RD377 - First Annual Report on the Pilot Program to Place Certain Transmission Lines Underground


Executive Summary:
House Bill 1319 (*1) (“HB 1319”) of the 2008 Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly (the “Act”) established a pilot program to construct four qualifying electrical transmission lines of 230 kilovolts (“kV”) or less in whole or in part underground. (*2) Among other provisions, the Act established the criteria necessary for certain transmission line projects to qualify for the pilot program. In addition, the Act directed the State Corporation Commission (“SCC” or “Commission”) to “report annually to the Commission on Electric Utility Restructuring,(*3) the Joint Commission on Technology and Science, and the Governor on the progress of the pilot program by not later than December 1 of each year that this Act is in effect.”

From the effective date of the Act (April 2, 2008) through November 1, 2008, the SCC had received five applications from public utilities for certificates of public convenience and necessity for the construction of electrical transmission lines of 230 kV or less. Appalachian Power Company (“APCo”) submitted three applications for 138 kV overhead transmission lines. Dominion Virginia Power (“DVP” or “Virginia Power”) submitted two applications for 230 kV underground transmission lines, one of which, in accordance with the Act, was for an approximately two-mile segment of a transmission line previously approved by the SCC as an overhead line.(*4)

As of the date of this report, the Commission has approved the two-mile segment of DVP’s Pleasant View–Hamilton transmission line for the pilot program.(*5) DVP’s other application and APCo’s three applications are currently in regulatory proceedings before the Commission. As required by the Act, three more qualified transmission lines must be approved for inclusion in the pilot program by 2012. The Commission will continue to file annual reports on December 1 of each year until the pilot program has been completed and will file a final report no later than December 1, 2012. While it is premature to evaluate the pilot program at this time, the final report will include an analysis of the entire pilot program and make recommendations about the continued placement of transmission lines underground in the Commonwealth of Virginia, as required by the Act.
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(*1) Chapter 799 of the 2008 Acts of Assembly.
(*2) The Act specified one of the qualifying projects and directed the State Corporation Commission to approve three additional qualifying projects.
(*3) The Commission on Electric Utility Restructuring established pursuant to Chapter 885 of the Acts of Assembly of 2003, was continued, effective July 1, 2008, as the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (§ 30-201 of the Code of Virginia).
(*4) DVP’s Pleasant View–Hamilton 230 kV transmission line in Loudoun County.
(*5) To date and unrelated to any pilot program, the Commission has approved approximately 35 miles of 230 kV transmission lines for underground construction that employ high-pressure fluid-filled cable technology. These underground lines are located in various areas of DVP’s service territory, including Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and Norfolk. In most cases the lines were located underground in highly congested urban areas because overhead construction was not feasible. In addition, the Commission recently approved two experimental 230 kV underground projects to enable DVP to gain experience with cross-linked polyethylene (“XLPE”) solid dielectric cable. These two experimental projects are unrelated to the HB 1319 pilot program and include a 2200-foot project in Arlington County approved May 25, 2007 (SCC Case No. PUE-2006-00082) and a 5.5-mile project in Stafford County approved April 8, 2008 (SCC Case No. PUE-2006-00091). The two experimental projects are currently under construction.