[MA-RPC] FW: Ohio utility plans power line right through
themidstate
Michele Miller
mmiller at atconf.org
Thu Feb 2 16:08:30 EST 2006
Walt--Here's the link to the policy on
<http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/cf/%7bD25B4747-42A3-4302-8D48-EF35C0B0D
9F1%7d/LMPG_4roaddev.pdf> Roads and Utility Developments
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/cf/{D25B4747-42A3-4302-8D48-EF35C0B0D9F1
}/LMPG_4roaddev.pdf
<http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/cf/%7bD25B4747-42A3-4302-8D48-EF35C0B0D
9F1%7d/LMPG_4roaddev.pdf>
Michele
-----Original Message-----
From: ma-rpc-bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org
[mailto:ma-rpc-bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org] On Behalf Of Walt Daniels
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 2:31 PM
To: MARPC list
Subject: [MA-RPC] FW: Ohio utility plans power line right through
themidstate
Note two comments by Don Owen below, the route map and FERC eminent domain
possibilities.
It is clear that this effects our region so it on our plate to decide our
position. It looks like the Land Use and the Natural Heritage subcommittees
should have the lead on this.
The route looks pretty generic at this point so a very early conversation
with AEP about our concerns may lead to a better crossing. It looks likely
that we will not be able to stop the project so we better be prepared with
good solutions. Probably the best we can insist on is a perpendicular
crossing. I don't envy AEP's job of finding a 1000ft corridor in that area
as the AT has had no end of problems finding a corridor in that area.
There are far worse things than powerline crossings of the AT, e.g. roads
which have the same typical width but also a large noise factor. Does anyone
have existing ATC and/or NPS policies on powerline crossings? I can post
them on the web for reference. I have only hiked that part of the AT once so
I don't have much to offer in terms of less damaging routes. I am sure there
are Civil War cultural sites in the vacinity. Don Owen or Kent Schwarzkopf
should be able to provide T&E sites to avoid.
-----Original Message-----
From: Donald_Owen at nps.gov [mailto:Donald_Owen at nps.gov]
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 1:51 PM
To: Michele Miller; lbelleville at appalachiantrail.org
Cc: klutz at appalachiantrail.org; wdhiker at optonline.net;
Pamela_Underhill at nps.gov; bproudman at atconf.org;
momland at appalachiantrail.org; AAPreston1 at aol.com; dspedden at dnr.state.md.us;
tmccorkle at dnr.state.md.us; southmountaineers at yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Ohio utility plans power line right through the midstate
Hi -
Check out the route map and other details at:
http://www.aep.com/newsroom/intrastateProject.asp
Looks to me like it will cross the Appalachian Trail on South Mountain in
the general vicinity of Greenbrier or Washington State Park.
Don
Don Owen
Environmental Protection Specialist
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
(deliveries: 31 High Street)
P.O. Box 50
Harpers Ferry, W.Va. 25425
phone: (304) 535-4003
fax: (304) 535-6270
email: donald_owen at nps.gov
__________________
Mich et al -
Please note the paragraph in the article that says:
American Electric is billing its proposal as the first test of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005, which gave the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
authority to override state and local opposition to transmission-line
projects deemed to be "corridors of national interest." If states fail to
approve such a line within a year, FERC can exercise eminent domain and
force the line through.
Don
Don Owen
Environmental Protection Specialist
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
(deliveries: 31 High Street)
P.O. Box 50
Harpers Ferry, W.Va. 25425
phone: (304) 535-4003
fax: (304) 535-6270
email: donald_owen at nps.gov
__________________
Mich -
Thanks. Just sent you another related article. Chances are, it would cross
the A.T. somewhere in the mid-Atlantic Region, but I'm copying Laura
Belleville anyway.
Don
Don Owen
Environmental Protection Specialist
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
(deliveries: 31 High Street)
P.O. Box 50
Harpers Ferry, W.Va. 25425
phone: (304) 535-4003
fax: (304) 535-6270
email: donald_owen at nps.gov
|---------+---------------------------->
| | "Michele Miller" |
| | <mmiller at atconf.o|
| | rg> |
| | |
| | 02/01/2006 09:35 |
| | AM EST |
|---------+---------------------------->
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------|
|
|
| To: <Donald_Owen at nps.gov>, <klutz at appalachiantrail.org>
|
| cc: <wdhiker at optonline.net>
|
| Subject: Ohio utility plans power line right through the midstate
|
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------|
Don/Karen-This would have to cross the Trail somewhere.
Walt-Please post to RPC. Thanks.
