DeWeese backs group’s powerline corridor opposition
A Virginia environmental group opposed to the federal government’s proposal for designation of a National Interest Transmission Corridors in eight states including Pennsylvania has gained state Rep. H. William DeWeese’s support in its opposition battle. The Piedmont Environmental Council of Warrenton, Va., which is one of many organizations opposed to the NEITC, is asking the Department of Energy to hold more than only the three public meetings scheduled to gather comments from residents.
None of the meetings are scheduled in Pennsylvania.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows the U.S. energy secretary to designate NEITCs in any part of the country experiencing electrical transmission capacity constraints or congestion.
The act also authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue construction permits for transmission lines and use eminent domain to acquire property for the lines if state utility commissions delay acting on construction permit applications.
In April, before a U.S. congressional subcommiteee, DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, testified against the NEITC and Allegheny Power’s proposed high-voltage electric transmission line that would traverse Greene and Washington counties to serve a power grid that serves the East Coast.
He is supporting PEC’s request for additional public meetings.
“The (Energy) Department’s proposed meeting schedule is an insult to the people of the entire commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said DeWeese, in a statement the PEC used in a recent press release. “The fact that the Department of Energy is proposing to designate these corridors to cross at least 50 counties in the commonwealth without any public input from anyone shows a lack of consideration and rejection of the hardworking citizens of Pennsylvania. The DOE must come to every county impacted by this proposal to hear from our citizens.”
DeWeese’s press secretary, Tom Andrews, said DeWeese is considering formally requesting the Department of Energy to hold meetings in the state.
The three meetings the department has scheduled to receive public input are May 15 in Arlington, Va., May 17 in San Diego, Calif., and May 23 in New York City.
“The Department of Energy in a nearly one-year period met with utility industry representatives and other energy special interests more than 60 times, yet they are giving millions of residents in an eight state region only three opportunities to have their voices heard,” PEC President Christopher G. Miller stated in a press release. “It would appear that citizens are being disenfranchised by the department.”
The NEITC would be in all or parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.
The 60-day public comment period for the NEITC has begun. The Energy Department will accept public comments through a Web site, http://neitc.anl.gov
Along with designating a NEITC in Pennsylvania, the Energy Department could issue Allegheny Power a construction permit for its proposed 240-mile Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line, or TrAIL, and use eminent domain to acquire the needed property under certain circumstances.
One such circumstance would arise if the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission takes more than a year to approve the transmission line after the application to locate or build the line was filed, or a year after a NEITC is designated.
Allegheny Power has applied to the PUC for permission to build the line and to the Energy Department for NIETC designation.
Stop the Towers, a grass-roots organization with chapters in Greene and Washington counties that is opposed to the TrAIL and the NIETC, has obtained nonprofit status and is now called the Energy Conservation Council of Pennsylvania.
The 500-kilovolt TrAIL would originate from the Prexy substation that would be built near Eighty Four in Washington County and connect to the 502 Junction substation that would be built in Mount Morris, Greene County.
From there, the line would to an existing substation in Mount Storm, W.Va., and then to a Dominion Virginia Power substation in Loudoun, Va. From there, it would serve a regional power grid operated by PJM Interconnection.