Delmarva Power's parent company has proposed building a $1.2 billion transmission line that eventually should allow cheaper power to flow into Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland from Northern Virginia.

Pepco Holdings Inc. filed its proposal for the 230-mile, 500-kilovolt line Monday with PJM Interconnection, the private company that oversees the power market and grid in 13 states, including Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey.

State and local officials have long complained about the lack of transmission lines into Delaware because of the way PJM runs the grid. Under PJM rules, as demand for power spikes, especially during summer, the price rises dramatically wherever there are possible shortages, like the Delmarva Peninsula.

For the past several years, Newark has seen higher electric rates because the city, which runs its own power company, cannot get cheaper power imported into Delaware. The new line will allow more electricity to flow, which should bring down prices.

The line would cross the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River south of Washington, where Pepco Holdings is based. The project initially would connect plants of Dominion Resources Inc., owner of Virginia's largest utility, with those owned by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group, according to a diagram provided by Pepco.

Pepco's proposal is the third this year for an interstate power line in the PJM market after enactment of a federal law aimed at speeding approval of such projects and lowering regulatory costs.

American Electric Power Co. and Allegheny Energy Inc. have proposed lines that would carry power from West Virginia to the East Coast, linking cheaply fueled coal-fired generating plants to urban areas.

American Electric in January proposed a $3 billion, 765-kilovolt transmission line from West Virginia to New Jersey. The company, based in Columbus, Ohio, owns the largest U.S. fleet of coal-fired power plants.

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