West Virginia Citizens Against PATH

From StopPATHWV
Instructions and details

On Monday, PATH filed a “Status Update” with FERC, telling (not asking!) FERC
that they are “suspending” their project indefinitely while PJM “conducts more
analysis of the PATH project” and “evaluates its planning methods.” In other
words, PJM is intending to alter their processes to again create a need for
PATH, which had disappeared under their current planning process. When that
happens, PATH will be back!

Meanwhile, PATH will be undertaking “activities necessary to maintain the
project in its current state” during the suspension, and guess who gets to pay
for these “activities” during the suspension? We do! Looks like they intend to
continue to waste your money on imprudent expenditures, like front groups, for
an indefinite period of time through their FERC Formula Rate, “which will
continue to apply during the suspension,” just like nothing has happened. So,
PATH intends to continue to charge ratepayers for all project expenses and that
huge 14.3% return every year while their failed project sits on a shelf at PJM
indefinitely.

How long is this suspension supposed to last? That’s really not clear, but
“FirstEnergy spokesman Doug Colafella said it looks like completion of the
project has been delayed until at least 2020, based on PJM’s latest forecasts.”

When FERC granted PATH’s incentives back in 2008, one of the incentives
granted was the ability to recover costs for a project that is abandoned through
no fault of their own, subject to a Section 205 filing with FERC. FERC granted
that incentive for a reason that has now become reality — the PATH project has
failed! However, PJM and PATH were very careful with their word choice in their
press release on Feb. 28th to avoid that “A” word. PATH’s update continues,
“Importantly, the PJM Board has not directed the sponsoring transmission owners
to cancel or abandon the PATH project…” PATH’s “suspension” is an option PATH
is creating. Either they have a project and they proceed, or they don’t have a
project and they abandon it. Instead, they are making up a third option and
hoping FERC will go along with it. FERC has an important decision to make.
Please take a moment to let FERC know what you, the ones financing this project,
think they should do.

We have made it very easy for you to submit your comments either via U.S. Mail
or electronically. Please go to this website for a more in depth explanation
and instructions: http://www.stoppathwv.com/1/post/2011/03/who-wants-to-help-nail-the-coffin-shut.html

PATH hates it when the citizens jump into their playpen at FERC and tell the
truth. PATH would prefer that FERC hear only their version of events. Please
take this important step to end the PATH project on a federal level so it can
never come back!

Talking points for your letter:>
>1. PATH wants to continue to spend an undefined and unlimited amount of funds
recovered from ratepayers and collect their 14.3% return for an indefinite
period of time.
>
> 2. PJM has said their project is not needed. FirstEnergy says their project
may be needed in 2020 or later.
>
> 3. PATH should be properly abandoned at FERC now. To “suspend” the project
and continue to charge ratepayers to maintain it in its current state is unjust
and unreasonable.
>
> 4. The conditions under which PATH received their incentives from FERC have
changed significantly.
>
> 5. Allowing PATH to proceed this way sets a dangerous precedent whereby
utilities will apply for all sorts of projects that they never intend to
complete, but hold in “suspension” indefinitely in order to collect a generous
return from ratepayers.
> > This may be your only opportunity to have a say in PATH’s final status.
Please add your voice!
>
> I know we’ve asked a lot from you over the past couple of years, but if we can
get FERC to shut PATH down for good, it can never rear its ugly head again!
Thanks, everyone!
>
> Please forward this request to send comments to FERC far and wide. Ratepayers
in the following states have been and will continue to pay for PATH under FERC’s
“postage stamp” rates: West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, North
Carolina and the District of Columbia!

From Gazette.net

Residents in southern Frederick County can breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that a high-power electric line will not bisect their neighborhoods and streets in the near future.

The two companies behind the proposed Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline, known as PATH, a 275-mile line that was to run from West Virginia to southern Frederick County, shelved the plans Monday.

FirstEnergy (which merged with Allegheny Power last week) and American Electric Power, both of Ohio, withdrew their applications for the project from Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, the states that had to approve the project.

