[MA-RPC] More on powerline

[Walt Daniels]

CBS NEWS, Feb. 7, 2006

PROPOSED POWER LINE COULD TEST NEW LAW

By Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- In an ambitious $3 billion plan, the nation's
largest power generator has proposed building a 550-mile power line to
bring surplus electricity from coal-fired plants in Appalachia and the
Midwest to the energy-hungry eastern seaboard.

Under the initial proposed route, the high-voltage line would be
stretched across 13-story towers through scenic mountain recreation
areas of West Virginia, up through Maryland's midsection and across
Pennsylvania's Amish country on its way to New Jersey.

Even if state regulators balk, that might not be enough to stop the
project.

American Electric Power Co.'s plan could provide one of the first
tests of a new law, enacted last year, that allows federal regulators
to use the power of eminent domain to override states that do not
approve a transmission line that has a demonstrated interstate
interest.

Already, environmentalists and clean-energy advocates along the
potential path of the towers are sounding alarms over the proposal,
which will face years of scrutiny before the line's operative target
date of 2014.

Many will watch the plan closely, from regulators measuring the
benefits for their state's ratepayers to homeowners worried about
property values.

Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric, which unveiled the proposal
last week, cautioned that the proposed route is not exact and could
change dramatically.

"Obviously there are a lot of questions and people would want to know
where it would be," said Melissa McHenry, a company spokeswoman. "But
it's too early in the process to know exactly where it would be. ...
It's too early for people to be concerned about that because it could
change."

American Electric is proposing to build the highest-voltage line yet
in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. Industry officials say new
transmission lines are needed to meet growing power demands and
expanding electricity markets.

Primarily, the line would serve the densely populated corridor from
northern New Jersey through Philadelphia and Baltimore to Washington,
D.C., where electricity prices are comparatively high and power plants
difficult to build.

As currently proposed, the line would begin at American Electric's
Amos transmission station in St. Albans, W. Va., and pass through the
West Virginia panhandle, north-central Maryland, southeastern
Pennsylvania to central New Jersey. The 765-kilovolt line would carry
50 percent more capacity than any other power line in the mid-Atlantic
and require clearance of 100 feet on each side.

Along the way, it would cross West Virginia's Allegheny Highlands, a
resort area with mountains, red spruce forests and vacation homes.

"I would think that if they come near these areas, they're going to
run into a lot of opposition," said Judy Rodd, the director of the
Charleston, W.Va.-based environmental group, Friends of Blackwater.
"People don't like giant power lines."

After that, it would pass through a quilt of hilly dairy farms, Civil
War sites, suburban subdivisions and Amish country. It likely will be
tested by people who are veterans of fighting power plants or wind
farms, and say conservation is the solution to high electricity
prices.

"I'll be extremely interested, not only for the aesthetic view,
because it's going to run along the mountains, but also for the impact
it's going to have on property values," said Rolan O. Clark of
Adamstown, Md., who lives near the Doubs substation to which the
proposed line would link.

An important first step in the project will be an analysis of the
line's service and price benefits by PJM Interconnection, the Valley
Forge, Pa.-based company that operates the mid-Atlantic electricity
grid. PJM could also recommend an alternate route.

Then, state utility regulators would decide whether the cheaper
electricity would offset the loss of land and environmental damage
that could result from building the line, state consumer advocates
said.

This week, American Electric began seeking federal approval to have
ratepayers who benefit from the power line subsidize the cost of the
project. And it asked the federal Department of Energy to give the
power line's proposed corridor a special designation that raises the
possibility that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could
override the eminent domain authority of state regulators who oppose
the project.

American Electric is one of several power companies that have already
petitioned the agency for the designation, provided under the Energy
Policy Act approved by Congress.

State consumer advocates in Pennsylvania and New Jersey say it is too
early to tell whether the project would benefit ratepayers there. West
Virginia's utility consumer advocate, Billy Jack Gregg, said a lot
will depend on the siting process. But he said it appears the project
would help his state, possibly with new power plants and jobs, and
other states with cheaper electricity.

John Hanger, a clean-energy advocate and former utility regulator in
Pennsylvania, said people would lose their land for the benefit of the
utility. The cheaper, more sensible solution is to build a power plant
in New Jersey, he said.

"I'm sure AEP believes that this line will increase its revenue and
profits," Hanger said. "But the question is, is that enough? This line
must meet the public interest."

Associated Press Writer David Dishneau in Hagerstown, Md., contributed
to this story.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press