Opponents of a Dominion-proposed power transmission line cranked up the political heat yesterday, holding a rally of some 150 residents of the northern Piedmont and enlisting support of their local legislators. (See the Manassas Journal-Messenger account.)
Dominion contends that Northern Virginia faces rolling blackouts in four years if the transmission line isn’t built. But foes, who don’t want the giant towers running through 40 miles of scenic landscape, argued that Dominion should emphasize conservation, alternate fuels and distributed generation.
I’m not sure what the legislature can do to block the transmission line. One proposal, forcing Dominion to run the transmission line underground at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, seems impractical. But one measure, proposed by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Manassas, strikes me as entirely reasonable.
One of [the amendments] would require the state agency that hears power line applications to expand its consideration to more than just the land under the transmission towers. “Normally the SCC only has to consider the cost of the land taken under the power line. They do not have to consider the property depreciation effect that this power line has on the rest of the community,” Marshall said. “That’s a real cost.”
If a power line slices a working farm in two, it reduces the productivity of, and lowers the value of, the entire farm. If a power line ruins scenic vistas of landed estates, it lowers the value of the entire estate. To pay property owners only for the value of the land traversed by the power line does not begin to compensate them for their loss.