Columbus, Ohio, July 16, 2010 — American Electric Power and Allegheny Energy announced that the Maryland Public Service Commission has issued a favorable ruling with regard to the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH).
Affiliates of AEP and Allegheny are seeking authorization to construct the PATH project, a 275-mile, 765-kilovolt transmission project extending from the Amos substation in Putnam County, W.Va., to a proposed substation in Frederick County, Md.
In a decision announced this week, the commission confirmed that The Potomac Edison Co., an Allegheny affiliate, is a proper applicant to seek regulatory approvals to construct the Maryland portion of the project.
The commission stated that “Potomac Edison indisputably qualifies as an ‘electric company,’” as defined by Maryland law. Previously, the commission ruled that it is authorized to issue approval only to an electric company.
Potomac Edison filed supplemental testimony with the Maryland commission that strongly supports the need for PATH. This supplemental data incorporates new studies by independent grid operator PJM Interconnection recommending the construction of PATH to resolve numerous voltage-related issues and line overloads on the region’s electric transmission grid, which could threaten the reliability of the electric power supply and cause wide-area service interruptions.
Affiliates of Allegheny Energy and AEP filed similar supplemental testimony last week in West Virginia, and plan to incorporate the most recent information into a new application to be filed in Virginia in the third quarter.
The latest analyses were conducted as part of PJM’s 2010 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan. The findings are consistent with previous studies recommending the construction of PATH. PJM has established a required in-service deadline for PATH of June 1, 2015, at the latest.