Published: May 23, 2007 09:49 am         

Hampshire considering blanket permitting process for power lines, towers

ROMNEY - Hampshire County Compliance Officer Charles Baker suggested to commissioners Tuesday that a blanket building permit be established for the construction of all power lines and towers in the county.

The decision was reached after Power Engineers, an Idaho-based power company, contacted Baker to inquire about the process of distribution of permits in the county.

"Instead of issuing 200 permits for each tower, one permit will cover the entire length of the power lines," said Baker about the upcoming construction of electric transmission lines in the eastern part of the county. "It will save a lot of paperwork for our office."

Baker said even though a pathway for the lines has been narrowed down, the county doesn't exactly know which properties will be affected by the building of towers and power lines.

"I've requested this information but they haven't gotten back to me yet," he said.

Appraisers are getting ready to speak to property owners about the construction of the 500-volt line, which will stretch approximately 230 miles from southwestern Pennsylvania through Maryland and parts of West Virginia to eastern Virginia, hitting substations in southwest Pennsylvania, Mount Storm, Meadow Brook, Va., and Loudon County, Va.

The size of the steel poles for the towers are 150 feet.

Commissioner Steve Slonaker is concerned the construction will devalue the land of many county residents.

"I'm not opposed to the blanket concept," said Slonaker. "I do support a fee. I think the line company should pay compensation to these land owners."

Slonaker said the county will not see any of the benefits of the project, which will relay electricity to Virginia.

"The power companies ought to pay a royalty or some kind of fee over and beyond as the years go by because they will be continuing to transmit power through the state of West Virginia from years and years to come," he said. "I recognize the need for power but I hate to see local citizens being compromised for someone else's benefit if they are not being compensated."

Slonaker hopes to receive a formula that maps out the number of towers to be constructed, the size of the tower footprints, the number of residents affected and how it's going to impact the county.

Bobbie L. Carpenter can be reached at bcarpenter@times-news.com.