Thursday, April 26, 2007, By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WASHINGTON -- Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese yesterday called on Congress to repeal a federal law that could potentially allow energy companies to bypass state approval for the construction of new high-voltage power lines.
At issue is Allegheny Power's plans to partner with Dominion Virginia Power in building a 240-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line that would extend from Washington and Greene counties to substations in West Virginia and end in northern Virginia.
Allegheny Power is seeking approval from Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission, but the company is also asking the federal government to designate the project as a "national interest electric transmission corridor," or NIETC, meaning construction permits and eminent domain approval could be fast-tracked to circumvent state regulations.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 permits the creation of the electric transmission corridors.
"This is an unprecedented usurping of state power," Mr. DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, told a U.S. House committee hearing yesterday. He argued that states have played a central role in approving the building of energy infrastructure "since the invention of the light bulb."
He has joined a group of local activists, stopthetowers.org, in opposing Allegheny Power's Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Project, or TrAIL, which would include new substations at the 502 Junction in Dunkard, southern Greene County, and North Strabane, Washington County. They say the project is unnecessary and would mostly benefit energy-hungry areas in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere.
But David Neurohr, spokesman for Allegheny Energy, the parent company of Allegheny Power, said the new line is only aimed at local Pennsylvania energy demands, especially in rapidly growing areas of Washington County.
He also noted that the project is mandated by PJM Interconnection, which manages electric transmission services of the Mid-Atlantic power grid in 13 states and Washington, D.C.
During yesterday's hearing, local officials and activists from Maine, New York, and Virginia joined Mr. DeWeese in expressing concerns about the new federal law, and they seemed to have the sympathy of Democrats who won control of Congress last year. They're considering several bills that would restore some state powers.
"As the law is written, a state may have little or no ability to determine whether a transmission line goes through one of its state parks, a historic battlefield, land protected by conservation easements, or private land," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who chaired the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing.
Mr. Neurohr said Allegheny Power is focused on winning Pennsylvania state government approval for its project, even though it is also exploring the option of having the U.S. Department of Energy designate a national interest corridor in the state.
"That's a bridge that we'll cross way down the road," he said.
Allegheny Power's portion of the line extends about 210 miles at a cost of $820 million, with the total project estimated at more than $1 billion. The smaller portion of the line will be built and paid for by Dominion Virginia Power.
Allegheny Power has said it will raise consumer rates to pay for the upgrades. Currently, customers pay 5 percent of their bill for transmission costs.
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THE FORMAT FOR THE PUBLIC MEETINGS IN JUNE WILL BE
AS PRESENTED IN THE FOLLOWING INTERNET WEB SITE:
http://www.energetics.com/NIETCpublicmeetings/
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Sunday, May 27, 2007,
By Janice Crompton, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
As protesters and publicists alike gear up for state and federal hearings into plans for a high-voltage power line through Washington and Greene counties, it's become apparent that the consequences of the project could be felt statewide.Allegheny Power submitted an application last month to the state Public Utility Commission, seeking approval for the construction of 37 miles of 500-kilovolt power lines from a substation to be built in North Strabane, called Prexy, to a substation planned for Dunkard, Greene County. It also wants to build three 138-kilovolt power lines that would extend outward from the Prexy station.
The project is part of a 240-mile transmission line to extend from Pennsylvania to existing substations in West Virginia and end in northern Virginia. The company has submitted a similar application to West Virginia. The Virginia portion of the line will be built by Dominion Virginia power company.
Allegheny's portion of the total project extends about 210 miles at a cost of $820 million, with the total project estimated at more than $1 billion.
As part of its review process, the PUC will conduct public hearings to determine if there is a need for additional power in the region and whether Allegheny Power has the best solution.
Complaints from ratepayers and property owners are to be submitted to the PUC by Tuesday. The hearings, expected this summer, haven't been scheduled. All those who protest the project may offer comment at the hearings, even if they haven't filed a written complaint.
A grass-roots organization that opposes the project, Stop the Towers, plans to fight the plan on two levels. The group, along with the more than 4,000 people who have signed petitions opposing the power lines, will protest the location of the line, which would affect hundreds of property owners.
A newly formed legislative branch of the group, called the Energy Conservation Council of Pennsylvania, will litigate the need for the power line and concentrate its efforts on lobbying.
Local opposition leaders say it's vital to win the battle with the PUC, especially because of federal intervention, and because other Pennsylvania communities could be facing the same issues soon.
"If we don't win this in front of the PUC, we've lost," said Robbie Matesic, executive director of the Greene County Planning and Economic Development Department.
