Latest / Commentary - TJ Meadows / Senator Rose’s MARL Argument Doesn’t Add Up

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Senator Rose’s MARL Argument Doesn’t Add Up · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: State Senator and chairman of the Senate Energy, Industry and
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  Speaker 1: Mining Committee, Chris Rose is no fan of the proposed
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  Speaker 1: Moral Transmission project. Rose argues the line provides no benefit
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  Speaker 1: to West Virginia while potentially taking private property through eminent domain.
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  Speaker 1: At first glance, that sounds persuasive, and let's be clear,
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  Speaker 1: the concerns of landowners are legitimate. We're talking about family farms,
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  Speaker 1: private property, and land that in some cases has been
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  Speaker 1: passed down through generations. No one can be faulted for
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  Speaker 1: wanting to protect that interest. But emotion alone doesn't tell
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  Speaker 1: the full story. West Virginia is part of an interconnected
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  Speaker 1: electric grid managed by PJAM Interconnection. Most people never think
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  Speaker 1: about it, but that system delivers enormous benefits to the
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  Speaker 1: Mountain state. It helps keep the lights on, It allows
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  Speaker 1: utilities access to power from across a vast region. It
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  Speaker 1: improves reliability, it helps control costs, and it gives West
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  Speaker 1: Virginia generators access to markets stretching from the Midwest to
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  Speaker 1: the Atlantic Coast. Those markets matter. Governor Patrick Morrissey has
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  Speaker 1: repeatedly promoted a vision of producing more energy in West
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  Speaker 1: Virginia and selling it into growing markets elsewhere. Coal, natural gas,
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  Speaker 1: and eventually nuclear generation all depend on access to customers.
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  Speaker 1: Transmission provides that access. Just yesterday, West Virginia is exporting
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  Speaker 1: more than three thousand megawatts of electricity to neighboring states.
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  Speaker 1: That supports power plants, coal production, natural gas development, jobs,
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  Speaker 1: tax revenue, and local economies. If we can't move electricity
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  Speaker 1: to market, we reduce the value of the very resources
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  Speaker 1: many policymakers say they want to promote. MARL was proposed
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  Speaker 1: because Northern Virginia's explosive growth and electricity demand, largely driven
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  Speaker 1: yes by data centers, has created significant transmission congestion. Congestion
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  Speaker 1: simply means there isn't enough transmission capacity to move power
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  Speaker 1: where it's needed. The proposed line would help relieve that
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  Speaker 1: bottleneck and improve the grid's ability to move electricity across
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  Speaker 1: the region. That matters to West Virginia because less congestion
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  Speaker 1: can mean better market access for generators throughout PGM, including
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  Speaker 1: coal fired and natural gas fired plants operating here in
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  Speaker 1: the state today. Now, reasonable people can oppose moral They
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  Speaker 1: can argue for a different route. They can demand stronger
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  Speaker 1: protections for landowners. They can seek better compensation and mitigation measures.
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  Speaker 1: Those are serious concerns deserving serious discussion. What's harder to
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  Speaker 1: argue is that West Virginia can enjoy all the benefits
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  Speaker 1: of an interconnected grid while rejecting every responsibility that comes
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  Speaker 1: with participating in one. The real debate is whether MARL
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  Speaker 1: has costs. It clearly does. The debate is whether the
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  Speaker 1: benefits of being connected to one of the largest electric
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  Speaker 1: markets in the world outweigh those costs. That's a conversation
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  Speaker 1: worth having, but it should begin with a clear understanding
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  Speaker 1: of how the grid actually works, not the mistake and
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  Speaker 1: belief that we can keep all of the benefits while
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  Speaker 1: accepting none of the burdens. To read the full commentary,
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  Speaker 1: visit the website WV metronews dot com.