Valley Link Transmission LLC, a joint venture of several major energy companies, has shared details of multiple potential routes for the 765 kilovolt transmission line it intends to build across West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.
The project, known as Valley North, includes approximately 260 miles of transmission line connecting the John Amos generating plant in Putnam County, West Virginia, to new substations in Hardy County, West Virginia, and Frederick County, Maryland. The newly-released documents include illustrations of the various types of towers to be constructed for the project and maps of the potential routes.
In Jefferson County, the project map shows three distinct potential routes:
- Entering from Clark County near Franklintown. This route would follow a path roughly along the southern side of an existing First Energy 138 kilovolt line that runs between Franklintown and Kabletown.
- Entering from the very northern point of Clark County. This route would run along the southern side of the existing Dominion 500 kilovolt line.
- Entering from Berkeley County south of Middleway. This route runs southeast to connect (in the vicinity of Summit Point) with the potential route alongside the Dominion 500-kilovolt line.
Valley Link will host an open house with printed copies of the maps and other material on Tuesday, June 30 from 4:00 to 7:30 pm at the Storer Ballroom located on the third floor of Shepherd University’s Student Center (210 North King Street, Shepherdstown). Parking will be available in university lots and on nearby streets.
At a meeting earlier this week hosted by Jefferson County VOLT (image below), a group organizing to oppose the project, approximately 50 Jefferson County residents got a preview of the types of questions that are likely to come up at the Valley Link meeting.
Published in the Observer Weekly 2026 June 25.
By Steve Pearson