Mich
|
(Embedded image moved to file: pic06120.gif)
Ohio utility plans power line right through the
midstate
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
BY DAVID DeKOK
Of The Patriot-News
American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio, said
yesterday it plans to build a mammoth
electric-transmission line -- with towers more than
13 stories high -- that would cut through the
midstate.
The 550-mile aboveground line, which would have a
1,000-foot right of way, would connect American
Electric's power plants in the West Virginia
coalfields with the New Jersey market.
In the 1980s, GPU Energy Inc. and Duquesne Light Co.
tried unsuccessfully to build a 268-mile-long
transmission line across Pennsylvania. That proposal
was stopped by public opposition from farmers and
other landowners on environmental, aesthetic and
economic grounds. John Hanger, who was on the Public
Utility Commission then and is now head of Penn
Future, an environmental policy group, says to expect
the same.
"This will face enormous opposition unless they can
figure out a route that uses existing rights of way,"
he said. "Understandably, local people who are either
near the line or will lose property will fight it."
The line appears likely to pass through southern York
County and the area just south and east of Lebanon.
No final route has been selected, however. And maps
released by American Electric and the office of PJM
Interconnection -- which operates the regional power
pool -- gave only general indications of where it
would run. The electric company declined to be more
specific.
Melissa McHenry, a spokeswoman for American Electric,
said the utility's engineers have identified a
tentative route that closely parallels one devised by
PJM Interconnection and called "Project Mountaineer."
PJM Interconnection, based in Valley Forge, oversees
a high-voltage electric system that serves 51 million
people in 12 states, including Pennsylvania and the
District of Columbia.
Ray Dotter, a spokesman for PJM Interconnection, said
American Electric, not PJM, will have the final say
on what route the line follows. He said PJM's role is
to fit the new line into the regional power grid.
"This one happens to parallel one of the pathways we
developed [as part of Project Mountaineer]," he said.
Dotter said a new transmission line is the only way
to get electricity produced by "clean coal"
technology in West Virginia to where it is needed in
New Jersey and elsewhere in the eastern part of the
PJM territory.
McHenry said American Electric has allotted three
years for site approval and five years for
construction. The $3 billion project is being
financed by the company, but the utility would be
open to partnerships with other utilities.
The line would be 765 kilovolts -- the biggest power
line that is built -- and would typically be carried
by towers about 135 feet high, depending on terrain.
That would be about 35 feet higher than the towers to
carry 500 kilovolts, which was the size that GPU and
Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Light had wanted to build.
American Electric is billing its proposal as the
first test of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which
gave the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
authority to override state and local opposition to
transmission-line projects deemed to be "corridors of
national interest." If states fail to approve such a
line within a year, FERC can exercise eminent domain
and force the line through.
American Electric said the transmission line will
relieve congestion in the power grid. That congestion
cost customers of utilities in the PJM power pool
nearly $1 billion in 2005, the company said, adding
that it also forced use of more natural gas and
oil-fired units to make electricity at peak periods.
The proposed line would originate in Putnam County,
W.Va., connect through Doubs Station in Frederick
County, Md., and terminate at Deans Station in
Middlesex County, N.J.
From the map supplied by American Electric, the
proposed line appears to come through southern York
County, where real estate values have been climbing
as more people build homes there to escape even
higher prices in Maryland.
American Electric also is likely to face regulatory
unhappiness over the idea of creating new markets for
electricity made by burning high-sulfur West Virginia
coal. Hanger said that, while some Pennsylvania power
plants are polluters, the state faces a significant
problem with airborne pollution carried into the
state from the south and west.
"I would not want a transmission line to enable those
[American Electric] plants, which are poorly
controlled and more dirty, to ship power more
efficiently," he said.
DAVID DeKOK: 255-8173 or ddekok at patriot-news.com
C2006 The Patriot-News
C 2006 PennLive.com All Rights Reserved.
Michele Miller
Associate Regional Representative
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Mid-Atlantic Regional Office
4 East First Street
P.O. Box 625
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
Phone: (717) 258-5771
Fax: (717) 258-1482
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is a volunteer-based nonprofit
organization dedicated to the conservation of the 2,175-mile Appalachian
National Scenic Trail, a 250,000-acre greenway extending from Maine to
Georgia. Our mission is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the
clean air and water, scenic vistas, wildlife and opportunities for
recreation and renewal along the entire Trail corridor. To become a member,
call 304.535.6331, ext. 119, or visit our Web site at
www.appalachiantrail.org. There, you will also find volunteer opportunities
and general hiking information.
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