Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993 TAG: 9308060018
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Besides, it's "illogical" to be reviewing a proposed line that's dangling, at least for now, at the West Virginia state line, they say.
So the opponents have asked the State Corporation Commission - for the third time - to dismiss Apco's application to build a portion of the 765,000-volt line through Giles, Roanoke and Craig counties.
The opponents say that much of the information in Apco's 1990 application about projected demand for electricity is outdated, and therefore does not support the company's claim that the line is needed. They ask the commission to dismiss the application or delay ruling indefinitely.
Apco charges, and opponents don't deny, that this latest move in the heated, three-year battle over the power line is a stalling tactic.
The proposed line would run 115 miles from Oceana, W.Va., to Cloverdale. The West Virginia Public Service Commission, which would have to approve the segment through that state, has rejected Apco's application and asked for more detailed information about alternate routes.
Apco is putting together the requested information before resubmitting its application to West Virginia.
But for now, opponents say, Virginia is wasting its time and money reviewing a power line that has no end-point.
"Certainly, it's illogical . . . " Jeff Janosko, spokesman for the opponents, said Thursday. There's no assurance where the route would end up in Virginia because West Virginia could approve an alternate route, Janosko said.
Twice before, opponents have filed motions in Virginia saying the commission can't consider the company's application until West Virginia makes a decision.
And twice the commission has overruled them.
The latest motion was filed last week.
Admittedly, there's more strategy behind these motions than arguing the facts, Janosko said.
"As far as we're concerned, a delay is as good as outright killing it," he said.
Opponents in both states - organized as Arcs Inc. - contend Apco is building the line to transmit power to energy-hungry eastern Virginia and the Northeast. If the line is delayed long enough, they believe, demand either will drop or those regions will look for power elsewhere.
Apco maintains that the line is essential to provide power to its customers in Western Virginia and West Virginia, and that without it, the chance of blackouts will increase by the turn of the century.
"It's all delaying tactics," said Apco spokesman Don Johnson. If each state waits for the other to go first, "then we'd have everybody waiting for everybody else" and no action would be taken, he said.
In the July 27 filing, the opponents say:
Projected data on energy demand should be replaced with actual data from the last 2 1/2 years.
Apco used unrealistic figures in projecting the price of competing energy sources, such as natural gas, to augment its argument for the need for the line.
Johnson said Thursday that energy demand in the last couple of years is slightly more than the original projections. Also, information about the patterns of energy use may be several years old, but those patterns don't change much, he said.
"To try to continually update the numbers wouldn't . . . change the fact that the line is needed," Johnson said.
The hearing examiner appointed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission has not ruled on the opponents' motion, said spokesman Ken Schrad. The examiner has given Apco and other interested parties until Aug. 27 to respond.
In the meantime, the commission still plans to hold a public hearing on various environmental aspects of the power line on Sept. 14, Schrad said.
by CNB