They pulled the application after PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator that coordinates power transmission in 13 states and Washington, D.C., said it needed to re-analyze future needs for electricity given the sluggish economy, decreased demand, and the growing calls and policies for renewable energy.

It seems the future need for power may not be as high as PJM predicted just four years ago, when it said demand would make the power grid unreliable by 2016 if PATH was not built.

It now wants to take a second look to predict what the need could be based on the state of the world today, a position The Gazette took on these pages in January 2010.

Today’s economic picture is vastly different from 2007, and the demand for renewable, green energy policies has only grown.

PJM’s analysis is expected to take two years, and could well point to a scaled-back need for PATH or no need at all.

The pause has echoes of a similar project that Allegheny Power proposed several years ago, the so-called “Urbana loop” that was to be built in the two miles between the Villages of Urbana and Lynn Street, just south of Sugarloaf Estates.

In 2004, Allegheny said the loop was needed to meet the expected growing demand, but demand eased with the recession and the company later scaled down plans to upgrade existing lines and substations.

The lesson from both of those projects is that officials should eye projections with a degree of skepticism because the future is impossible to predict.

Read the article in Gazette.net

Read the entire order here

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
OF WEST VIRGINIA
CHARLESTON
At a session of the PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA in the
City of Charleston on the 1 st day of March 20 1 1.
CASE NO. 09-0770-E-CN
PATH WEST VIRGINIA TRANSMISSION COMPANY, LLC;
PATH ALLEGHENY TRANSMISSION COMPANY, LLC;
PATH-WV LAND ACQUISITION COMPANY; AND
PATH-ALLEGHENY LAND ACQUISITION COMPANY
Joint application for Certificate of Convenience and Necessity for the
construction and operation of the West Virginia segments of a 765kV
electric transmission line and related facilities in Putnam, Kanawha,
Roane, Calhoun, Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston,
Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, and Jefferson Counties, including
modifications to the Amos Substation in Putnam County and a new
substation in Hardy County, and for related relief.

COMMISSION ORDER
This Order (i) defers ruling on motions for protective treatment and (ii) grants the
motion to withdraw filed by the Joint Applicants.

BACKGROUND
On May 15,2009, the PATH West Virginia Transmission Company, LLC (PATHWV),
the PATH Allegheny Transmission Company, LLC (PATH-Allegheny), the PATHWV
Land Acquisition Company, and the PATH-Allegheny Land Acquisition Company (all
four, collectively, Joint Applicants) filed a joint application for certificates of public
convenience and necessity and for related relief (Joint Application) pursuant to W.Va. Code
$524-2- 1 1 and 24-2- 1 1 a. The PATH Project is approximately 225 miles of 765 kV electric
transmission line and related facilities in the fourteen counties of Putnam, Kanawha, Roane,
Calhoun, Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, and
Jefferson. The Applicants also seek as part of the PATH Project a certificate of public
convenience and necessity to (i) jointly construct, own, operate, and maintain the new Welton
Spring Substation to be constructed two miles north of Old Fields in Hardy County, and
(ii) construct, own, operate, and maintain certain modifications to the Amos Substation
owned by Appalachian Power Company and Ohio Power Company.

Read the entire order here

From WV Public Broadcasting
PATH power line project suspended
By Emily Corio

February 28, 2011
A group that manages the electrical grid for a 13-state region says construction of a power line from West Virginia to Maryland should be suspended until further notice.

PJM Interconnection says a still sluggish economy means less of a demand for energy, and that also means the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline Project (PATH) won’t be needed by 2015, as the group had originally thought.

The 275-mile-long high voltage power line would have started at the John Amos plant in Putnam County, WV, and ended at a substation near Kemptown, MD. It faced opposition from land owners along the way.

American Electric Power’s spokeswoman Jeri Matheney says in 2007 PJM directed AEP and Allegheny Energy to build the line.
“Since then, though, their studies are showing a weakening need for the project, basically that the need has moved well into the future,” said Matheney.

AEP and First Energy are now asking regulatory bodies in WV, VA and MD to withdraw their requests to build the power line.

PJM is also reviewing how it determines when and where new power lines and transmission upgrades are needed.

