PJM to Cancel High Voltage Transmission Line

The $2 billion Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) may be canceled this fall, a project analysis update from PJM Interconnection suggests. The grid operator for 13 states suspended the 765-kV project last year pending further analysis.

PJM first directed construction of the project in 2007, and following a 2010 Regional Transmission Expansion Planning (RTEP) analysis, the entitiy said the PATH project was required to resolve violations of NERC Reliability Standards projected to occur in June 2015.

PJM shelved the project in 2011, however, announcing an outlook for slower economic growth. The project’s suspension prompted American Electric Power and First Energy Corp. to withdraw applications for state regulatory approval.

A preliminary 2012 RTEP analysis presented to PJM’s Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee last week noted that no 500 kV potential thermal overloads were identified over the period spanning 2013 to 2028.

"The previous (2010) analysis identified potential voltage problems in the mid-Atlantic when there were high power flows," PJM spokesperson Ray Dotter told The State Journal. "The preliminary result of the current year analysis no longer identifies any voltage problems in the mid-Atlantic."

Sources: POWERnews, PJM, The State Journal