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Public Service Commission records schedule for Potomac Edison CPCN; parties warn target order could wipe out spring 2028 construction window
Summary
At a July 7, 2026 Public Service Commission prehearing conference, parties agreed to a procedural schedule for Potomac Edison Company’s transmission-line CPCN but warned that a late target-order date could eliminate a needed spring 2028 construction window; staff read a timeline of filings and public hearings.
The Public Service Commission on July 7, 2026 recorded a procedural schedule for Potomac Edison Company’s certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) for a transmission project, but attorneys and state reviewers warned that proposed target-order timing could eliminate a critical spring 2028 construction window.
Robin Leone, counsel with Sol Ewing LLP for Potomac Edison Company, requested that a target order be set as early as December 2027 but said the company could accept a first-quarter 2028 date to preserve the spring construction season. Leone noted parties could settle to accelerate the process and cautioned against incurring construction costs before formal approval.
The issue matters because, as a representative of the Power Plant Research Program told the commission, "PPRP now has 81 CPCNs active on their docket with 220 in the pipeline," and staff capacity limits factor into review timing. Leone also said the evidentiary environmental review is substantial: "the environmental review document is 700 pages long." Those points framed a larger debate about how to balance thorough review with the developer’s construction schedule and financing deadlines.
Commission staff read proposed dates into the record: Potomac Edison’s supplemental direct testimony due Aug. 31, 2026; PPRP’s updated completeness determination Sept. 28, 2026; intervenors’ direct testimony Sept. 30, 2027; public comment hearings the week of Oct. 11, 2027 (one in each affected county); a status update Nov. 2, 2027; and a settlement evidentiary hearing on Nov. 16, 2027, with that date reverting to a status conference if no settlement is reached. The chair said the commission would "take [the schedule] under advisement."
Counsel for the applicant argued that a late target order could "wipe out that construction window for that year," referring to project segments that must remain energized during summer and winter months and therefore require spring or fall construction windows. Commissioners and staff discussed revisiting the schedule in summer 2027 if calendar conflicts or additional agency needs arise.
No formal vote or binding action was taken at the conference; the commission entered two publication certifications into the evidentiary record without objection and left the procedural schedule under advisement. The record shows the parties and staff expect at least one public comment hearing in each of the two counties the line would affect, and a status update is set for Nov. 2, 2027.
