Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 25, 1994 TAG: 9401250124
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Cathryn McCue
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The line would tie in with a larger transmission line being proposed by Appalachian Power Co.
But Apco opponents, saying both power lines are boondoggles, vow to continue their four-year battle against the utility.
Hearing examiner Howard Anderson Jr. found that Virginia Power's 500,000-volt line from Lynchburg to Caroline County was necessary to provide reliable power in the future to consumers in that region. He made a similar recommendation on the Apco project in December.
In a news release issued Monday, Anderson said the two lines would be "the most efficient, economical and logical solution to the current regional transmission limitation problems."
The three-member State Corporation Commission has the final say on both projects.
Virginia Power's line would hook up to Apco's 765,000-volt line, which would would run 115 miles through Southwest Virginia and West Virginia. The companies say the lines are needed by 1998 to avoid increased potential for power shortages.
Apco spokesman Don Johnson said that Apco customers will not need the full capacity of the 765,000-volt line - the biggest transmission line made - right away. Instead, Apco plans to sell electricity wholesale to Virginia Power.
But that size line is still necessary as a backup for the company's grid in case a power line goes down, Johnson said. Apco is part of American Electric Power, one of the largest utilities in the country.
Also, 25 percent of the line is reserved by law for independent power producers.
Jeff Janosko, the Roanoke County chairman of Arcs Inc., a nonprofit, two-state opposition group, said some members in Louisa, Goochland and Appomattox counties will continue to fight Virginia Power's project.
The group says that both power lines are economically unsound, environmentally damaging and threatening to human health.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.