Facts about PATH

Many of you have heard that Allegheny is in the process of changing the route and configuration of the PATH project. The route is in flux so don’t be complacent and keep making your voices heard. They are changing the route now, less than 2 months before they were due to file with the MPSC and who knows what they will try in the future.

But realize that with HVAC great losses occur when transmitting power over long distances.

Easton receive lower electricity bills than most Maryland residents. Diesel engines about 1,000 hours a year for four hours at a time. They pay about 10 percent less than residential customer in Pepco and BG & E.

Distributed generation generally reduces the amount of energy lost in transmitting electricity, since the typically small scale generating systems are close to where the power is used and can be powered by PV Solar, Small-Wind Turbines and / or Natural Gas.

In Maryland, if the local power generating station is kept at a production level of less than 2 megawatts, it can be distributed locally and provide net metering to a town or school or industrial park. The electricity need not be sold into the Grid per se.

Although the other technologies have merit, in order to satisfy the perceived needs of the Federal Government, we believe that HVDC, buried is the best solution to bring power from West Virginia and for the most part through Maryland in order to supply power to New York, New Jersey and the other regional states and at the same time protect our environment. This is a mature technology used all over the world including in the United States and will be used to cross the Chesapeake Bay.

Presented at Energy Week 2000, Washington, DC, USA, March 7-8, 2000 High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC)Transmission Systems Technology Review Paper