“We need to look at things like renewable energy and how that fits into our particular process,” said Williamson. “So we’re really going to scrub our existing process and quite possibly might make changes.”

Read the article on the WV Public Broadcasting site.

Read PSC CASE NO. 09-0770-E-CN

MOTION TO WITHDRAW APPLICATION
PATH West Virginia Transmission Company, LLC; PATH Allegheny
Transmission Company, LLC; PATH-WV Land Acquisition Company; and PATH-Allegheny
Land Acquisition Company (the “Applicants”) by counsel, respectfully move to withdraw their
Application without prejudice and to remove this proceeding from the Commission’s docket of
active cases.

In their December 20, 2010 filing with the Commission, Applicants advised that
PJM’s 201 1 Load Forecast Report included load projections different from those previously
incorporated in PJM’s RTEP analyses. Because these differences, together with other factors,
were expected to have an appreciable effect on the in-service date for the PATH Project,
Applicants sought to toll the statutory decision due date and extend the procedural schedule to
allow PJM to conduct a revised analysis in early 201 1. The Commission granted this relief in its
January 7,201 1 order.

PJM has now advised Applicants that using the updated load forecast and current
transmission topology, the projected appearance of violations of NERC Reliability Standards that
the PATH Project was designed to resolve has advanced into the future. Consequently, the PJM
Board of Managers has taken official action to hold the PATH Project in abeyance as an RTEP
baseline project. PJM’s announcement is attached.

Read the entire PSC CASE NO. 09-0770-E-CN

Read the release online

News Release from PJM
PJM BOARD DIRECTS DELAY
IN PATH TRANSMISSION LINE(Valley Forge, Pa. – Feb. 28, 2011) –

The outlook for a slower economic recovery has led the Board of
PJM Interconnection to direct transmission owners to suspend efforts on the Potomac‐Appalachian
Transmission Highline (PATH).

PJM annually reviews its transmission expansion plans. A preliminary analysis suggests that the
need for the line has moved further into the future. Therefore, the PJM Board has decided to hold
the PATH project in abeyance in the 2011 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan (RTEP). The
preliminary analysis used the most current economic forecasts, demand response commitments and
potential new generation.

PJM will continue its analysis. The PJM Board will review the comprehensive analysis as part of its
consideration of the 2011 RTEP.

Over the last two years, the recession and the dramatic change in the economic outlook caused
PJM to forecast lower growth in the use of electricity. Growth in the use of electricity correlates
with economic growth. The forecasted slower growth rate likely will delay the need for the line.
The PJM Board’s action affects only PATH, which would connect the Amos Substation in West
Virginia to the proposed Kemptown Substation in Maryland.

PJM Interconnection, founded in 1927, ensures the reliability of the high‐voltage electric power system serving
54 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM
coordinates and directs the operation of the region’s transmission grid, which includes 6,038 substations and
56,500 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional
transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion. Visit PJM at
www.pjm.com.
###

Read the release online

From StopPATH:

Dominion Virginia Power has proposed a viable alternative to PATH! Known as
Alternative One, this plan simply rebuilds existing high voltage transmission
lines in West Virginia to increase capacity. No new land needs to be taken, the
cost is 1/3 less, and it satisfies supposed reliability and power transfer
problems. Upgrading existing infrastructure that is nearing the end of its
useful life instead of building new makes sense! To read more about Dominion’s
plan, visit the Coalition for Reliable Power’s website at www.forreliablepower.org

Consistent with this new alternative that satisfies all positions, and provides
benefit to West Virginians, West Virginia House Concurrent Resolution 58 was
introduced in the legislature on Wednesday. We are asking for your help in
encouraging legislators to vote yes on this very important Resolution. Please
call or email our Delegates and ask for their support! You may view a copy of
the Resolution at this link: http://www.stoppathwv.com/documents/houseresolution.pdf
If you are not a West Virginia citizen, we apologize for this message, but urge
you to begin a similar effort in your own state.

Here’s a list of Delegate email addresses that you can simply copy & paste into
the “BCC” field of a new email. We recommend that you put yourself in the “To”
field and the list in the “BCC” field, which will create a message that appears
to be sent only to the recipient, instead of the look of a mass e-mailing effort
to many legislators. The “personal touch” gets a much more personal response!

