[MA-RPC] FW: Ohio utility plans power line right through the midstate

Thu Feb 2 16:34:34 EST 2006

Walt makes serveral good points:  that it is early enough in the 
process that we might have some input on a better crossing, and that 
we'd better be prepared with good solutions.

Walt - Would you please post the policies on powerline crossings?  I 
don't know them and would like very much to read them.

Tede

At 02:30 PM 2/2/2006, Walt Daniels wrote:
>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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>                                                       |
>
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>
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>
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>
>
>
>      (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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