The MARL Impact
The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) is a proposed high-voltage transmission line that would connect power lines in Greene County, Pennsylvania, with data centers in Northern Virginia. Most of the proposed line would run through West Virginia, including the 82nd District.
Keep West Virginia Wild and Wonderful.
Photo: Liz Partsch for "Farm and Dairy".
MARL Transmission Line
West Virginians Deserve Better.Â
Map courtesy of NextEra Energy Transmission, MidAtlantic Resiliency Link.
MARL provides no direct benefit to West Virginia consumers, yet West Virginians could be left to bear the costs. The project could mean higher electricity rates, while our communities take on the burden of hosting the infrastructure. I am not opposed to economic development, new technology, or investment in our energy infrastructure. I am opposed to a project that, as currently proposed, asks West Virginians to bear the costs without providing a clear benefit in return. The project's projected costs have also increased substantially: NextEra's estimate for its portion of MARL has risen from $441 million to approximately $960 million. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis estimates that West Virginia ratepayers could ultimately be responsible for more than $570 million of those costs.
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Our communities deserve a seat at the table. If MARL moves forward, West Virginia must receive meaningful protections, transparency, and a fair return for what we are being asked to provide.
"MARL goes against the interests of West Virginians. Our communities are not collateral."