ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Opponents of American Electric Power Co.'s proposed 765,000-volt power line have garnered support for their position that the state's rules for siting power lines need to be reconsidered in light of the changing nature of the U.S. power industry.
The Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville asked the State Corporation Commission this week to be allowed to add its support to a request by power-line opponents that the SCC rethink its rules governing the building of transmission lines.
That the law center considers the AEP case important enough to intervene is encouraging to line opponents, said David Brady of Giles County. The center has been involved in a number of important cases related to energy policy in the South, he said.
Line opponents from Giles, Craig and Roanoke counties asked the SCC on Feb. 3 to hold public hearings on revising the state's guidelines for power-line applications.
On Feb. 12, the SCC agreed to consider the request. The commission said it had some of the same concerns related to changes within the power industry and will continue to consider those issues.
The 1992 federal energy bill encouraged competition on the wholesale level by opening the nation's power grid to competitors. Now, most states and Congress are considering ways to encourage competition on the retail or consumer level.
AEP says a high-voltage line from Wyoming County, W.Va., to Botetourt County is needed to serve its traditional customer base; opponents claim the company wants the line to sell power along the East Coast in competition with other utilities.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit organization with the purpose of protecting Southern natural resources, pointed out that the SCC's own staff found last year that power-industry restructuring is complicating the issue of siting power lines.
The law center observed in its motion that Virginia law requires the SCC to balance the public's need for power lines against their environmental impact. It added that "additional environmental and health impacts must be considered as transmission planning is driven more by the interests of bulk-power exchange than local needs."
"For example," the motion continued, "it will be important for the commission to consider how increased air pollution from upwind power plants caused by the expansion of transmission facilities will impact ecosystems and public health in Virginia, which may not be the destination of the power generated by these facilities."
Line opponent Brady said he had no idea when the commission might respond to the opponents' call for new power-line rules.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB