ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1996 TAG: 9612260038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Opponents of American Electric Power Co.'s proposed 765,000-volt power line will file a motion, possibly as early as today, with the State Corporation Commission, again asking the commission to dismiss AEP's application to build the line.
The suit is in the process of being served, William Bilenky, a Richmond lawyer representing power-line opponents in Giles, Craig and Roanoke counties, said Tuesday.
Both AEP's proposed route and stated need for the line, as well as other significant circumstances, have changed since the company filed an application with the state to build the line five years ago, Bilenky said.
At that time, AEP operated in Virginia and West Virginia as Appalachian Power Co.
On Dec. 2, AEP filed a report with the SCC in which the company said that it would propose a new route for the line early in 1997.
AEP's decision to make changes in its proposed route was prompted by the U.S. Forest Service's preliminary decision in June to forbid the line from crossing the Jefferson National Forest, the Appalachian Trail and a portion of the New River being considered for federal protection. AEP continues to challenge the Forest Service action even as its seeks a new route for the line.
Also in the Dec. 2 report, Bilenky said, AEP's explanation of the need for the line differed from the original application. Rather than needing the line to serve its own power customers, the company is now saying the line is needed to serve "anyone out there," he said.
Additionally, opponents contend that since AEP filed its application, the company has improved its transmission system, repeatedly changed plans for new power plants, and taken on new wholesale contracts to sell power to North Carolina utilities.
Because of the changed circumstances, a new application is needed, Bilenky said.
"What we have is a completely obsolete document," added Cliff Shaffer, a power-line opponent from Giles County. "It only makes sense that they restart the process with up-to-date information."
Charles Simmons, a former AEP engineering vice president and now a consultant to the company on the power line, called the opponents' motion nothing new. He said they had tried similar motions before.
There haven't been any changes in AEP's need for the power line, and that's to serve the company's own customers, Simmons said.
AEP addressed deregulation and developing competition within the power industry in its Dec. 2 report, Simmons said. The opening of power lines to competitors may add to the need for the new line, he said.
Friday, the SCC gave power-line opponents until Feb. 1 to file a response to AEP's Dec. 2 report.
The commission also said it wanted to reassure opponents that when AEP files its proposed new route for the power line and amendments to its application next year, the opponents will be given a chance to review them and respond.
The power line, as originally proposed, would have stretched 115 miles from Wyoming County, W.Va., to Cloverdale, just east of Roanoke.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB