More than 30 businesspeople trekked to Richmond yesterday to champion a proposed 500,000-volt power line in Northern Virginia.

Supporters of the line said reliable and affordable power is essential to Northern Virginia's economy.

One exception to the local support was Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, whose opposition was read to the State Corporation Commission by Brooks Crossman of Fairfax.

Connolly said he doesn't believe Dominion Virginia Power has made a compelling case for building the line. Any additional electricity needed in the region could be supplied more quickly and cheaply through conservation and efficiency programs, he said.

The hearing was on Virginia Power and Allegheny Power's application to build a 93-mile, high-voltage line from the West Virginia state line through seven Northern Virginia counties.

Virginia Power has argued that without the line Northern Virginia will face the possibility of power outages or lowered voltages as early as 2011.

Michael Cooper of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which runs the Dulles and Reagan National airports and uses electricity equivalent to 20,625 homes annually, said the airports have benefited from Virginia Power's reliable service. The authority supports the investment to keep it reliable in the future, he said.

Several speakers from information technology businesses, including a representative of the Micron Technologies semiconductor plant in Manassas, stressed their need for reliable electricity and spoke for the line.

Some speakers suggested Virginia Power's role as a good corporate citizen lends credibility to its case for the power line.

Lavern Chatman of the Northern Virginia Urban League said she was confident the company had shown the line was a safe and reliable way to provide the low-cost electricity needed to improve the quality of life of the region's disadvantaged.

Speakers for the line outnumbered speakers opposed to it 6-to-1 yesterday. More opposition was heard last summer at hearings in Northern Virginia, where nearly 300 people spoke.

Elizabeth Merritt, a lawyer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said that more study is needed before the line is approved.

The trust has serious doubts about whether the utilities have shown a need for the line, she said. The evidence does not take into account lower growth projections and new power plants and conservation programs, she said.

The commission must decide the need for the line and, if it is needed, what conditions should be set to protect the public and environment. Proof of the line's need will be addressed by expert witnesses for the utilities and the line's opponents at a hearing Feb. 25 in Richmond. Contact Greg Edwards at (804) 649-6390 or gedwards@timesdispatch.com.