Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: SATURDAY, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409270029 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The exact route for the 765,000-volt transmission line can be decided later, the staff said, agreeing with Apco that the commission can consider the need first.
Opponents, filing their own motion Friday, said state law bars the commission from separating the two issues.
And so the 4-year-old battle continues.
The SCC wrapped up its public hearings about two years ago and received a recommendation from its hearing examiner in December to approve the line. The three-member commission has no deadline for a decision.
Apco executives, maintaining that the chance of brownouts and blackouts increases if the 115-mile line from West Virginia to Cloverdale isn't built soon, have been getting increasingly anxious about delays in their plans. This month, the utility asked the commission to consider the line's need and route separately. Opponents say that Apco is fabricating the need in order to sell power to other utilities at a profit.
The SCC staff, according to its memo Friday, saw no problem with the commission's making a tentative finding on the need - as long as it could be reconsidered later.
However, William Bilenky, a Richmond lawyer representing Virginians opposed to the project, said the General Assembly changed the law in 1985 to require the SCC to consider need and location together.
The need for the line must be balanced against its health and safety effects on citizens in the affected corridor, Bilenky said.
The SCC has no deadline to decide whether it will separate the issues, spokesman Ken Schrad said. The commission has not received any similiar requests on other proposals since 1985, he said.
by CNB