Eureka Springs alderman James DeVito expressed the feelings of many across the Ozarks this week when he was quoted saying, "I guess Goliaths can be defeated."
DeVito, who also owns DeVito's Restaurant in downtown Eureka, was referring to the surprise decision by the politically powerful Southwest Electric Power Company on Tuesday that it was withdrawing its controversial application to construct a massive 345-kilovolt power line for 50 miles through Benton and Carroll counties.
So in the end, after more than 20 months of regulatory wrangling, intra-state legal disputes and dozens of public rallies and fundraising to resist this Godzilla of a power line (particularly by the activist group Save The Ozarks) this monstrously bad idea finally screamed "Uncle," rolled over and drew its final gasp.
Strikes me, considering the relatively shocking outcome, that so much ill will, dollars and anxiety could have been avoided had the corporation simply listened to the people's arguments and realized early on how unnecessary and untenable the plan truly was.
The official reason given for dropping the proposed line, according to a news account by ace reporter Bill Bowden, was short and sweet. There apparently is lower demand for electricity and a number of larger, long-term reservations for transmission service have been canceled.
"[Southwest Power Pool's] comprehensive re-evaluation showed reliability needs in northern Arkansas have significantly decreased compared to previous studies of area needs," wrote Larry Nickell, an executive of engineering at the regional transmission organization, in a letter to American Electric Power, SWEPCO's parent company.
The way I read it, Nickell in essence was telling the folks at SWEPCO that studies showed only about half the "load growth rate" in the area identified as having the greatest need of the project.
Hmmm, well ... I guess that means the supposed projected growth rate used to justify the need for such a power line stretching from Benton County to near Berryville (which hasn't grown to any degree for decades) has plummeted dramatically since 2006 when the company's needs study was conducted.
Man, oh man, that's truly one powerful and electrifying decline (sorry, couldn't resist).
Oh well, all that matters is these utility folks, to their Reddy Kilowatt-Come-Lately credit, finally chose wisdom and facts over their desire to impose utility will over a significant and intensely vocal portion of the state.
Having been born in these hills, I know the serious resolve and independence of the folks who live here.
They also respond reasonably to logic and facts that prove the truth of a case. But when tearing into their beloved region with a proposed project that destroys part of their Ozark hills and forests makes absolutely no sense and can't be proven as absolutely necessary, then ya better pack a lunch, dinner, breakfast and a cot.
Pat Costner, director of Save The Ozarks, a group that raised scores of thousands of dollars from the pockets of ordinary citizens to fight this line since being proposed in April 2013, called the decision a happy surprise.
"We are, of course, very pleased ... and by the Southwest Power Pool's confirmation that there is no need for the project," said Costner, who proved herself a determined leader.
She told Bowden her group, formed to fight the transmission line, had always said there wasn't sufficient need for it. The power pool relied on two pre-recession studies from 2007 based on 2006 data. She emphasized that there also have been significant advances in wind and solar energy technologies since the plan was conceived.
"Our attorney and I thought we would have to fight this all the way through the Arkansas Court of Appeals," Costner said. "Speaking for myself and for our organization and our community, we are absolutely ecstatic with this outcome. We can all get back to our normal lives."
Doug Stowe, Save the Ozarks' vice president, called the outcome a "victory for ratepayers throughout the region governed by the Southwest Power Pool. If we had not risen up against SWEPCO, the bulldozers would be at work across Northwest Arkansas, and ratepayers would be forced to pay for a 100 million-dollar project that wasn't needed in the first place. This was the loveliest of surprises ... to end the year and go into 2015 with a clean slate. Someone asked if this was a gift from SWEPCO. I told her, 'It was no gift. We earned it.'"
Indeed, the people of Northwest Arkansas who chose to become involved in this crusade on behalf of citizens and the beautiful Ozarks did earn it.
May their resolve and determination stand as an example to all others across Arkansas (and the nation, for that matter) that individual voices raised collectively in a free society can, and do, make huge differences for the better, even against daunting odds.
DeVito described the grit required by Costner to fight city hall, saying she was "a poster child for what can be done."
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mikemasterson10@hotmail.com.
Editorial on 01/03/2015