Last month we began to see the plan by Dominion Power to condemn a 40-mile swath of land through Fauquier County, Loudoun County, Clarke County, Prince William County and Frederick County. Dominion has held a series of meetings to try to convince the public these lines are a good idea. The public has responded with a great amount of outrage. Thousands of citizens showed up to these meeting to say NO to the power towers and lines.

In response to Dominion's plans to deface the countryside and condemn our land we have founded Virginians for Sensible Energy Policies. Virginians for Sensible Energy Policies is a coalition of local groups, Dominion Virginia ratepayers, families, farmers, workers and citizens of all ages. It is organized to stop Dominion from constructing the proposed high-voltage transmission lines, seizing private property and creating a forty-mile scar across the Piedmont.

According to the American Counsel of Energy Efficiency, Virginia ranks in the bottom ten states in regard to efficient use of energy. Virginians for Sensible Energy Policies encourages Dominion power to seek energy alternatives and the state of Virginia to adopt energy policies that encourage efficiency.

As VSEP has looked closely at the proposed power line project, there are some glaring issues the power company does not want you to know.

Dominion has yet to prove the need for these lines. The North American Electric Reliability Council found in its 2005 Long-Term Reliability Assessment that power capacity in Virginia was "not a reliability concern at this time." Instead, the lines Dominion is planning to build will transport electricity through Virginia to other Northeastern states. Even if by 2011, Dominion did need these lines, they are overkill. They are building a giant facility for all time that may only be needed locally a few hours a year at most. The rest of the time, they will be used to allow power sales from highly-polluting plants in the northeast.

Further, new generating capacity east of here, planned to come on line in 2016 will likely eliminate the need for these towers of power. Dominion is using a 1930's approach when modern approaches are much more efficient. Today's technology allows energy companies to increase the capacity of existing lines and reduce the need for more rights of way that create more damage. Using new approaches Dominion could add capacity to existing lines along existing rights of way without doing more unnecessary damage. New small plants to meet peak needs are cheap and quick to build, quiet and clean to operate and need only operate a few hours a year. The old plants, such as those that this line will allow to operate, are among the most polluting in the nation, they are also the object of many lawsuits and will spread plume and foul air over all our region and the northeast.

We must demand alternate solutions to the State's power needs. The land targeted by Dominion was surveyed by a young George Washington and revered by Thomas Jefferson.

Generations of families have worked hard to preserve this land which includes: 7 Civil War Battlefields, 17 National Historic Register sites, including a National Historic Landmark, 13 Miles of Appalachian Trail and 83 Miles of Scenic Byway, 16 Miles of Scenic Rivers, and thousands of homes, farms and small businesses. A prized historic destination for families and students across Northern Virginia as well as for travelers and tourists from around the world will be forever defaced.