PJM Board Approves Annual Grid Upgrade Plan!!!

As the small group opponents of MAPP tactics of trying to postpone the process by calling for long-term planning for our energy needs, this is what PJM’s purpose is, and that's what they've been doing the whole time. Just another example that this small group in oppsition have no real knowledge of what they are talking about.

Based on the national mandate by Congress to upgrade and incorporate the “Smart Grid” technology into our electrical infrastructural grid, PJM has reaffirmed the need for MAPP, and other transmission upgrades. Even after reviewing all the generation projects on the table they have made their authorization approval.

Construction of the first leg of this electrical grid upgrade, TrAIL, and it is well under way now as we speak. The City of Fairmont WV, an economically depress city that is much like Cambridge is today, has just had a big injection of annual salaried jobs to the tune of $12 Million Per Year because TrAIL opened it’s regional offices in Fairmount.

http://www.aptrailinfo.com/allegheny-energy-breaks-ground-for-its-new-transmission-operations-headquarters-bringing-150-new-jobs-to-fairmont.html

Kudos to the City of Fairmont, WV for their foresight and recognizing the financial benefits of working together with TrAIL, PATH, and MAPP’s grid upgrade infrastructure!!! You have done well by your citizens!!!

Sadly, the leaders in Dorchester County, MD are still wasting the taxpayers money because they want to keep things as they were 150 years ago, enforcing their "No Growth" mandate. What a sad little group that is trying to force us all to be left behind as the rest of the country and world progresses forward. Now it is happening without their support and someone else will get the high paying and stable jobs with the head office opening in their area. We have a chance with the new MAPP office that has opened in Cambridge. It is now up to us to say that we want to support them.

Please note below:

VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The PJM Interconnection Board has authorized an additional $1.4 billion in electric transmission systems additions and upgrades throughout the grid that serves 51 million people in 13 states and the District of Columbia. The upgrades are required to keep electricity flowing and ensure the power supply system meets national standards through 2024.

"There's nothing more essential to our business than planning for and achieving the infrastructure needed to ensure the reliable power supplies consumers expect," said PJM President and CEO Terry Boston. "The upgrades that the Board has approved represent dozens of projects that individually and collectively maintain the reliability of the power system."
The upgrades authorized by the PJM Board since 2000, including the most recent approvals, total more than $14.7 billion in investment. They result from PJM's Regional Transmission Expansion Planning process which evaluates electric transmission changes and needs over a 15-year horizon. This plan allows time to make the necessary infrastructure upgrades and improvements and to adjust to ever changing needs.

The current regional plan reaffirms the need for several major transmission line projects that the board previously had authorized to address power supply problems. These so-called "transmission backbone" projects are:
Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL), 502 Junction to Loudon. Construction is well under way on TrAIL, and it will be in service in 2011. This 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line will run from near the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia to northern Virginia. .

Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline, (PATH), Amos to Kemptown. This 765-kV transmission line will extend about 300 miles from the Amos Substation in West Virginia to the Kemptown Substation in Maryland.
Susquehanna to Roseland. This 500-kV line will run approximately 130 miles from northern Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey.

Mid Atlantic Power Pathway Project (MAPP). This 500-kV line will connect the Possum Point Substation in Virginia to Indian River Substation on the Delmarva Peninsula.
In addition to the studies to determine what transmission additions and upgrades are necessary to ensure reliability, the PJM planning process included 195 studies that evaluated the impact of adding new generation on the system.
Studies of other projects remain underway as PJM continually analyzes regional transmission needs. The PJM Board periodically reviews proposed updates to the regional transmission plan.

PJM Interconnection ensures the reliability of the high-voltage electric power system serving 51 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM coordinates and directs the operation of the region's transmission grid, which includes 6,038 substations and 56,350 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion.