MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — North Central West Virginians in at least two counties appear to remain openly against the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link (MARL).
A four-person panel that was hosted in a practice gym inside University High School in Morgantown spoke in front of just over 150 people on Tuesday, including multiple members of the West Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate. Monongalia County resident Kent Hunter was one of the speakers who discussed aspects of the route of the just over 105-mile transmission power line that will use energy from a coal-fired power plant in Greene County, Pennsylvania, to support projects in Virginia. Much like just about everyone in attendance and the entirety of the panel, Hunter was vehemently against the project for reasons varying from impacts on his family farm to utility rates.
“The purpose of this was to (continue to) get the word out and ask people to help,” said Monongalia County landowner and part-operator of Hunter Dairy Farm Kent Hunter. “Because it’s going to raise our rates if it’s in West Virginia, whether it’s in the backyard or in some other part of the state.”
Monongalia County Delegates John Williams, Evan Hansen, and David McCormick represented the State House of Delegates as part of the meeting. The State Senate was represented by Monongalia County Senator Mike Oliverio, 2nd District Senator Charles Clements, and Marion County Senator Joey Garcia. Verbal support was submitted independently by State Senate President Randy Smith and the Monongalia County Commission.
The lack of support from landowners in attendance was caused by a variety of issues with the route of the project, lack of benefits for West Virginia residents, etc. being among them. For farmers and homeowners who spoke on Tuesday and are in the pathway of the approximately 105-mile transmission line, the issues expanded beyond just the lack of opportunity to take advantage of the 500-kilovolt (kV) line, with animals reportedly at risk with the lines and other environmental hazards. With issues ranging from deforestation to the potential effect on property values, the issues have remained the same for those who spoke, with some who spoke against it attending meetings in both Monongalia and Preston Counties in opposition.
“One of the proposed routes would take out our front yard and our native trout stream,” said Bruceton Mills resident Suzanne Patterson, who has attended every meeting related to the MARL project over the past several months. “That (stream) has two kinds of trout that are only found in that stream in Preston County.”
For those who were not a part of any planned pathway for the MARL, other issues regarding different aspects of the project were considered issues that had to be either pointed out or expressed to officials on a state level. Environmental concerns related to the coal-powered plant in Pennsylvania that will support data centers in Frederick County, Virginia, were just one of several sticking points for residents who spoke after the meeting. With the approximately $450 million project expected to be covered on the backs of West Virginia ratepayers, the issues over the project just continue to appear to compound. According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, ratepayers could be in line to pay $165 million over 40 years, something that didn’t sit well with residents. That’s in addition to a lack of support by other local leaders.
“I read about all of the county commissions; all the way along the line are against it,” said Morgantown resident Charles Harris on what prompted him to attend his first public meeting related to the project. “So I said, ‘Well, I want to find out why they are against it.’ I found that out tonight.”
In the closing minutes of the meeting, both state officials in attendance and participating panelists expressed a lack of surprise over what appears to be growing negative sentiment over the MARL project. This included open calls to sign two separate petitions submitted that would be submitted on a state level, one of which would require an in-person signature, the second being submitted online by the West Virginians Against Transmission Line Injustice (WVATLI). With a whole listing of people to contact given to the just over 150 people in attendance, state officials familiar with the topic feel the issue isn’t going away anytime soon.
“I’m not surprised by the number of people who are there,” said Monongalia County Delegate David McCormick. “It was a great crowd; there was a lot of opposition to this, and rightfully so, and I was glad to see that many people showed up.”