Our state's Public Service Commission did the right thing the other day by reopening its fact-finding efforts into SWEPCO's deeply controversial plan to stretch an enormous transmission line smack through the heart of the treasured Ozark Mountains.
Good for the commission and its role to protect the citizens of Arkansas from unjustified utility desires. That includes any plan to profoundly intrude into many innocent lives if a utility's supposed need to infringe hasn't been proven by truth rather than flexing political biceps.
In its news release about the state commission's decision, SWEPCO (a subsidiary of American Electric Power) said the commission in January issued orders that authorized SWEPCO to build a 345-kilovolt power line to "reinforce the regional transmission grid." SWEPCO says it was spurred in consultation with the Southwest Power Pool to seek this line that would stretch for more than 50 miles from Shipe Road in Benton County through much of adjacent Carroll County across pristine Ozarks forestlands and private property to its destination along the Kings River near Berryville.
Opponents of the enormous power line that would carve a God-awful, 150-foot wide swath through the rural mountains were pleased with the decision.
"This is what we were looking for," said Pat Costner, director of Save the Ozarks. "We did a solid job. This is a first in Arkansas; no one has ever challenged these lines on basis of need and brought the project to a halt."
I'd only add that I believe truth and the considerable weight that common sense brought to bear on the commission's decision played a large role in each member's decision. If not, they certainly should have.
The commission's final order, which considered evidence presented by both SWEPCO and the opponents, said that from what they've seen, it looks as if "some" transmission development in the area appears valid.
However, they said, the record they've seen thus far has been insufficient to determine the need for the project, "whether that project is consistent with the public convenience and necessity, and whether the project represents an 'acceptable adverse environment impact'."
The commissioners said a rehearing is required for them to consider additional testimony and comprehensive evidence that proves the actual need for this destructive Godzilla of a transmission line. Their resulting order says the commission wants to learn the feasibility of alternative options (such as expansion and upgrading existing lines or creating much smaller 161-kilovolt lines). They want to know about potential comparative costs involved and the likely environmental effects on our beloved Ozarks created by this expansion plan.
Finally the order said SWEPCO should prove it's provided all landowners affected by its actions with a statutory notice of the expansion or efforts to modify its plans.
This latest development also represented some positive news for SWEPCO, since the utility now has abandoned its plan for one of six proposed routes (Route 109 through lower Missouri) for the line initially approved by an administrative law judge. SWEPCO was seeking a rehearing to justify stretching the line along its originally preferred route directly across Benton and Carroll counties.
In SWEPCO's news release, President and COO Venita McCellon-Allen actually sounded sensitive to the needs of the many opponents to her company's ambitions. She said it's important in their quest to expand so dramatically into the mountains that they do so with a sense of balance between the need for "improving electric reliability and respecting people's property and the environment."
Why, that sounds darned near noble. In fact, it carries the tone of a press release penned by a capable public affairs employee. But I'm sure that can't possibly be the case.
McCellon continued: "The commission's decision to review routing of the line offers an opportunity to address areas of concern about location of transmission facilities. Identifying a reasonable route for a transmission line in this region is challenging, given the 1-540/I-49 corridor, Beaver Lake, and numerous communities and special places across the Ozarks.
"We will continue to seek an appropriate balance in the location of any transmission facilities. As we continue with these proceedings, we will keep landowners, public officials and other stakeholders informed about the project."
It's nice that SWEPCO says it will become thoughtful and fuzzily sensitive to the points of view of those who say an unjustified giant power line intruding into a rural area that is hardly growing is unnecessary.
Ms. McCellon-Allen likely realizes there are many Arkansans affected by this proposal who believe her company's plan is clearly part of a larger agenda to connect massive power sources to serve metropolises in other states--at the expense of the pristine Ozarks. Opponents also believe the state's Public Service Commission historically has simply rubber-stamped whatever plans utility companies desired.
Well, perhaps through this proposed project (which for me always has seemed ill-considered and unjustified), our appointed commissioners will make their final decision based on actual facts, then act in the true best interests of Arkansas and its citizens. Or SWEPCO could end all this and simply withdraw its presumptuous proposal altogether.
------------v------------
Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mikemasterson10@hotmail.com. Read his blog at mikemastersonsmessenger.com.
Editorial on 06/13/2014