Electric Power Outlook - Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

and reliable interconnection of new generation and merchant transmission projects seeking
interconnection within the PJM footprint. The 15-year planning horizon permits consideration of
many transmission options with longer lead times.
PJM has addressed a number of critical issues in Pennsylvania having a bearing on reliability
criteria violations, which drive the need for regional transmission expansion plans. The RTEP has
identified two major transmission line projects, approved by the PJM Board, which have an impact
on Pennsylvania.
Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line
The RTEP recommended that Allegheny Power build facilities constituting the Trans-Allegheny
Interstate Line (TrAIL). TrAIL was to extend from Southwestern Pennsylvania (37 miles) to West
Virginia (114 miles) to Northern Virginia (28 miles). In-service dates ranged from 2009 to mid-
2010. The 2008 RTEP retool analysis of 2011 system conditions confirmed the need for this line
by June 1, 2011, to address reliability criteria violations on the Mount Storm-Doubs 500-kV line.
In support of the TrAIL project, Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Company (TrAILCo), an
Allegheny Energy subsidiary, filed an application 21 with the Commission on April 13, 2007,
proposing the construction of one 500-kV and three 138-kV transmission lines in Washington and
Greene counties. The project included a substation in Washington County (Prexy Substation), a
substation in Greene County (502 Junction Substation), three 138-kV transmission lines and a 36-
mile 500-kV transmission line.
Evidentiary hearings in all three states were concluded by April 2008. In a Recommended
Decision issued Aug. 21, 2008, the Commission’s ALJs recommended that the application be
denied because TrAILCo had failed to prove a need for the facilities. A Partial Settlement
Agreement was reached for the Pennsylvania portion of the TrAIL Project, involving approval of a
1.2-mile segment of the 500-kV line extending from a new substation in Greene County,
Pennsylvania (the 502 Junction), to the West Virginia border. On Nov. 13, 2008, the Commission
approved the Partial Settlement Agreement and stayed the application with regard to the Prexy
facilities pending the outcome of a collaborative set forth in the Partial Settlement Agreement and
the filing of a new or amended application. On July 13, 2009, a Joint Petition for Settlement was
filed with the Commission, agreeing to an alternative, more cost-effective solution to NERC
Reliability Standard violations, including a set of local 138-kV transmission upgrades. By Order
of Aug. 25, 2009, the record was reopened for the purpose of amending the application and
approving the Settlement. An Amendment to Application was filed on Oct. 13, 2009. On Nov. 18,
2010, the Commission approved the Joint Petition for Settlement which maximizes the use of
existing utility infrastructure with little impact on property owners near the site. The Settlement,
which includes a series of interconnections of 138-kV transmission lines, is projected to resolve
reliability concerns for Washington County for the next 10 years. The cost of the original Prexy
Facilities was estimated to be $213 million. Under the settlement, the cost of these facilities was
22
reduced to $11.6 million.
21 Docket No. A-110172, et al.
22 PJM 2010 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan.
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Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission