
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 16, 1994                   TAG: 9412160052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCC ASKED FOR POWER-LINE RULING

Appalachian Power Co., hoping to avoid what it calls a "classic chicken-and-egg dilemma," is asking state regulators to make a decision on its proposed high-voltage transmission line.

In a motion filed this week, Apco again asked the State Corporation Commission to rule first on the need for the 765,000-volt line, and decide the route later. Barring that, Apco asked the commission to rule yea or nay on the entire proposal, according to the motion.

The SCC already has said it won't separate the need for the proposed line from its location, which takes into account potential health, safety and environmental impacts.

And it is under no deadline to make a final order on the project, filed three years ago. Another application from Apco to build a similar line in the 1970s "languished here for five years," SCC spokesman Ken Schrad said.

The SCC has until Dec. 27 to decide if it will consider Apco's motion, he said.

Apco's six-page motion Wednesday said the commission made two erroneous assumptions in its decision not to separate need from location.

One, the SCC said the U.S. Forest Service would finalize its environmental impact statement on the power line in February. However, the Forest Service still is working on the draft, not the final version, and recently acknowledged it is behind schedule.

Here's where the "chicken-and-egg dilemma" arises, Apco said in its motion. The SCC apparently wants to wait until the final environmental impact statement comes out before approving or rejecting the project. Yet, the Forest Service has said it won't issue the final version until the state rules on the need.

And two, the SCC found it unnecessary to rule on the need before the report came out because the Forest Service might recommend a different route in Virginia or West Virginia, or both. Apco would "presumably take into account the findings" and possibly alter its route, which would trigger additional hearings in Virginia.

But Apco said it will stick to its preferred route - a 115-mile route from Wyoming, W.Va., to Cloverdale - in its application to the West Virginia Public Service Authority.

Further, Apco said it never intended to wait for the draft before filing in West Virginia. That state has a 400-day deadline to rule on the application, and has told Apco it wants the draft environmental statement available during that time to include in its review.

Apco plans to submit its West Virginia application before the draft, but is waiting to "determine a reliable date" for the issuance of the document.

Power line opponents in Virginia have maintained that separating the need from the route is contrary to state law, and filed an objection to Apco's first request to the SCC.

Schrad said either side can appeal SCC decisions to the Virginia Supreme Court.

by CNB