ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997             TAG: 9701230059
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER

AEP: MOTION 'IRRESPONSIBLE'

Last month, opponents of American Electric Power Co.'s proposed 765,000-volt power line filed a motion asking the State Corporation Commission to dismiss AEP's application to build the line. In a response filed with the SCC Tuesday, the power company characterized the opponents' motion as an "irresponsible tactic designed for publicity purposes" and to delay the power line's construction.

AEP said the passage of time confirms the need for the proposed line, which would run from the company's Wyoming Station near Oceana, W.Va., to its Cloverdale Station near Roanoke.

The company said that last Friday, its Virginia and West Virginia customers set a record for electricity usage in one day. Additionally, at 9 a.m. on Friday, the peak demand was 2 percent below the record peak set last February, the company said.

"We need to rise above the frivolous legal maneuvering that the opponents' motion represents," said Ron Poff, AEP's project manager for the power line.

Opponents had asked the SCC to dismiss AEP's application on the grounds that circumstances had changed since the company filed its application five years ago.

Last June, Bill Damon, supervisor of the Jefferson National Forest, issued a preliminary decision, in conjunction with the release of a draft environmental study by the U.S. Forest Service, banning the power line from crossing the national forest, the Appalachian Trail or a section of the New River in West Virginia being considered for federal protection as a scenic river.

That action forced AEP to begin looking for alternative routes. The company said it plans to file those modified routes as early this year as possible. AEP also continues to challenge Damon's preliminary ruling.

AEP maintains it needs the line to serve its customers as well as to fulfill its obligations to provide power to neighboring utilities such as Virginia Power.

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