Capon Valley Coalition

From the Sept. 2 edition of the Charleston Gazette:

By Kellen Henry

Allegheny Power requested an 18 percent rate increase on Friday, which would be the largest electricity rate increase in the state’s history if approved, according to the state Public Service Commission. (Emphasis added)

“We’re still in shock because the increase is so large, but the cost of coal has gone up dramatically in the past year,” said Byron Harris of the PSC’s consumer advocate division.

The company wants to increase residential rates by 18 percent and some commercial and industrial rates by 20 percent, Harris said. The power company, part of Allegheny Energy Inc., serves about 490,000 customers in West Virginia, many in the state’s north-central region.

The consumer advocate division had not completed its review of the power company’s proposal on Friday, but said the major culprit is rising fuel costs.

With an 18 percent increase, customers who use an average of 1,000 kilowatts of power would go from paying about $70.50 to more than $83. (Emphasis added)

The proposed hike seeks to raise about $173 million to cover expenses, beating out the 17 percent request made in March by Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power to raise $156 million. (Emphasis added)

The PSC approved an 11.35 percent increase for those companies, which began affecting Charleston customers in July. The commission will review Allegheny Power’s increase proposal and decide whether to approve the rate increase in full or in part before Jan. 1.

“I certainly hope that this full amount also does not go into effect,” Harris said.

The last rate shift the PSC approved for Allegheny Energy was a rate decrease in May of 2007, saving consumers about $1 on their monthly bills. (Emphasis added)

With this possible rate increase on the heels of water and natural gas price hikes, consumer advocates encourage people to replace inefficient appliances try to cut down energy consumption.

Your Sept. 2 editorial “Across State Lines” is an inaccurate and incomplete analysis, with a questionable conclusion, of the recommendation of Pennsylvania administrative law judges to the state Public Utility Commission that the TrAIL power line not be approved.

You might as well have printed the press releases of Dominion and Allegheny Power, the companies which will reap huge profits from its construction. The judges concluded that “the proposed project is a grandiose answer to a minor or even non-existent problem”, that “the costs and adverse impacts” of the line “clearly outweigh the benefits”, and that “non transmission solutions” were not studied by TrAILCO. Of course they weren’t, since there are no profits for them in alternative solutions.

The power line, which as you stated does not serve West Virginia, was approved by the state Public Service Commission, after more than a year-long period of state-wide hearings and public comment. Thousands of citizens and many organizations protested by letters, petitions and public testimony, overwhelmingly opposing TrAIL.

The PSC staff concluded that Allegheny Power had failed to prove the stated need for the power line. This recommendation was then reversed, and approved by the Commission, not because Allegheny Power did prove their case, but because they contributed several million dollars to state programs, and promised to reduce rates to users affected by the line.

On Aug. 29 Allegheny Power requested from the PSC a $173 million rate increase. The Chairman of the Commission is a former partner in the law firm which represents Allegheny Power in this case, and was appointed last year by Governor Joe Manchin.

Another even larger and more destructive line, the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), was applied for by Allegheny Power a few days before approval of the TrAIL line. Business as usual in West Virginia, with regard to the interests of the coal and power industries.

You failed to mention that people are having their property taken against their will, that property values and the environment are being destroyed, that Congressman Joe Wolf and many other officials, in Virginia and other affected states, vigorously oppose the line, and that there is ample evidence refuting its stated need.

The National Energy Policy Act, which allows the Federal government to overrule states opposing power lines, was written by the Bush Administration with the help of the Energy industry, and is the target of many congressional efforts to revise it.

It is surprising and disappointing to see the Washington Post taking the position stated in your editorial. I suggest a thorough study on your part of the many issues involved, and of the opinions and evidence of opponents of more reckless power line construction.

WILLIAM GOLEMON
Capon Valley Coalition
Yellow Spring, WV