Federal officials in Washington said May 9 they will expand their public hearings on two proposed electricity “transmission corridors” — designations that could spur the building of major new power lines in many states regardless of local opposition.
Last month, the Department of Energy proposed the first such corridors of their kind. One would stretch from Southern California into Arizona and Nevada.
On the East Coast, another corridor would run north from Virginia, and include most of Maryland, all of New Jersey and Delaware and large sections of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Authorities initially said they would hold public meetings on the corridors in San Diego, Arlington, Va., and New York City.
That list was expanded May 9 to add meetings in Pittsburgh, Pa., Rochester, N.Y., Phoenix, and Las Vegas, Nev. No dates were given for the meetings.
A 2005 law passed by Congress gave the federal government greater say on where high-priority transmission lines should be built. If states and regional groups fail to build the lines, the government could order them built.
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