Hearings Conclude on Marl Project After Recommendation to Reject $1.167 Billion Line
Key Facts
Evidentiary hearings on the Marl electric transmission line project in West Virginia have concluded, sending the case to commission review and deliberations ahead of a decision due by March 6, 2027. Daniel Ignatov, a technical analyst in the commission’s Engineering Division, recommended rejecting the application in full in testimony filed in September. He said the grid analysis the company relied on to justify the project was “outdated before the application was filed.” He added that there was no evidence showing the high-voltage line would provide a material benefit to West Virginia. The technical recommendation keeps rejection on the table, but it is not the commission’s final decision.
The applicant is NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic, a transmission subsidiary of NextEra Energy. The project proposes a 500-kilovolt line with a total length of 107.5 miles from Pennsylvania to Virginia. A 58.9-mile segment of the route runs through West Virginia, crossing Monongalia, Preston, Mineral and Hampshire counties. The company estimates the project will cost about $1.167 billion, while acknowledging through one of its officials that the estimate may change. The company says the need for the line begins in 2027, based on PJM’s identification of the need in regional grid reliability planning.
Participants’ objections focus on whether the future need for the line has been established and whether load-growth forecasts have undergone independent review. Opponents called for an independent review of the demand forecasts underlying the need for Marl and an examination of possible alternatives to meet that demand. One opponent said, “There has been no independent verification of the future load demand that justified Marl.” The dispute pits the company’s grid reliability estimates against opponents’ demand for verification of load-growth assumptions. Data centers feature in the discussion of expected electricity demand, while the commission remains responsible for assessing the application and the evidence submitted.
More than 190 landowners have joined the case as intervenors, and more than 60 submitted written testimony to the Public Service Commission. Testimony during a week of hearings addressed the project’s potential effects on homes, farms, businesses and the environment. A farmer from Preston County said two towers would be built in his hayfield, noting that his land covers 27.31 acres. “There will be two towers in my hayfield, and I have only 27.31 acres,” he said in his testimony. The testimony shows how the proposed route affects the landowners who have participated in the proceedings.
The company, meanwhile, presented its estimates of the local economic impact, saying the project could provide between 200 and 300 construction jobs in West Virginia. It also estimated property tax payments of about $133 million over the project’s 40-year life. It estimated compensation to landowners through rights-of-way and options at about $65 million, saying these would primarily be one-time payments. The company says it has received more than 1,500 comments through public meetings, route surveys, stakeholder meetings, a hotline and email. It added that the comments were considered in the route study and environmental report.
A NextEra official acknowledged that the company did not initially notify seven landowners, but said they were notified later. The commission scheduled six days of hearings, from October 26 to 30 and then on November 2, 2026, before moving to arguments and deliberations. Under the current schedule, the commission is due to issue its decision by March 6, 2027. The company expects construction to begin in November 2029 and continue through the end of 2031. But it has not put the work out for bids or selected a contractor, making the construction schedule contingent on approvals and subsequent proceedings.