dominion offered an alternative route in February. That route would follow an existing right-of-way through the Amissville-Jeffersonton area in Culpeper County through southern Fauquier and Prince William to Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

The State Corporation Commission hearing resumes this morning at 9:30 in the Fauquier High School auditorium. Similar hearings are scheduled in Bristow, Front Royal and Winchester in August, with a final hearing set for Jan. 14 in Richmond.

Date published: 7/27/2007