Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Sunday, October 19, 2008-- After months of debate, the Greene County Planning Commission is expected to take up a request tomorrow for a controversial high-voltage power line and power station in the southern part of the county.
Approval from the commission, however, is only one step needed for the $1 billion multistate project.
The state Public Utility Commission is considering a request from Allegheny Power to build a 1.2-mile, 500-kilovolt power line from a new substation in Dunkard to the state border with West Virginia. From there, the line would travel about 240 miles through West Virginia and end in Virginia.
In August, West Virginia approved its portion of the line, and Virginia followed suit Oct. 7. Both states, however, have conditioned their consent on approval from Pennsylvania regulators.
And that's far from a sure thing.
In August, two PUC administrative judges said the plan shouldn't be approved and harshly criticized it as a profit-driven attempt to transfer "cheaper coal-fired generation" along an "energy superhighway" to the east.
The five-member commission board has yet to rule on the request, but the Greensburg-based company already has asked that a decision on a companion project -- a 36-mile power line from Greene County to North Strabane in Washington County -- be halted.
Both projects met with stiff resistance from residents and local officials, who expressed concern about safety, property values and health effects from the power lines.
Last week, easements along the 36-mile route that had been purchased by the company in the 1970s were being returned to property owners. Dozens of property owners had previously sued the company, challenging the validity of the right-of-way agreements.
The company also forwarded to the PUC a recent agreement signed with the Greene County commissioners that called for the commissioners to support the Dunkard project, called the 502 Junction, in exchange for return of the easements, abandonment of the 36-mile line and a $750,000 payment to the county's general fund.
The agreement also requires a collaboration of local officials that would be formed to study alternatives to the 36-mile line, perhaps including more high-voltage transmission lines in Washington County. Commissioners in Washington County oppose the agreement and were not part of the discussions.