Speaker.Thompson@frontier.com, bill.anderson@wvhouse.gov, troy.andes@wvhouse.gov,
tim.armstead@wvhouse.gov, bob.ashley@wvhouse.gov, tom.azinger@wvhouse.gov,
anthony.barill@wvhouse.gov, larry.barker@wvhouse.gov,
brent.boggs@wvhouse.gov, larry.border@wvhouse.gov, greg.butcher@wvhouse.gov,
tcampbell@grcs.com, denise.campbell@wvhouse.gov, sam.cann@wvhouse.gov,
ray.canterbury@wvhouse.gov, mike.caputo@wvhouse.gov,
mitch.carmichael@wvhouse.gov, daryl.cowles@wvhouse.gov, kevin.craig@wvhouse.gov,
gerald.crosier@wvhouse.gov, walter.duke@wvhouse.gov, john.ellem@wvhouse.gov,
joe.ellington@wvhouse.gov, tim.ennis@wvhouse.gov,
allen.evans@wvhouse.gov, ryan.ferns@wvhouse.gov, mike.ferro@wvhouse.gov,
ron.fragale@wvhouse.gov, john.frazier@wvhouse.gov, marty.gearheart@wvhouse.gov,
roy.givens@wvhouse.gov, daniel.hall@wvhouse.gov,
bill.hartman@wvhouse.gov, eric.householder@wvhouse.gov, gary.howell@wvhouse.gov,
mhunt@markahunt.com, richard.iaquinta@wvhouse.gov, woody.ireland@wvhouse.gov,
ronnie.jones@wvhouse.gov, stevekominar@aol.com,
larry.kump@wvhouse.gov, patrick.lane@wvhouse.gov, tmanchin@manchin-aloi.com,
charlene.marshall@wvhouse.gov, dale.martin@wvhouse.gov, Harold@hardynet.com,
tim.miley@wvhouse.gov, carol.miller@wvhouse.gov,
jonathan@delegatejmiller.com,
jim.morgan@wvhouse.gov, nelson@wvhouse.gov, john.oneal@wvhouse.gov,
john@overington.com, amanda.pasdon@wvhouse.gov, brady.paxton@wvhouse.gov,
don.perdue@wvhouse.gov,
d.perry@wvhouse.gov, dave.pethtel@wvhouse.gov, linda.phillips@wvhouse.gov,
rupert.phillips@wvhouse.gov, john.pino@wvhouse.gov, dan.poling@wvhouse.gov,
delegatedoug@yahoo.com, ralph.rodighiero@wvhouse.gov,
roger.romine@wvhouse.gov, ruth.rowan@wvhouse.gov, brian.savilla@wvhouse.gov,
harold.sigler@wvhouse.gov, doug.skaff@wvhouse.gov, rick.snuffer@wvhouse.gov,
kelli.sobonya@wvhouse.gov, DelegateStephens@comcast.net,
erikka.storch@wvhouse.gov, josh.stowers@wvhouse.gov, linda.sumner@wvhouse.gov,
rswartzmiller@hotmail.com, scott.varner@wvhouse.gov, ron.walters@wvhouse.gov,
hkwhite@wvhouse.gov, larry.williams@wvhouse.gov

Below is suggested text for your email (or talking points for a phone call). We
encourage you to edit/add to the text to create your own personal message, but
wanted to give you all a starting point. If you prefer to make telephone calls
and need a list of phone numbers, please let me know. I don’t want to make this
email even longer by including another huge list for everyone who may not need
it!

Thank you all for your fabulous support of our efforts to stop PATH from
destroying our homes and communities! We accomplished much success with the WV
legislature last year with the passing of SB 614, we can do it again this year
with your help!

Suggested email text:

In the next day or so House Concurrent Resolution 58 will come to the floor for
a vote, and I strongly urge you to vote yes on this important resolution.

I appreciate your efforts to support this common sense solution to the ongoing
problem PATH has become for West Virginians.

By Alex Bridges — abridges@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER — The State Corporation Commission plans to hold a public hearing later this week on the proposed PATH high-voltage power line.

