Kaine, McDonnell fight power corridor ruling

Virginia (Map, News) - Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell and Gov. Tim Kaine have asked a federal appeals court to strike down a U.S. Department of Energy decision that includes the state in a power corridor spanning a large part of the East Coast.

The Thursday filing in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is the latest play in a sovereignty fight that could clarify whether the federal or state government has the power to guide the placement of power lines.

The two officials appealed on the grounds the agency superseded state authority by designating parts of Virginia in October as a priority spot for high-voltage transmission lines.

The Department of Energy earlier this month refused the commonwealth's request to reconsider the original decision, calling the plea "without merit."

The National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor also spans parts of Maryland and the District, as well as New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio and West Virginia. It cuts through much of Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.

"Our goal is and always has been to ensure a reliable, affordable, environmentally sustainable supply of energy," Kaine said. "We also know that these important decisions about where to locate power lines are best handled at the state level."

The states were identified in a 2006 Energy Department study as "areas of significant electricity congestion and constraint." The October decision allows a utility company seeking to build a new line in the corridor to appeal to federal regulators if it is turned down by a state government.

Energy Department spokeswoman Megan Barnett said the process involved "dozens of hours of public meetings across the country" and a public comment period.

The specifics of the commonwealth's appeal will be laid out in the coming weeks, according to the attorney general's office.

wflook@dcexaminer.com