The Fight Against Dominion

I am working with Virginians for Sensible Energy Policies (VSEP), a coalition of local groups, electric customers, families, farmers, workers and citizens of all ages. VSEP is organized to study energy policy, educate the public, and litigate to protect the environment and property rights.  We are particularly concerned with Dominion's proposal to construct a 500-kv transmission line with 15-story tall towers through the heart of Virginia. 
While Dominion has changed the proposed route several times in hopes of quelling opposition, the one constant is that they have not proven the lines are necessary.  In a recent meeting with a local newspaper, a Dominion representative, when asked where the studies are, simply shrugged his shoulders and stated that it's a "complex engineering issue" involving several regions and nobody had it and that, even if they did have it they would not make it available until the final plan was filed with the State Corporation Commission.  As VSEP president Matt Sheedy questions, "How can a major corporation threaten to permanently scar land and take personal property and not have to account to anyone in the impacted areas?"

All the while, Dominion is trying to scare Virginia residents with an onslaught of radio and print advertisements claiming that rolling blackouts are imminent. In the final weeks of January, Dominion spent nearly a half million dollars on misleading full-page advertisements in The Washington Post alone.  Meanwhile in Richmond, Dominion is using their lobbying muscle and money in to impose their will upon us.  As this Virginia Pilot article notes, Dominion has spent nearly $3.8 million dollars on campaign contributions and gifts during the past ten years and, "no other corporation comes close to the power company in money spent on campaign donations and lobbying Virginia lawmakers."

The projected overloads have little or nothing to do with demand in Virginia and instead are a result of Dominion plan to bring more pollution to Virginia by transporting energy from dirty coal-fired plants in Ohio that fail EPA air standards to the Piedmont to meet a need that it has failed to prove. 

As America wakes up to the reality of global warming, many corporations such as BP America, Exxon Mobil, and Duke Energy are taking steps to decrease their negative impact on the environment. However, Dominion, one of the nation's largest producers of energy, is not on the list. It emits roughly 33 million metric tons of carbon annually. This makes Dominion the 20th largest polluter in the S&P 500. If Dominion were a country it would rank 34th in the world in terms of pollution!  We are seeing more proactive approaches to responsible corporate citizenship and energy policy, such as the recent TXU deal , and steps taken by state governments in California and Pennsylvania .

Yet in Virginia we remain in the bottom ten states in regards to efficient use of energy and thanks to the efforts of Dominion remain on a course that is destroying our environment.  But, I guess that doesn't matter as long as Dominion's stock remains near an all time high.  We aren't against companies making a profit, however this behavior is simply irresponsible.  Virginia can meet all of its energy needs through a comprehensive state energy plan that promotes the use of modern technology and energy efficiency. 

For those who haven't seen it, Joel Garreau had a great article in the Washington Post yesterday that gives us further insight into Dominion's callous approach to this plan. 

John D. Smatlak, 50, has come a long way from his steel-mill home town of Johnstown, Pa., from which he escaped to the electrical engineering program at Penn State. Today, in his Richmond office with the shades drawn against the view of the James River, he is turned out in a well-cut black suit and highly polished black tasseled loafers.

The proposed Meadow Brook-Loudoun power line, as it is known, is John Smatlak's baby. He is Dominion's vice president-electric transmission, the man trying to maintain his composure as he faces all the protesters with their signs that read `Fight Dominion's Greed.'

Smatlak's approach to the power line project has been a spreadsheet view of the universe. 'When we decide where to route it, we plot all of the historic sites, the historic areas. How many miles through the area. How many historic sites per mile. The number of houses every so many feet. We count the number of houses within 200 feet, within 500 feet,' he says.

Smatlak says he is not familiar with most of the previous Piedmont dramas, such as the `Third Battle of Manassas' over the proposed mall on the battlefield. He has heard of the Disney debacle but doesn't see any connection to the uprising over his power line.

Yet striking similarities exist. Each corporation starts with the conviction that it has achieved the kind of strategic dominance that will lead to quick victory. Resistance is futile, they believe, and for excellent reason. Every legal base that matters is covered. All economics have been analyzed. The politicians have been attended to. The utility, for example, is one of the state's most generous political contributors, donating more than $3.75 million to Virginia's politicians since 1996, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Dominion employed 18 registered lobbyists this year, and their track record is formidable even by the standards of the tobacco industry. For example, the raft of bills introduced in the current legislature to slow or stop Smatlak's baby have all been efficiently short-circuited.

This fight is not even close to being over as long as Dominion continues with this illogical and unnecessary proposal.  I urge everyone to contact Dominion and tell them NO POWER TOWERS.

Thanks and I will keep everyone updated on this issue. 

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