The $2.1 billion Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline project calls for a 765-volt power line to span 275 miles from a substation near St. Albans, W.Va., through Virginia and ending at a facility in Frederick County, Md. Approximately 20 miles of the power line would go through southern Frederick County, Va. The route as proposed takes the line through Clarke and Loudoun counties as well.

The SCC will hold the public hearing at John Handley High School on Wednesday at 2 and 7 p.m., according to the agency. A formal hearing on the proposed project will be held in April in Richmond.

The SCC holds the hearings similar to proceedings in court wherein an examiner hears testimony from interested parties. A reporter records the minutes and the session becomes part of the record that SCC officials consider when making a ruling.

Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power representatives have stated future power needs in the Northeast call for the creation of PATH to supply that region with electricity.
Opponents have argued such a large-scale power line would harm property values and natural and historic resources along its route. Also, the data as provided by the utilities to the SCC do not support the backers’ argument the need for the power line exists, opponents have said.

Senior Hearing Examiner Alexander F. Skirpan earlier this month ruled against a request by the project’s backers to postpone scheduled hearings on the proposal. The utilities sought extra time to provide regulators with updated information on electricity use.

Skirpan kept the schedule intact out of fear any delay may cause the SCC to lose jurisdiction over the case to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Similar filings regarding the PATH project in West Virginia and Maryland are currently under consideration.

This marks the second time the utilities have sought approval for PATH. The SCC denied a request to delay the proceedings in the first application in 2009. The utilities eventually withdrew the first application.

Read in NVdaily.com

Going back a few years, do you remember the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, aka, the NIETCs? These corridors made it possible for utilities to use federal eminent domain (or threaten to use it) for the siting of transmission lines. Well, we just found out that we won our 9th Circuit case against the Department of Energy designations –and as of today, they’re gone!

The 9th Circuit Court eliminates the corridor designations, ruling that DOE failed to conduct an environmental review as required by the National Environmental Policy Act and failed to consult with affected states. Here’s a quote from the opinion:

“We determine that DOE failed to properly consult with the affected States in conducting the Congestion Study and failed to undertake any environmental study for its NIETC Designation as required by the National Environmental Protection Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4332(C). We also determine that these failings were not harmless errors. Accordingly, we vacate the Congestion Study and NIETC designation and remand the cases to the DOE for further proceedings.”

While this doesn’t change things for those who are being impacted by the 500-kV TrAIL line, going forward, it takes away a major power company advantage, and could have a big impact on future transmission line proposals, including the 765-kV PATH line proposal currently under review.

We’re just digesting the court decision now, but wanted to send it around right away:
View the 9th Circuit Decision

Very best,

Bri West
Piedmont Environmental Council
bwest@pecva.org
540-347-2334

Read the announcement online

From the Charleston Gazette

State foes claim utilities’ PATH charges improper
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Opponents of a proposed $2.1 billion multistate power line have accused Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power of improperly charging customers millions of dollars to push the idea.

Shepherdstown resident Keryn Newman and Chloe resident Alison Haverty made the charge in a complaint to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. They claim customers in 13 states and the District of Columbia were improperly charged $3 million for advertising and propaganda campaigns.

Pennsylvania-based Allegheny and Ohio-based AEP are seeking regulatory approval for the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline between West Virginia and Maryland. The power line will run through Northern Virginia.

Spokesman Mark Nitowski told The Journal of Martinsburg that Allegheny is reviewing the complaint. AEP plans to respond to the FERC complaint, spokeswoman Jeri Matheney said.

Newman, a member of a group opposing the power line, told the newspaper she and Haverty started looking at PATH’s finances to figure out where customers’ money is going.

“Consumers are paying for it,” Newman said. “I don’t see how it benefits the consumers. We started digging into it because we wanted to know how our money was being spent.”

Newman and Haverty told FERC that 2009 PATH costs “revealed a pattern of misleading marketing efforts using funds inappropriately charged to ratepayers and a range of accounting errors.”

Newman said the costs are spread among customers in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina and the District of Columbia.

Read the article in the Charleston Gazette