Pepco Holdings Inc. (PHI) has filed applications with the Public Service Commission of Maryland for authorization to construct the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP), a 230-mile, 500 kV electric transmission system that will deliver a boost to system capacity and electric reliability to customers in Maryland and other states in the Mid-Atlantic region.
PHI also submitted a joint federal-state permit application to the Maryland Department of the Environment and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These permits are necessary to build the MAPP transmission line in wetlands and waterways in the project rights-of-way in southern Maryland on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
The project was approved by PJM Interconnection, the regional power grid operator, in 2007. PJM identified MAPP as the most effective transmission solution to address both near-term (five-year) and long-term (15-year) reliability problems facing the Mid-Atlantic region. PHI expects to obtain necessary permits and begin constructing the transmission line later this year and complete it by 2013.
MAPP will extend from Possum Point in northern Virginia, across southern Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay and continue through the Delmarva Peninsula to Salem, N.J. The project will provide direct benefits to communities along its entire path, including enhancing the ability of existing and new wind resources that are being developed in the western and southern portions of PJM's territory, in the Midwest and off the shore of the Delmarva Peninsula.
Capital costs for MAPP are estimated at approximately $1.4 billion, including $820 million for the Maryland portion. However, since the project will benefit the entire Mid-Atlantic region, those costs will be paid for by all customers throughout the 14-state PJM region. PHI will also seek low-cost debt financing for the MAPP project from the U.S. Department of Energy under federal loan guarantee programs for capital-intensive projects that use innovative technology.
SOURCE: Pepco Holdings Inc.
