Power line hearing opens in Little Rock

SWEPCO proposal before judge

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --08/26/2013--
Benton County land owners Cris CQ and Elenor Jones, left, examine a map of a proposed SWEPCO power line route which cuts through their property as Glenn Crenshaw, a distressed property expert from Eureka Springs and Jonathan Wiltsie, a SWEPCO sub-contractor, right, discuss property lines in Carroll County during a hearing about the power line construction project at the Public Service Commission in Little Rock on Monday.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --08/26/2013-- Benton County land owners Cris CQ and Elenor Jones, left, examine a map of a proposed SWEPCO power line route which cuts through their property as Glenn Crenshaw, a distressed property expert from Eureka Springs and Jonathan Wiltsie, a SWEPCO sub-contractor, right, discuss property lines in Carroll County during a hearing about the power line construction project at the Public Service Commission in Little Rock on Monday.

Opponents of a 50-milelong high-voltage transmission line across part of Northwest Arkansas have called the project’s applicant “greedy, idiotic, incompetent, unethical, immoral, rapists, even monkeys,” said David Matthews of Rogers, the attorney representing Southwestern Electric Power Co.

He was referring to comments made during three days of public hearings last month in Eureka Springs and Rogers.

“SWEPCO and its employees and consultants were able to endure those insults because they knew that there would come a time when the company would have the opportunity to present its case in full without fear of being shouted down or assaulted,” said Matthews. “That day has come.”

On Monday, the Arkansas Public Service Commission’s hearing on the proposed 345-kilovolt transmission line began at its office in Little Rock. The hearing is expected to last most of the week, said John Bethel, the commission’s executive director.

But for most of Monday afternoon, SWEPCO’s representatives were grilled by Mick Harrison of Bloomington, Ind., an attorney representing Save the Ozarks, an organization that opposes the power line.

Harrison cross-examined Joseph Paul Hassink for about an hour before Hassink requested a glass of water.

“He may need Quaaludes in addition to water,” said Matthews, referring to a sedative.

The comment caused a burst of laughter from the crowd of about 100. Afterward, Harrison’s cross-examination of Hassink continued for another hour and a half.

Hassink, of Tulsa, is director of west transmission planning for American Electric Power Service Corp., a subsidiary of SWEPCO.

Many of Harrison’s questions concerned specific dates. Hassink repeatedly said he wasn’t good with dates and didn’t remember when particular things happened regarding the planning process for the power line.

Matthews said all of those dates are already in the documents filed with the commission.

Harrison said after the hearing that Hassink’s testimony indicated SWEPCO had decided in 2008 to build the power line before looking at environmental issues.

“The environmental impacts were an afterthought in this process,” Harrison said. “That’s the impression I’m getting from the testimony.”

Hassink told Connie Griffin, an administrative law judge overseeing the hearing, that if SWEPCO doesn’t build the transmission line, the Southwest Power Pool will find somebody else to do it.

The pool is a regional transmission organization under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It is responsible for planning electrical transmission needs for 6 million households in nine states, said Philip Kaplan of Little Rock, the the power pool’s attorney at the hearing.

If the power pool can’t find another company to build the transmission line, it can force SWEPCO to do it, Matthews said after the hearing. SWEPCO is a member of the power pool.

On Monday afternoon, Harrison also cross-examined Ricky Bittle, vice president of planning, rates and dispatching for Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. Electric cooperatives in the state would also be able to use electricity transmitted along the proposed line.

SWEPCO applied on April 3 to build the transmission line, which would be 46 to 59 miles long depending on the route chosen.

Initially, six routes were proposed, but three of those have been dropped from consideration after SWEPCO learned that it would be difficult to get an easement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to put lines over an “undisturbed” part of Beaver Lake. Eminent domain doesn’t apply to federal property.

Three routes are still being considered: 33, 108 and 109. The routes are primarily in Benton and Carroll counties.

From a proposed Kings River substation near Berryville heading west, Route 33 would travel north of Eureka Springs, through Gateway and Garfield, then southwest between Bentonville and Bella Vista. That route would cost about $96.3 million.

Route 108 would go south into Madison and Washington counties before crossing Bethel Heights and along the western edge of Cave Springs. Constructing that route would cost about $117.4 million.

Route 109 would go north of Eureka Springs, then north along the Arkansas-Missouri line before turning south on the west side of Bella Vista. That route would cost $102.8 million.

Six towers would be needed every mile and would average 130 feet to 160 feet tall, according to the company’s proposal. A 150-foot-wide right of way also would be required.

The line is necessary to meet growing electricity needs in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, according to SWEPCO. Other companies would be able to use electricity that is transported by the transmission line.

SWEPCO has said it wants the approval process and design engineering done by December. After right-of-way acquisition, construction is scheduled to begin by March 2015, and the company wants the new line to be in service by June 2016.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 08/27/2013

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