Governor asks Senate to kill amendments that could lead to approval of power line

By Garren Shipley -- Daily Staff Writer

Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has asked leaders in the state Senate to kill his own proposal that opponents say could make approval of a controversial 500-kilovolt transmission line much more likely.

The governor wants the Virginia Senate to send Senate Bill 596 back to his desk for approval without adopting his amendments when legislators reconvene today to consider his changes to dozens of bills.

"He's asked the Senate to kill it, basically," said Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey.

Opponents of the amendments, including the Piedmont Environmental Council, had argued that changes to the bill would all but guarantee approval of the $1 billion-plus Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line project through Virginia.

Locally, the line would run from a substation just north of Middletown along existing rights of way to another substation in Loudoun County.

Building the line is critical for the region's electrical future, according to the utilities, which say that without it, rolling blackouts in Northern Virginia could occur as early as 2011.

But Kaine's proposed amendment would gut the ability of the State Corporation Commission to consider conservation when determining whether new projects like the line are needed, according to Chris Miller, the president of PEC.

Miller said the amendments would instruct the State Corporation Commission to take a very narrow view of the role conservation would play in reducing the need for new transmission lines or power plants.

If the amendments became law, and Maryland launched a program that cut its demand for electricity by 50 percent, regulators couldn't take the regional de-mand reduction into consideration when deciding if a plant or transmission line was needed, Miller said. Rather, only conservation programs run by utilities could be considered.

"[Governor Kaine is] disappointed, and he thinks the [Piedmont Environmental Council] is dead wrong," Hickey said. Another administration spokesman said last week that the amendments were designed to strengthen, not undercut, the review process for power plants and power lines.

Nonetheless, the political reality is apparent.

"The Virginia Manufacturers Association was opposed to it," Hickeys aid. "The governor convinced some folks that it was a good bill, [but] now the Piedmont Environmental Council is against it."

When both industrial and environmental lobbies are opposed to legislation, the bill or amendment usually stops dead in its tracks.

Kaine's change of heart is a victory for the Northern Shenandoah Valley, according to Del. Clifford L. "Clay" Athey, R-Front Royal.

But the amendments aren't dead just because Kaine has said he no longer supports them, according to Athey.

Once a governor sends his recommendations to either house of the General Assembly, he can't take them back. Rather, he can only ask that they be acted on in one way or another.

"Just because the governor has withdrawn his support for the amendments doesn't mean that Dominion and Allegheny Power have withdrawn their support for these amendments," he said.

Both utility companies, particularly Do-minion, wield a great deal of power on Capitol Square.

Dominion has no fewer than 18 lobbyists representing its interests in Richmond. It also gave nearly $300,000 to legislative candidates during 2007, in addition to $103,000 to various political parties and political action committees since Jan. 1.

Legislators begin their work today at noon.

* Contact Garren Shipley at gshipley@nvdaily.com