If the project is turned down by the PUC, it could kick in a provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that allows the federal government to override state and local laws in certain cases.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy designated a large swath of the northeastern United States., including 50 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, as a potential "national interest electric transmission corridor," or NIETC. If the designation is approved by the DOE, it clears the way for the federal government to step in.
If a state withholds construction approval for more than one year, denies approval, or if too many conditions are placed on construction of electric transmission lines within a NIETC, the federal government can intervene and approve the project.
The law also authorizes the taking of private property by eminent domain for rights of way.
Efforts to repeal that portion of the Energy Act are under way in Congress, including a bill recently co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, who, like most other public officials in southwestern Pennsylvania, opposes the project.
The DOE is planning a public hearing for the Pittsburgh area next month on the NIETC designation.
Rebecca Foley, of Jefferson, Greene County, said she and about 20 other Pennsylvania and West Virginia residents chartered a bus to attend a NIETC hearing May 15 in Virginia. She said she spoke briefly to DOE panelists and said they were "visibly moved" by the testimony from people who would be affected by the power line.
Greene and Washington county commissioners have said the power line is becoming the most significant grass-roots issue in their memory.
"People are concerned about the environmental issues for our children and what government does to property owners," Greene County Commissioner Pam Snyder said.
The local power line issue also is seen as a harbinger of several other transmission projects being proposed for the state.
The local upgrade was mandated by PJM Interconnection, which manages electric transmission services of the Mid-Atlantic power grid in 13 states and Washington, D.C. The line is part of PJM's five-year regional electric transmission plan, meant to address future energy needs at certain points in the grid.
As part of a longer range 15-year plan, PJM is considering several additional proposals, including a joint venture between Allegheny Power and American Electric Power that calls for a $3 billion, 550-mile, 765-kilovolt transmission "superhighway," beginning at the Amos power station in Putnam County, in western West Virginia. It would travel through Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania and end in Middlesex County, N.J.
AEP also proposed a line closer to home, from Kammer-Mitchell power plant near Moundsville, W.Va., into Pennsylvania to the Prexy substation in North Strabane. From there, the line would traverse Central Pennsylvania to Conemaugh power plant in West Wheatfield, Indiana County, ending near the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg.
In Ohio, north of the Kammer-Mitchell plant, AEP proposed a line into Western Pennsylvania to the Keystone power plant in Shelocta, Armstrong County, east to the Sunbury Power Plant near Shamokin Dam in Snyder County.
PJM spokesman Ray Dotter said the proposals and routes haven't been finalized and only are under consideration.
"They are being analyzed," he said. "It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen."
Local opponents of the project cite concern about property values, quality of life, and health and safety. They have questioned the need for the power lines and the rate increases that will go with it.
Allegheny Power says the plan, called the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Project, or TrAIL, is necessary to address power shortages in the East, and to provide additional power to the developing areas of central and northern Washington County, which could begin to experience rolling blackouts and brownouts within a few years if nothing is done.
In its application to the PUC, Allegheny Power outlined four reasons the power line was needed, each involving the failure of existing 138-kilovolt lines because of demand.
The outages would be widespread, and likely to occur during the early evening hours on hot days.
"When it gets to be a hot day, everybody turns on their air conditioners," said David Neurohr, Allegheny Power spokesman.
"If the existing 138-kilovolt system goes, the lights will go out," he said.
But, Stop the Towers members and local officials have argued that Washington County has more than enough power for years to come, and that the company's intention is to tap local power plants for low-cost, coal-generated energy to ship to the power-strapped Eastern U.S., where energy plants are closing without being replaced.
Even though the local plan is outlined in detail in the PUC application, it isn't mentioned at all in the application last year to the DOE, asking that the area be designated as a NIETC.
Mr. Dotter said the reason was the DOE was looking at the issue from a regional perspective.
The agency is trying to supply power to the East Coast, from New York to northern Virginia, an area which it identified as in "critical" need of more power in a study done last summer.
"Everything is tied together," Mr. Dotter said.
It's clear that power is no longer a local issue. Planning occurs on a regional level and ,perhaps, the best evidence for its necessity came in August 2003, when a downed tree near Cleveland resulted in a widespread blackout from New York to Canada.
"The grid is like a net," Mr. Dotter said. "It pulls everything together."
Mr. Dotter said that, while PJM can't force companies to build power plants, it can and does order new transmission lines built to serve power needs wherever necessary. The company has no stake in who builds the lines or how it's accomplished, only that the job gets done.
"Whether the line gets built or not, we don't make money. We don't make money, period," Mr. Dotter said. "Our goal is to keep the lights on. We have to look at the needs and make that determination."