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Sierra Club Lawsuits

Maryland Commission Rules that Application for PATH Transmission Line is Improper, PATH Companies must Start Process Again

Case Updates:

September 15, 2009

Sierra Club and its allies achieved a major victory for Maryland residents and clean air when, on September 9, the Maryland Public Service Commission ruled that Potomac Edison, a subsidiary of Allegheny Energy, was not eligible to apply for the necessary approvals for the PATH transmission line. PATH must receive a Certificate of Need from the Commission in order to construct the line. The Commission ruled that Potomac Edison could not apply on behalf of the entity known as PATH because PATH is not an "electric company." Only "electric companies" may build and operate high-voltage transmission lines in Maryland. This decision represents a major setback for PATH; the companies involved must figure out how to structure a new application with the Commission and construction of the line will likely be delayed by a number of months.

Sierra Club intervened in the Maryland proceeding in June 2009, citing concerns about the transmission line’s impact on air pollution and mountain top removal coal mining, and the risk that the line will undermine the East Coast’s renewable energy industry. In a hearing on preliminary procedural issues, Sierra Club's attorneys argued to the Commission that it could not grant Potomac Edison approval of the line on behalf of PATH - and the Commission agreed.  Sierra Club's law program and local chapters are also fighting the line in Virginia and West Virginia, and coordinating efforts across the three states.

July 6, 2009

On June 29, 2009, Sierra Club sought to participate in the Maryland Public Service Commission’s review of a proposed high-voltage transmission line, the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH). The Club filed a petition to intervene with the Commission, citing concerns about the transmission line’s impact on air pollution, mountain top removal coal mining, and the East Coast’s renewable energy industry.  The line, a joint venture of coal giants American Electrical Power and Allegheny Energy, would start in West Virginia and cut through Virginia to Maryland.  It would allow some of the dirtiest coal plants in the country to transport more electricity to the East Coast, displacing demand for clean, renewable energy. The increased global warming pollution from the coal plants would negate recent efforts in several Eastern states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The proposed line would also cross large swaths of forested lands, and national historic sites such as the famed Appalachian Trail and the C&O canal.

The Club also filed a petition to intervene in the West Virginia PSC proceeding regarding PATH in early June. In a groundswell of local opposition, approximately one hundred individual citizens who oppose the line have also requested to intervene in that proceeding, as have several West Virginia counties. The Club plans to seek to intervene in the Virginia PATH proceeding shortly, and is coordinating efforts across the three states.

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