By Janice Crompton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Allegheny Power is standing by its plans to construct a high-voltage power line through Washington and Greene counties despite a resolute recommendation against the project.
State Public Utility Commission administrative law judges Mark A. Hoyer and Michael A. Nemec gave a scolding rebuke to the utility over its plans for the 37-mile, 500-kilovolt power line, saying it wasn’t needed.
They added that a companion project for a power line from Greene County to Virginia was an effort to ship “cheaper coal-fired generation” along an “energy superhighway” to the east.
The judges, whose recommendation will be considered by the five-member PUC commission next month, also took issue with the power company over its wisdom to situate the massive power lines near so many residences, its lack of research on environmental impacts, and its disregard for the affects of electromagnetic fields.
The $1.1 billion project could be scuttled if the PUC denies the Greensburg-based company’s application to build the power lines in Pennsylvania, because even though West Virginia approved the project earlier this month — and Virginia is on track to do so, too — both states have said the project won’t get the final go-ahead until it’s been approved by all three states.
The 364-page recommendation released Aug. 21 was “very disappointing,” said company spokesman Doug Colafella.
It’s even more of a let-down, Mr. Colafella said, because the proposed rejection contrasts so much from the decision to approve the project in West Virginia and a recommendation to do so in Virginia.
“They agreed it’s needed — that’s why we’re so terribly disappointed in the Pennsylvania decision,” he said, referring to opinions from other states.
The judges even warned against approving the Allegheny Energy subsidiary, Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Co., or TrAILCo as it is known, as a public utility, saying it was an out-of-state corporation with no full-time employees or discernible assets.
Allegheny Energy is the parent company of Allegheny Power, and the TrAILCo subsidiary was created to oversee and implement transmission line projects.
Although West Virginia Public Service Commission officials at first advised against the project with a long list of concerns, the state worked out an agreement with the company which called for changes in a portion of the selected route, up to 150 new jobs for the state, and certain other perks, like a seven-year reprieve from higher electric bills.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin also has said he would like to find a way to tax the profits on the power line.
Locally, the proposed project would involve the construction of an electric substation in North Strabane called Prexy, which would connect transmission lines on massive towers to another new substation called the 502 Junction — 36 miles away in Dunkard, Greene County. The Prexy station also would include three smaller 138-kilovolt power lines to service local customers.
The second portion of the line would start at the 502 Junction, travel 1.2 miles to the West Virginia border, and continue about 240 miles through West Virginia and into Northern Virginia. The Virginia part of the line would be built by Dominion Virginia Power. The target completion date is 2011.
In its approval of the multistate project, the West Virginia PSC cites the regional nature of the venture — something not mentioned in the report by Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Nemec.
Mr. Colafella said the provincial attitude of the Pennsylvania judges shouldn’t stand in the way of the project.
“[West Virginia] agreed that you can’t look at a regional project in a vacuum,” he said.
Mr. Colafella may have a point, because if the PUC board denies the application — a decision is expected in late September or October — the company could lobby the federal government to approve the project anyway.
It’s part of the Energy Act of 2005, which includes a provision allowing the federal government to override state decisions regarding the location of transmission lines.
Spawned by the 2003 blackout in the Northeast, the Act also allows the federal government to seize private property by eminent domain. The U.S. Department of Energy designated a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor over a large swath of the Northeast, including 52 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. It is within that corridor that the federal government is permitted to take action.
Lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, have been trying to overturn that part of the Act for months, including during a recent hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, when Mr. Casey, D-Pa., targeted Allegheny Power for its tactics to sway homeowners to sell rights-of-way for the project.
Agents acting on the company’s behalf were accused of pressuring and misinforming homeowners about the project. Without admitting guilt, the company fired one of its land contractors after the charges came to light.
The PUC also has filed suit to reduce the size and scope of the corridors.
In their recommended denial of the project, Mr. Nemec and Mr. Hoyer called the proposed Prexy line “a grandiose answer to a minor or even non-existent problem,” saying the company’s claims that rolling brownouts and blackouts could occur within the next several years are exaggerated.
The four scenarios cited by the company which they said could lead to power failures are based on at least two things going wrong simultaneously, which is not a standard measure for reliability and could be addressed by far less drastic measures, the judges said.
“Based on our review of the entire record, we have concluded that little or no need for reinforcement …exists and/or non-intrusive options are available, and probably should have been put in place before now,” said the opinion.
As for the larger multistate project, the judges said a failure by Virginia to address a lack of power generation isn’t Pennsylvania’s problem.
“Granting approval of the 502 Junction [to Virginia] segment at this juncture rewards a lack of foresight and proper maintenance, and has policy implications for the location of future generation…” they said. “Non-transmission alternatives were not considered.”
Members of the grass roots Energy Conservation Council of Pennsylvania were happy with the recommendation.
“We are understandably pleased with the conclusion of the judges, who confirmed that these lines are not needed for reliability — and are not in the best interest of Pennsylvania,” the group said in a statement. “The future of Pennsylvania’s energy independence is dependent on forward-thinking, clear-eyed decisions such as this.”
The judges also were critical of the company’s selected route for the power line from Prexy to the 502 Junction, saying that among the four options considered, the route chosen contains the highest number of residences with 500 feet of the power line and would require the clearing of 448 acres of forest.
The company failed to consider using the Interstates 70 and 79 corridors and has not sought approval from other state agencies, such as the state Department of Environmental Protection.
In response to the numerous health concerns expressed by property owners, the judges discredited a TrAILCo expert who said that electromagnetic field evidence is insufficient to conclude that high-voltage power lines have any long-term health effects by pointing out that he was not an epidemiologist and therefore was unqualified to make such a determination.
They cited findings by the International Agency for Research and Cancer and the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, which have said electromagnetic fields are considered to be possible carcinogens with respect to childhood leukemia.
The judges expressed concern about herbicides that would be used to control vegetation beneath the power lines, and questioned the company’s request to be exempt from local zoning regulations, saying that no detailed plans of the substations or transmission towers were submitted.
They also urged the PUC board not to allow the company the authority to seize private property for the project, as it had requested.
The company and other interested parties have the opportunity to file exceptions to the decision and then replies to those exceptions. Exceptions are due Sept. 10 and replies are due Sept. 22.
Mr. Colafella said the company is “intensely focused” on crafting its response, which will reiterate the need for the project.
“We stand by both projects because we feel they are needed,” he said. “We need new lines. That’s what it really comes down to, whether you want them in your backyard or not.”
Janice Crompton can be reached at jcrompton@post-gazette.com or 724-223-0156.
First published on August 31, 2008 at 12:00 am
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