[MA-RPC] FW: Ohio utility plans power line right through the
midstate
Walt Daniels
wdhiker at optonline.net
Thu Feb 2 23:00:02 EST 2006
-----Original Message-----
From: Pamela_Underhill at nps.gov [mailto:Pamela_Underhill at nps.gov]
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 5:51 PM
To: Rick Canter
Cc: AAPreston1 at aol.com; bproudman at atconf.org; Donald_Owen at nps.gov;
dspedden at dnr.state.md.us; klutz at appalachiantrail.org;
lbelleville at appalachiantrail.org; Michele Miller;
momland at appalachiantrail.org; southmountaineers at yahoo.com;
tmccorkle at dnr.state.md.us; wdhiker at optonline.net
Subject: Re: Ohio utility plans power line right through the midstate
I doubt there are any towers out there this tall, unless there is already a
765kv line out there, and they're not going to locate two 765's in the same
right of way. And what would make us think that utility executives would be
applying anything approaching good sense to this endeavor?!?
:)
Rick Canter
<southmountaineers To:
Donald_Owen at nps.gov, Michele Miller <mmiller at atconf.org>,
@yahoo.com>
lbelleville at appalachiantrail.org
cc:
klutz at appalachiantrail.org, wdhiker at optonline.net, Pamela_Underhill at nps.gov,
02/02/2006 02:44 bproudman at atconf.org,
momland at appalachiantrail.org, AAPreston1 at aol.com,
PM PST 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&country=US&addtohist
ory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&ph
one=&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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| To: , |
| cc: |
| Subject: Ohio utility plans power line right through the midstate |
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Don/Karen—This would have to cross the Trail somewhere.
Walt—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
©2006 The Patriot-News
© 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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