CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Thursday testimony at state Public Service Commission’s evidentiary hearing for the Mid Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) focused on the Group West Virginians Against Transmission Line Injustice (WATI) and additional landowners were declared as interveners.
WATI President Tony Campbell testified that NextEra Energy Transmission did not do a thorough job in communicating the plan to West Virginians, especially the residents of Monongalia, Preston, Hampshire and Mineral counties.
Campbell said there remain residents adjacent to the proposed route that are still finding out about the project despite all the meetings and information sessions WATI has held in the area.
“Of all the meetings we’ve conducted, of all the things we’ve done to inform people, there are folks today that are still surprised the Mid Atlantic Resiliency Link is going to be close to their homes,” Campbell said. “I would suggest that had there been a broader circulation of information from NextEra Energy to begin this, this level of confusion would not exist.”
Mineral County resident and farmer for more than 100 years, Roger Brown testified land agents have used pressure tactics to get him and his wife to agree to documents allowing a right-of-entry and right-of-way. Land agents have been accused of telling property owners the project has already been approved or that offers could be retracted if not accepted before the hearings and have been threatened with the use of eminent domain.
“His text or email said we want to come and discuss the right-of-way,” Brown said. “At this point in time my wife and I aren’t interested in talking to anybody based on what could happen here, so I don’t want them on the property.”
For more than a year, Campbell and WATI have been holding meetings across the four-county area and answering questions. Campbell said the troubling part about hearing the account from Mr. Brown is that he has heard the same stories from property owners across the four-county area.
“I’ve heard so many things,” Campbell said. “You know, when you hear it once, maybe that’s not accurate, but when you have dozens of meetings in four counties, you hear the same information.”
Campbell, a retired U.S. Army Ranger, said he didn’t believe NextEra Energy tested the plan they developed to ensure it would stand up to scrutiny. He suggested an outside organization with no stake in data centers should examine the need and the plan to determine if there are some alternate options that could be considered.
“No plan survives the first contact with the enemy, or Mike Tyson is famous for saying everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face,” Campbell said. “I would suggest that the conditions that existed when the MARL application was approved have changed.”
There are more examples of load forecasts being adjusted down, some pulled down dramatically. The reason provided in many cases is the speculative figures have included duplication, and some developers have submitted multiple requests for the same capacity across different jurisdictions.
“Every example I could find, and I’m not saying it all of them,” Campbell said. “Every time I’ve looked at this Mr. Rainey, I’ve seen states apply pressure and a higher threshold to validate that load; they’ve all dropped, and it’s been significant.”