West Virginia Freedom Caucus Fights Against Ratepayer Funded Transmission Line

S. Chris Anders WV State Delegate
July 10 2026

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Charleston, WV – Members of the West Virginia Freedom Caucus are pressing the fight against the ratepayer-funded Mid-Atlantic Resilient Link (MARL) high-voltage transmission line, pushed by NextEra Energy Transmission.

“This is pure, undiluted cronyism,” said WV Freedom Caucus Chairman S. Chris Anders.

“The MARL project represents a clear overreach that prioritizes out-of-state interests over the livelihoods and values of West Virginians,” said WV Freedom Caucus member Chris Rose in a letter to the WV Public Service Commission in 2025.

Rose is the Chairman of the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee.

The MARL high-voltage transmission line project would originate in Pennsylvania to feed sprawling data centers in Northern Virginia.

“MARL hurts us economically by diverting resources and imposing over $440 million in transmission costs on West Virginia ratepayers to benefit Virginia’s booming data center industry,” Rose explained in his letter from 2025.

“The cost to West Virginia ratepayers for MARL is now approaching $960 million,” Anders pointed out.

“They want to put you on the hook,” Rose said.

“No West Virginia ratepayer dollars should be used to fund transmission lines primarily built to serve out-of-state interests, and no use of eminent domain to take private property for projects that benefit private corporations or other states,” Anders stressed.

“During the legislative session, we introduced an amendment with these two very simple, common-sense protections,” said WV Freedom Caucus Secretary and co-sponsor of the amendment, Delegate Henry Dillon

“No family should lose control of their land so that power can be transported across West Virginia for the benefit of private corporations, data centers, or economic interests located somewhere else,” said WV Freedom Caucus member Craig Hart.

“No West Virginians should be forced to sacrifice their property rights so others can profit,” Dillon pointed out.

“And certainly, no government should be using eminent domain as a weapon against the very citizens it is supposed to protect,” Anders added.

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