The West Virginia Energy Users Group, which represents the state’s largest industrial electricity consumers, agrees a delay would be appropriate for consideration of the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link Project, a high-voltage electrical line across several states.
The energy users group was responding to a recommendation made last week by staff for the Public Service Commission.
Staff for the PSC raised concerns that five proposed changes to the route have come after a public hearing period and just weeks ahead of an evidentiary hearing.
The proposed route changes could affect several people who hadn’t previously been notified so the concern is that they wouldn’t have adequate time to respond.
The PSC staff recommends either suspending the legal proceedings for two months or dismissing the application entirely for lack of completeness.
The West Virginia Energy Users Group submitted its own filing in agreement.
“With the import of the decision presently before the Commission, ensuring all affected parties are afforded sufficient time to meaningfully participate is critical,” wrote lawyers for the energy users group.
The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link, often shorted to MARL, is a proposed 107.5-mile, 500-kilovolt high-voltage power line planned to run from Dunkard Township, Pa., through parts of West Virginia including Monongalia, Preston, Mineral, Hampshire, and Jefferson counties and down to Gore, Va.
The project is being considered after PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator, identified reliability issues resulting from a loss of power generation sources, support for new power sources and additional electricity demand in the region.
The Public Service Commission has received 6,757 letters opposing the project and 152 in support, according to an ongoing count on the PSC’s website.
The timeline has come into question because of some proposed changes to the route.
Developers NextEra Energy Transmission submitted an official siting application to the West Virginia PSC on Jan. 30.
The final public comment hearing was June 11.
The project’s evidentiary hearing is coming up in just a few weeks, scheduled to begin on Oct. 26. The deadline to file direct testimony is even sooner, Sept. 8.
On July 30, lawyers for NextEra Energy Transmission filed a route revision supplement, describing proposed changes as minor.
Several of the changes had come at the request of potentially affected landowners who had advocated for relocating proposed structures on the original route.
Another was in response to concerns by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources about forest effects on White Horse Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Hampshire County. And another resulted from an engineering review that identified concerns about the line crossing existing transmission.
The five revisions are estimated to increase cost by about a million dollars.
Moreover, the changes would affect three landowners who had not been previously informed.
The PSC staff disagrees with the suggestion that the route changes are minor.
Staff attorneys and engineers, in filings with the PSC last week, say the newly affected landowners missed the June public hearings and now have limited time to consume a nearly 4,000-page application and respond before the upcoming deadlines.
The filings contend NextEra “expects laypeople who are impacted by the line to be able to determine the best way to advocate for their interest in less than 39 days. Thirty-nine days does not allow the New Affected Landowners to fully participate in this case and to receive the due process rights to which every impacted landowner is entitled.”
And staff contends that the revisions deny the commission adequate time to perform necessary field investigations and technical reviews before a final decision.
The energy users group filing agrees with the recommendation to pause the proceeding by 60 days “to allow current parties to further investigate these issues and to allow newly affected landowners to meaningfully participate in this proceeding.”
Another affected entity, Lake-O-Woods Club, a private recreational spot and dam in Bruceton Mills, Preston County, also submitted a filing to express concerns about the changes.
Lawyers for Lake-O-Woods Club say the route revision would affect the property “and raises concern that there is not enough time to thoroughly investigate such changes before the deadline for direct testimony on September 8, 2026.”
The organization West Virginians Against Transmission Injustice said in its own filing that the concerns identified by PSC staff warrant dismissal of the application — or at least the delay.
“Dismissal without prejudice is the most appropriate remedy because the route, affected landowners, and other material aspects of the Application remain uncertain,” wrote lawyers for the organization.
The organization said route revisions are not minor and merely extending the intervention deadline wouldn’t solve the problem.
“These landowners missed the public comment hearings, Staff’s investigation, discovery activity and the early development of the record. Due process requires meaningful participation from the outset, not after the record has substantially developed,” wrote lawyers for the opposition group.
The filing concluded, “Dismissal without prejudice is the cleaner and fairer course because any future application can begin with a fully vetted route, proper notice to all affected landowners, resolution of the FERC and PJM issues and a complete record.”