Capon Valley Coalition

CVC Cochairman Bill Golemon reports on what the steering committee has been doing in the last few weeks of feverish activity:

We have interviewed two great pro bono lawyers but are still looking for the right person to represent the Capon Valley Coalition before the WV Public Service Coalition. Warning: This could get expensive.

We are scheduled to spend 15 minutes with Gov. Joe Manchin when he visits Romney next week. Grady Bradfield, Jim Matheson, County Commissioner Steve Slonaker, John Anderson and I are attending. I hope this will make him aware of the degree of opposition to the power line and the NIETC designation, which he has supported so far.

(NIETC stands for National Interest Energy Transportation Corridor, which is how Allegheny Power hopes to ram the TrAIL power line through over the objections of local residents and property owners and even the state and local governments in the path of these power lines.)

On Sunday Don Kesner of The Hampshire Review interviewed three residents of River Ridge and myself for an upcoming article focusing on the negative economic impact of the power line. (See County landowners continue battle over power lines.)

There have been numerous articles in other papers and journals, particularly since Allegheny’s announcement of the second proposed power line, and the DOE’s NIETC designation. (Read deeper into the Web site to view some.)

I hope people are contacting their congresspeople to urge them to sign on to and support the Hinchey-Wolf bill to repeal section 1221 of the Energy Policy Act, designating the NIETCs.

You can track activity on Allegheny Power’s plans to build the high-voltage TrAIL power line via the WV Public Service Commission Web site.

Use this address: http://www.psc.state.wv.us/scripts/WebDocket/tblCaseActivitiesList.cfm?CaseID=22527

If that link does not work for some reason, go to the PSC Search page, search by case and enter the TrAIL Case Number: 07-0508-E-CN.

Among other things, you can find out who supports and who opposes the power line.

Get Involved Now!

Write PSC and Gov. Joe Manchin and tell them West Virginia does not need this power line.

Don Kesner of The Hampshire Review sat down with four CVC members on Sunday to discuss the economic impact of Allegheny Power’s TrAIL power line on our area.

His story appeared in today’s edition (May 9, 2007) of The Hampshire Review. This excerpt appeared on the newspaper’s Web site, but will likely disappear in a week.

CAPON SPRINGS — Residents in River Ridge Estates near Capon Springs know they have very little chance winning their fight against a major power line scheduled to run through their development.

The $850 million, 240-mile power line proposed to be built by Dominion Energy of Richmond, Va., and Allegheny Power of Greensburg, Pa., would reportedly run from southwestern Pennsylvania’s coal country to growing northern Virginia.

A PJM planning group in May 2006 concluded that the 500-kilovolt line would serve the region’s most immediate need and could be built in five years.

But residents of River Ridge said Sunday afternoon that the project is moving fast, and that officials of the major energy companies are not concerned about who the line affects.

Ralph Wojtowicz has nearly $800,000 invested in a home he is currently building in River Ridge, and he has concerns about completing the project.

Too far into the building stage of his new home, Wojtowicz said it’s pertinent that he finish it.

But Wojtowicz said he has concerns about moving into the home when it is finished because of the large power lines that are projected to run near his residence.

“In early February my wife gave birth to twin boys at 27 weeks,” said Wojtowicz.

Getting the attention of the power companies, according to Wojtowicz, has been everything but successful.

“Trying to bring my situation to the attention of Allegheny Energy, public officials and reporters has cost me thousands of dollars that I should be spending on hospital bills,” he said.
But Wojtowicz isn’t standing alone in the fight against the energy companies.

Bruce Rooney and Dan Lender are equally concerned about the effects the power lines will have on property values, as well as possible health risks.

“We don’t know what the health impacts will be, and it seems that no one can tell us,” said Lender.

Just the economic impact alone will be great for homeowners, as well as for Hampshire County, according to Lender.

Some homes in the River Ridge area top the $1 million mark and, according to Hampshire County Assessor Frank Whitacre, would generate approximately $5,000 per year in taxes.

“But we don’t have that many million dollar homes in the county, and there’s no way of knowing how many are going to be built in the future,” said Whitacre. “So to try to determine the amount of taxes the county would lose if the power line comes through would be impossible.”

Darrah Wilcox of WDTV in Bridgeport, WV, reported yesterday on a protest against Allegheny Power’s TrAIL power line:

They’ve been expanding their forces for the past few weeks to show their opposition to a proposed Allegheny Power line project, and now the group is really beginning to make some noise.

More than 200 concerned residents of the Halleck community in Monongalia County and the surrounding area gathered at the Triune Halleck Volunteer Fire Department this afternoon to unify their actions.

The group discussed who they should write letters to, what they should say, and how to get other people involved.

They urge concerned citizens to write the Public Service Commission, their respective county commissions, the governor, state and federal legislators and spread the word to their neighbors before it’s too late.

You can see video of the protest on the WDTV Web site.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3 May 2007

Sierra Club Joins Bipartisan Group of Congressmen In Opposing Transmission Line Corridors

Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Repeal Section 1221 of EPACT 2005

Today Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope appeared with Reps.
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Mike Arcuri (D-NY), John Hall
(D-NY), and Chris Carney (D-PA), the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, and numerous other environmental and historic preservation
groups to speak out against the transmission line corridors designated
last week by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the auspices of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005. Reps. Wolf and Hinchey have introduced
bipartisan bills to repeal section 1221 of the law, which grants DOE and
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) nearly limitless powers
of eminent domain and exempts them from key environmental laws in
designating so-called “National Interest Electric Transmission
Corridors.”

Statement of Carl Pope

“There were many, many reasons why the Sierra Club opposed the Energy
Policy Act of 2005, but the sweeping powers granted to the DOE and FERC
to designate “National Interest Electric Transmissions Corridors” were
near the top of the list. Last week the DOE showed just how dangerous
this nearly limitless authority is when, under intense pressure from the
energy industry, it proposed the first two such corridors. They make a
mockery of the word “corridor,” as they include the entirety of the
states of Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey, along with substantial
portions of Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio,
Nevada, Arizona, and southern California. At this rate, the entire
country could soon be deemed an essential electric transmission
corridor.

“This provision usurps the right of state and local governments to deny
access to certain lands and areas based on local interests and values.
In addition, it runs roughshod over laws meant to protect
environmentally and historically sensitive areas such as Civil War
battlefields from development. It also trumps the rights of property
owners in the corridors, allowing for their lands to be seized via
eminent domain and transferred to private corporations. Above all,
backers of this provision believe that energy companies should be
allowed to construct power lines and pipelines anywhere they see fit in
order to increase their own profits, regardless of what’s in the public
interest.

“In the Northeast, new transmission lines would be used to ship power
into the region produced from dirty, outdated coal-fired power plants in
Appalachia and elsewhere. This undermines the important efforts of the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is spurring new and innovative
developments in the Northeast to increase clean energy supplies and
combat global warming. It would also subject communities outside the
region to the pollution, including toxic mercury, from power plants that
would be supplying power to cities hundreds of miles away.

“Instead of forcing new transmission lines on communities across the
country, we can eliminate the need for them by increasing the energy
efficiency of our schools, homes, factories, offices, and the appliances
and electronics we use each day. And by modernizing our badly outdated
electrical grid, we can make that sure more of the energy we already
produce actually makes it to those homes, offices, and factories.

“I am pleased that a bipartisan group in the House has introduced
legislation to repeal this authority. This provision–never debated on
the floor–tramples on our public lands, historically sensitive areas,
private property rights, and the constitutional authority of states. We
look forward to working with the Congress to right this wrong as quickly
as possible.”

# # #

You can read the original on the Sierra Club Web site.