PPL powerline opposed in ‘08

By TOM KANE

RIVER VALLEY - New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) isn’t the only power-line project that received local opposition from Pennsylvania residents.

A PPL Electric Utilities plan to erect a high-tension electricity power line across Northeast Pennsylvania, and specifically across Wayne and Pike counties, got more than its fair share of local condemnation and opposition.

Known as the Susquehanna-Roseland Power Line Project, company executives, wishing to avoid some of the secrecy that surrounded NYRI, plotted three proposed routes the line would take through Wayne and Pike in January of 2008 and held several public hearings on the plan.

During a stop at the office of The River Reporter on January 24, 2008, PPL public relations manager Paul Wirth said, “We do things a little differently than some other companies. We are open, upfront and communicate early and often about these things.”

The company held seven public meetings from Wilkes Barre, PA to Bushkill, PA to give residents a chance to comment on the three possible routes it might take. They called the three options rather simply Route A, Route B and Route C.

To simplify, Route B was chosen by the company in November, which will take the line from its switching station near Berwick, PA to Roseland, NJ. Part of that route would go through existing lines in Wayne, but the newest constructed lines would traverse through Pike County before crossing the Delaware River at some point in Pike County.

Residents of Saw Creek, an upscale development in Lehman Township whose property would be traversed by the new power line, were not pleased. Over 147 homes will be severely affected, Pike County Commissioner Harry Forbes said. “Another 3,000 homeowners are saying that the towers will adversely affect their property values. Discussion of this project is far from over,” he said.

According to Wirth, the proposed line, which would replace an old line, would carry 500,000 volts-a lot less than at first proposed-with towers reaching 200 feet, higher than proposed, so that the effects of the magnetic field around the wires would be minimized.

At recent public meetings, skeptics have questioned the need for the line, part of a $1.2 billion multi-state project.

PJM, a Valley Forge-based, regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of electricity in Pennsylvania and a dozen other states, said the line is necessary to relieve numerous overloads that could happen as soon as 2013.

Saw Creek residents say they are worried that even if the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission opposes the route, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) could use eminent domain to override the state agency, Forbes said.

PPL aims to have the line in service in 2012.