FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Majority Leader Bill DeWeese D-Greene/Fayette/Washington www.pahouse.com/deweese

DeWeese lauds recommendation to deny power line

HARRISBURG, Aug. 22 – House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese praised an administrative law judges’ Thursday recommendation that the Public Utility Commission stop the high voltage TrAIL power line from invading the countryside of Greene and Washington counties, saying that it was "a critical step" in the process.

DeWeese has been aggressive in his opposition to the project since it was first announced, testifying before federal and state panels, as well as strongly advocating his position to U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, the chairman of the PUC, Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey Jr. and Congressman John Murtha.

"I have stood with concerned residents and elected officials at the local, state and federal level in opposing Allegheny Energy’s planned high voltage power line through the 50^th District. The administrative law judges’ recommendation to deny the applications is a critical step, and it’s encouraging to see that they agree with what we’ve been saying all along – that this project has no benefit to residents of Greene and Washington counties," said DeWeese, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington. "I’m convinced that vocal opposition by the Stop the Towers organization and others played a large part in Thursday’s decision."

Some of the actions taken by DeWeese in his opposition to the project include:

• March 2008 -- DeWeese meets with Specter to strategize about the power line issue while the senator was visiting Harrisburg.
• February 2008 -- DeWeese and 38 of his House Democratic colleagues call on the chairman and ranking member of the federal House Committee on Energy and Natural Resources seeking oversight hearings and a U.S. Senate investigation into the implementation of the 2005 federal law that allows power lines to be built across 52 of 67 Pennsylvania counties without input from the Commonwealth or local authorities. They write in a letter that the law "has the potential to disrupt the fundamental balance of power between local, state, and federal governments in land use issues." (The U.S. Senate panel agrees with DeWeese’s request for a hearing, and in August 2008 Casey testifies before his colleagues in the nation’s capital about his opposition to the 2005 law.)
• January 2008 -- DeWeese joins Casey, local community activists and other public officials in Harrisburg for a panel discussion on the power line issue.
• September 2007 -- DeWeese testifies before the Public Utility Commission when the panel visits the 50^th District for public input hearings.
• June 2007 -- State House adopts House Resolution 297 sponsored by DeWeese opposing the federal designation of most of Pennsylvania as a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor.
• May 2007 -- DeWeese files a formal protest with the PUC opposing the transmission line project and asking the PUC to fully investigate.
• April 2007 -- DeWeese travels to Washington, D.C. testifying before Congress about the consequences for public and private property regarding the corridors.
• February 2007 -- DeWeese forwards initial letter to the PUC opposing the TrAIL project and creates petition on his Web site at http://www.pahouse.com/deweese/powerline.asp that several hundred local residents sign opposing the project.

"My fight against the power line will continue with a two-pronged, bipartisan approach by working with my colleagues in Harrisburg and with Senators Specter and Casey and Washington, D.C. I will continue to join with local residents to prevent the long arm of the federal government from reaching into what historically has, and should continue to be, a state decision on the site selection of public utilities," DeWeese said.

A full list of DeWeese’s efforts on behalf of the Commonwealth and its fight against the transmission corridors is available on his Web site at http://www.pahouse.com/deweese/powerline.asp.

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