TESTIMONY OF

REPRESENTATIVE BILL DeWEESE

PA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION

PUBLIC INPUT HEARING

IN RE APPLICATION OF TrAIL COMPANY

Docket Nos. A-110172; A-110172F0002; A-110172F0003;

A-110172F0004; and G-00071229

 

 

September 5, 2007

 

 

Good Afternoon…

 

          My name is Bill DeWeese.  I am the Majority Leader of the PA

House of Representatives and the State Legislator for the 50th Legislative District, which encompasses all of Greene County and parts of Washington and Fayette Counties.  I extend my thanks and appreciation to the Public Utility Commission (Commission) for scheduling public input hearings in my legislative district.  I thank Sonny Popowsky for the activities initiated by the Office of Consumer Advocate to educate my constituents on the consumer-matters specific to the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Transmission Line (TrAIL) project.    

These public input hearings provide the platform for me, as the state legislator for the 50th Legislative District and an electric ratepayer in Greene County, to publicly voice my opinion of the proposed TrAIL project.  More importantly, the hearings give all citizens of Greene County the opportunity to publicly state their opinions of the proposed TrAIL project.   Accordingly, I extend my thanks to my constituents who took it upon themselves to organize, form petition drives, host and attend meetings, and educate their friends and neighbors about the issues in this proceeding.  I thank you all for your love of and service to Greene County.

          My opinion of the TrAIL Company’s proposed transmission line, which I believe is the backbone of its TrAIL project, is well known.  Again, I will submit that the TrAIL Company’s proposal to string an over 50 mile high voltage transmission line from Greene to Washington County and from Greene County to facilities in West Virginia is not in the public interest of nor will it provide a public benefit for the electric ratepayers of Greene County.   Let me reiterate, I oppose any transmission line project that purports to be in the public interest of my constituents in Greene County when that project as proposed is not intended to improve reliability or provide a public benefit for the energy consumers of Greene County. 

Additional reasons for my opposition are as follows:  

                   1.  The proliferation of high voltage transmission lines as solutions to enhance reliability is a shortsighted 20th Century approach that overlooks contemporary alternatives to conventional transmission expansion.  

                   2.  Allegheny Power and the PJM Interconnection have submitted applications to the United States Department of Energy for early designation of massive geographic areas in the Mid-Atlantic region as National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.  However, both applications are more concerned with the construction of a 500 kV transmission line and related facilities to enhance reliability of electric service in the Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC urban centers.  It may be the case that the transmission line and related facilities at issue in these proceedings are not intended to improve electric reliability in Washington or Greene Counties but are needed to transport excess generation capacity from Southwestern Pennsylvania to enhance reliability in eastern urban centers.

          3.    The TrAIL Company’s application favors construction of high voltage transmission lines to meet demand over investing in non-transmission alternatives.  Such non-transmission alternatives, including demand response and advanced metering, could be used to enhance reliability in Southwestern Pennsylvania and thereby, offset the need for new transmission lines.  For instance, in its report, Assessment of Demand Response & Advance Metering, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asserted: 

          “To a degree, generation, transmission, and demand response are           substitutes, depending on the location of generation or demand     response… As a substitute for transmission and distribution          infrastructure, demand response can reduce the need for new   transmission or distribution expansion to bring generation to a      local area… At minimum, demand response can provide relief for      an overloaded transmission system.” 

Demand response can be loosely defined as innovative activities or programs designed to change the way consumers use energy over time or during periods of peak demand.  The activities or programs involved in demand response are incentive-based demand response or time-based rates.  Some energy experts maintain that the development of demand response programs, coupled with advanced metering technology that allow customers to automatically respond to price and control signals during periods of peak demand, have the potential of enabling the electric industry to meet forecasted load  growth and obviate the need for new transmission facilities.           
          4.  The TrAIL application favors the long-distance transport of energy rather than encouraging the generation of energy closer to localities where the demand is needed.  There is sufficient generation capacity in Washington County.  That fact would lead one to conclude that the existence of such excess generation provides the unique opportunity for Allegheny Power to incorporate demand response resources and advanced metering technologies as permanent solutions to address alleged reliability concerns in Washington County.  

          5. Although the TrAIL Company’s application seeks to locate and construct a 500 kV transmission line, there is concern that the proposed line will be converted to an operating voltage of 765 kV.   Considering the adverse health effects alleged to be associated with exposure to high voltage transmission lines, the people in the path of the proposed line should know the extent of the proposed project; i.e., whether the line will operate at 765 kV, whether the 200-foot wide right-of-way is of sufficient size to accommodate a voltage upgrade to 765 kV, and whether the TrAIL Company will have to secure additional rights-of-way and approvals to install any voltage upgrades outside of this proceeding.  

          6. With the enactment of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act of 2004 (P.L.1672 No.213) the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and some electric distribution companies have developed programs and activities to encourage demand response, conservation, energy efficiency, and advanced metering to promote energy independence and increase reliability of electric service.  Currently, HB1201 includes provisions that would authorize the development of micro-grids.  Scientists at the Berkeley Lab have been working since 1999 to develop micro-grid technology that could be used to augment electric transmission infrastructure.  According to these scientists, micro-grid systems could buttress the growing demand for energy without compromising or overburdening the transmission infrastructure.  More importantly, micro-grid technology will ensure reliability of electric service and could eliminate the need for new transmission lines.     

          There are other components of the TrAIL Company’s application that should be examined fully before a decision is reached in this proceeding.  For instance, (1) The Commission should examine the TrAIL Company’s request for flexibility in drawing the parameters of the route of the proposed transmission line.  My constituents who could be directly and adversely impacted should know with a high degree of specificity, the exact route of the proposed transmission line; and (2) The Commission should determine whether the agreements between the TrAIL Company and its affiliates are subject to or exempt from the requirements of 66 Pa.C.S. Chap. 21 § 2101 et seq., which governs relations with affiliate interest.  The TrAIL Company’s claims of exemption based on the assertion that it was not a public utility in the Commonwealth when the agreements were entered and that it is exempt under § 2107 should be examined fully by the Commission.  A review of § 2107 reveals that the exemption applies to “rates and related terms and conditions (of rates) for the interstate transmission of electricity… which have been submitted to and approved by a Federal regulatory agency.  It may be the case that the exemption does not extend to agreements between affiliated interests.  Consequently, I submit that it is in the public interest for the Commission to examine fully all such agreement to ensure conformance with Commission regulations and practices and any other applicable law, regulation or guideline of the Commonwealth.

          There is no doubt that the location and construction of a high voltage transmission line in Greene County would have significant negative outcomes for people who live in or near the path of the proposed project.  The electric ratepayers in Greene County face the possibility of higher electric bills for a transmission project that is not intended to enhance reliability of their electric service; they also endure the fear of uprooting their families and losing the homes that many worked and sacrificed so long and hard to buy.  They live with the fear and apprehension that their homes, children’s schools, farms, businesses, workplaces, and favorite recreational areas could be situated in the path of a high voltage transmission line.  They live with the fear that exposure to the electric and magnetic fields that radiate from high voltage transmission lines may have adverse health outcomes for their children.  These fears juxtaposed with the likelihood that my constituents may face higher electric bills but receive no economic or quality-of-life benefit from the TrAIL Company’s transmission line project makes the rational for approving the project difficult to understand.  Especially since investments in 21st Century technologies would eliminate the proliferation of new transmission lines to support our nations antiquated transmission grid.  I submit that the lives of my constituents should not be disrupted in favor of the TrAIL project.       I thank you for your consideration of my comments and your willingness to consider the devastating consequences that the TrAIL project would have on the lives of my constituents and Greene County.