CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission has denied a request by developers of the MARL transmission line and the PSC staff to modify the schedule for consideration of the line that is proposed to pass through four West Virginia counties.
“The circumstances presented do not justify extending the existing procedural schedule,” the PSC said in its decision posted late Friday afternoon.
The evidentiary hearing on the project before the PSC will stay at its original Oct. 26 start date.
In the joint motion filed back on Monday, NextEra Energy Transmission and PSC staff asked that the evidentiary hearing in the case would be moved from Oct. 26-Nov. 2 to Jan. 11-18 of next year. The proposed schedule also pushed back the PSC decision date from March 6, 2027 to May 22, 2027.
The calls for a delay began to be made by the PSC staff a few weeks ago after NextEra made five changes to the proposed route for the line. The staff expressed concern saying the changes have come after a public hearing period and just weeks ahead of the evidentiary hearing.
The PSC staff originally recommended either suspending the legal proceedings for two months or dismissing the application entirely for lack of completeness.
The 107.5-mile, 500-kilovolt high-voltage power line is proposed to begin in Pennsylvania and travel just under 59 miles in West Virginia cutting through parts of Monongalia, Preston, Mineral and Hampshire counties before ending in Virginia.