Two actions requested by a group opposing a new PPL Electric Utilities transmission line through several rural southern Luzerne County communities have been added to Tuesday’s county council meeting agenda — one for a vote and the other for discussion only.
In response, PPL sent council a communication outlining its position.
The utility is proposing a 12-mile, 500kV transmission line from the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station nuclear power plant in Salem Township to the area of the Humboldt Industrial Park, with the line cutting through Nescopeck, Black Creek, Sugarloaf and Hazle townships. PPL said that project will provide additional power and support existing and future load growth.
PPL has easements for the line but needs to widen them to proceed, which means the utility may seek to exercise its eminent domain power if property owners won’t agree to expanded easements, officials have said.
Sugarloaf Township resident John Zola, who is among the impacted residential property owners, created the Alliance to Stop the Line group opposing the project and is pushing county council to take actions attempting to put pressure on PPL to use a different route for the line.
Council is set to vote on a resolution Tuesday encouraging PPL to pursue alternatives, at the urging of county Councilman Harry Haas.
Zola also asked council to immediately suspend all real estate tax breaks granted the last two years for projects south of the Salem Township power plant and issue a temporary moratorium preventing future tax breaks for projects in the same geographic area that would be using the new transmission line.
Several council members said the county cannot suspend tax breaks already awarded because the county would be sued, but Haas requested council consideration of a moratorium.
A proposed moratorium drafted by Haas is up for discussion at Tuesday’s work session, which follows the voting meeting. Majority council passage would be necessary at a future meeting for a moratorium to take effect.
Tom Reilly, president of Reilly Associates in Pittston — the county’s outside engineer — told council during a work session earlier this month that PPL would have to obtain a certificate of public convenience from the Public Utility Commission to exercise its eminent domain powers.
The PUC would hold a hearing and allow impacted citizens to present evidence of potential viable alternate routes and the negative impacts the current route would have on the community, Reilly said. PPL also would have to demonstrate evidence the project is needed, Reilly said.
“This is a critical element for those who have concerns about the route to marshal expertise in sharing environmental and legal expertise on the issue,” Reilly said. “There’s a process of proving that the public right to have this approved is more important than the right of the property owners.”
Council Chairman John Lombardo told Reilly he also spoke to a PUC representative and verified a PUC hearing “would be the next logical step” for residents in opposition of the plan.
Zola said his group is fully aware of the PUC process, which has not yet been requested by PPL, but he asserted the residents would have a “very, very small” chance of succeeding and would have to spend a “whole lot of money that people don’t have” to oppose the utility company.
Instead, residents are asking elected officials to take measures attempting to “bring everybody to the table” hoping PPL will choose another route instead of proceeding with a PUC hearing for the current plan that Zola asserted would equate to “destroying lives.”
Specifically, his group suggests PPL upgrade and/or add a new line parallel to an existing one.
Council’s proposed voting agenda resolution urging PPL to pursue other options for the line said PPL’s current plan follows a 200-foot-wide service road “that cuts directly through the most pristine and picturesque part of the Nescopeck/Sugarloaf Valley.”
“Residents have stated the project would involve the installation of 240-foot-tall industrial utility poles in residential neighborhoods, exposing residents to live with constant noise from humming high-voltage lines, increased exposure to static electricity and visual blight of massive poles outside their windows,” it said.
Residents also have argued toxic herbicides used to maintain the right-of-way would “put children, grandchildren, pets and the environment at serious risk,” it said.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
Dallas Post
Source link