SHEPHERDSTOWN -- The aging and long-ignored infrastructure that provides power to homes and businesses across the Mid-Atlantic region is nearing the breaking point because of growing demand, a group of electricity experts warned at a forum in West Virginia.

Daniel Larcamp, spokesman for the Edison Electrical Institute, and others painted a grim picture at the conference sponsored by West Virginians for Reliable Power on Wednesday, talking mainly about the need for upgraded power plants and transmission lines. But they also said the region needs more alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.

West Virginia's rapidly growing Eastern Panhandle, a haven for people fleeing the congestion of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., has seen peak summer demand grow by about 4.1 percent a year in the last decade, four times the state average, Larcamp said.

SHEPHERDSTOWN -- The aging and long-ignored infrastructure that provides power to homes and businesses across the Mid-Atlantic region is nearing the breaking point because of growing demand, a group of electricity experts warned at a forum in West Virginia.

Daniel Larcamp, spokesman for the Edison Electrical Institute, and others painted a grim picture at the conference sponsored by West Virginians for Reliable Power on Wednesday, talking mainly about the need for upgraded power plants and transmission lines. But they also said the region needs more alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.

West Virginia's rapidly growing Eastern Panhandle, a haven for people fleeing the congestion of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., has seen peak summer demand grow by about 4.1 percent a year in the last decade, four times the state average, Larcamp said.