Liz Beavers
Cumberland Times-News
March 09, 2007 11:54 am
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MOOREFIELD - The Hardy County Commission is the second West Virginia county to go on record opposing a proposed high-voltage power line through the region.
Commissioners Roger Champ, J.R. Keplinger and Stanley Moyer voted unanimously Tuesday to sign a resolution opposing a proposed 500-kilovolt power line to be constructed by Allegheny Energy through Hardy, Hampshire and Grant counties.
Hampshire County previously announced its opposition to the project.
The commissioners have received numerous complaints, both written and in person, concerning the project over the last several weeks.
Representatives of the utility were invited to present an overview of the project at the meeting Tuesday.
Charlie Friddle and Allen Staggers of Allegheny Power presented a slide program outlining the project, the need for it and the likely consequences should it not be constructed.
The Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line project is intended to improve the reliability of power transmission to the urban centers of the Northeast and prevent overloads such as the one in Ohio in 2003 that created a blackout in much of the 13 state-grid served by PJM, made up of some 400 utilities, Friddle said.
He said there has been an increasing demand for electricity in recent years with the proliferation of televisions, cell phones, computers and other electronics and that demand is likely to continue to grow.
"The infrastructure, which are the transmission lines, have not kept pace," he said. "New lines are needed to meet the demand."
Friddle said that reliability is the key to the need for the project and that potential liability problems in terms of blackouts and brownouts have been identified to possibly occur by 2011 if nothing is done.
Staggers brought an electric transmission congestion study - a 100-plus page document that pinpoints the locations where the system is likely to fail if an overload occurs.
"We need to meet long-term needs," he said.
Friddle said that PJM is the largest transmission system in the country and West Virginia is just about in the middle of it.
He said the grid serves 51 million people with 1,271 generating sources, 46,070 miles of line and 400 member customers.
The project is in the siting stage during which data is gathered via aerial photos and maps and evaluation of the existing infrastructure in order to select a preferred route. The process included 10 public meetings in the region to review resident concerns and to view a proposed path for the line.
Friddle said there has been much discussion about burying the line. "The biggest problem with that is we have limited experience with underground lines," he said.
Underground lines have less capacity, would require longer repair times, create disruptive digging and would cost 10 to 20 times more, he said.
"And underground lines are not invisible; there would be rows stripped of vegetation along the path," he said.
Friddle said the final recommendation on a route is to be made in late March or early April and will be presented to the Public Service Commission. "The filing will also include additional public hearings," he said.
A member of the audience said that the West Virginia Public Service Commission is seeking bids from independent consultants to review the project, do an environmental impact study, determine the need for the project, the impact on West Virginia rate payers and any benefit to the state.
Friddle said that the line will increase west to east transfer capability and create expanded markets for coal.
Moyer said he'd heard that there was an expanded right of way that would be needed beyond the 200 feet previously stated for the line and that some places will need a buffer zone up to 800 feet.
Staggers said the right of way is limited to 200 feet and that there can be no structures within the area.
"The land still belongs to the property owners. We are only negotiating for a right of way," he said.
Payment for the rights of way will be negotiated with each landowner.
He was unable to answer how many structures already exist or are in the process of construction in the proposed path of the power lines. The most recent maps, according to county officials, are about three years old and do not include new subdivisions.
Keplinger asked if there were power plants within the system that are not currently at capacity, while Moyer asked if there are plans for construction of new plants.
Friddle said that that Allegheny has been instructed to build new lines and he knows of no plans to construct new plants.
Staggers added that there are new plants being built in the PJM system and conservation methods are also being added. "There is no single answer," he said.
Lines from Mount Storm east are predicted to be overloaded, according to Staggers, who said, "It could even happen in a storm."
"The potential exists for a little problem to cascade into big problem," Friddle said. "We need to build in redundancy to reduce the potential for failure."
Champ asked why the utility didn't consider meeting with the various county officials and the public before reaching its decision. He also questioned why the power company doesn't purchase property instead of rights of way.
Keplinger said that other alternatives should be looked at rather than just adding power lines.
Grady Bradfield, a former county commissioner from Hampshire County, said that he thinks utilities are going to have to look at alternatives. "They can't keep condemning and condemning, or we'll become a utility highway," he said.
Larry Hahn, a local resident, said that if the power lines were located overhead, there would be no use of local labor in the construction, but if the lines were buried, then local labor would benefit.
William Golemon of the Capon Valley Coalition, which is opposed to the project, said that federal legislation now in existence actually competes with other federal legislation.
He said that Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia is introducing legislation to address the energy bill, which gives the federal government the right to overrule state public service commissions.
Mona Ridder can be reached at mridder@times-news.com.
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