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

Thu Feb 2 22:59:42 EST 2006

  _____  

From: Rick Canter [mailto:southmountaineers at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 5:44 PM
To: Donald_Owen at nps.gov; 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 folks,

I thank you for your concern on this issue. 

I am writing to offer some sense of relief.  When I saw the map, I was
convinced that this does not run straight across the Appalachian Trail in
Maryland, but considerably further south near the Potomac River.  Then I did
a mapquest search on Doubs, which again, is well east of the trail near
Point of Rocks, and not far from the Potomac.

There are already high-tension powerlines in this area.  I will confirm
their exact location shortly, or if someone in Harpers Ferry can check, you
may be able to find existing powerlines in these areas.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address
<http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohis
tory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&p
hone=&level=&cat=&address=&city=doubs+&state=md&zipcode>
&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude
=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=&address=&city=doubs+&state=md&zipcode=

I am only gleaning over the websites shown, but if my hunch is correct, this
initiative will involve existing rights-of-way and let's face it, any new
construction is very expensive and to reduce the costs, using existing
rights-of-way makes sense.  

If there is a high-tension wire right-of-way south of Loudoun Heights across
the AT, this may substantiate my hunch.   The current wires may already be
13 stories tall...I think a good question is "What is the height of the
current powerline supports?".

I have asked a couple of folks who live in the immediate area to provide a
response, just in case no one on this list can go to Doubs soon.

Again, I appreciate the concern.  I hope I am correct, for we do not need
another political battle to burden us.  Then we will be in the business of
mitigating the disruption across the Trailway while an upgrade is being
installed, and little more. 

Regards... 

Donald_Owen at nps.gov wrote:

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" |
| | 
| | rg> |
| | |
| | 02/01/2006 09:35 |
| | AM EST |
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| Subject: Ohio utility plans power line right through the midstate |
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Don/Karenâ€”This would have to cross the Trail somewhere.

Waltâ€”Please post to RPC. Thanks.

Mich

| 

(Embedded image moved to file: pic20654.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 

Â©2006 The Patriot-News 
Â© 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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