StopPATH WV

Read what Jefferson County delegates are saying about HCR 58 in The Journal.

Here are some of the news links regarding the Formal Challenge Ali and I filed last Friday.

The Hur Herald (this is a great internet news source!)

The Journal (Martinsburg, WV)

The Journal's story got picked up by the AP (great job, Matt!!), and resulted in these two stories so far (sure to be many more to follow).

The Charleston Gazette

WRIC (Richmond)

Read the excellent guest commentary piece in today's Dominion Post (Morgantown, WV) written by Bill Howley.  He very succinctly explains how building new transmission lines does not make our grid more reliable.  Upgrading our current infrastructure at much less cost and with much less sacrifice on behalf of private landowners is feasible, on the table right now, and makes sense from all angles.   

A must read!

Appropriately - an adverb derived from the word "appropriate" meaning right or suitable; fitting. 

Appropriate is also a heteronym.  When pronounced differently it can also mean to take for one's own use, esp illegally or without permission.  Kind of fitting, don't you think?

See this story in yesterday's Town Courier regarding the challenge to PATH's formula rate.  My pal Todd Meyers says, “We are aware of the preliminary challenge and will respond appropriately.”  Uh huh, Todd.  "Appropriately" must mean "screw up really, really badly" in Todd's company dictionary.  Nice work!

Speaking of nice work (no, I mean the real kind in this instance) reporter Krista Brick does a fairly nice job with a very complicated, confusing subject.  Thanks, Krista, for hanging in there!

Story by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Nitowski looks like a nincompoop.  Just a little too much "coincidence" going on between the deadline for PATH to respond to the PSC staff's motion and PJM's "release of new information".  You should make your lies at least somewhat believable!  What a clown!

There's a story in the State Journal this morning about the PSC Staff's Motion to Dismiss.  In the story, Herling tells at least one lie.  He is quoted as saying, "because Liberty is not a transmission owner in the area, they don't actually own any right of way -- they would have to acquire all of it," he offered in explanation of the higher cost contingencies. "Allegheny and AEP have a fair share of the rights of way already in hand."

This is untrue.  Allegheny and AEP began this project with no rights-of-way in hand.  NONE.  However, even before making application for this project, the PATH companies were at work through very expensive, shifty land agents to acquire rights-of-way needed for their plan.  What's to stop Liberty from doing the same?  PJM's "approval" of their project?

Even though PATH has paid outrageous sums for some properties and next to nothing for others, it's YOUR money they are spending, little ratepayer.  Liberty would  have to use their own money because FERC has not blessed them with the ability to recover Construction Work in Progress.

At the end of 2009, the latest year from which we can see cost data, PATH has purchased only 27 properties (or easements) of the estimated 1,500 - 1,600 properties required for construction of the PATH line.  I would hardly call that "a fair share".  Herling is just flat out WRONG in his attempt at "too big to fail".  If PATH is dismissed, these properties will have to be resold.  The ratepayers are going to end up with a huge burden anyhow because PATH paid MILLIONS more than some of these properties were worth in order to have anchor points for their proposed substations or attempt to influence local governments to release open space easements.  We'll never get that money back!

Herling also claims, "Even if you knew with absolute certainty that you could have Mt. Storm-Doubs done by 2015, you'd still have to plan three or four more upgrades after that to fix all the other problems," Herling said.  Nope -- all you would need is Dominion's Alternative 1, which Herling refuses to seriously evaluate.  The Mt. Storm-Doubs rebuild is one component of Alternative 1.  That has been approved by PJM.  The other two components are rebuild of the Pruntytown-Mt. Storm line and installation of reactive reinforcements.  That's two.  Count 'em, Steve, TWO!  Hmm... maybe that's the problem here.  Steve's math skills are lacking?

Seems like the media is finally cracking open the rotten egg that is PJM and the PATH companies.  The truth shall set us free.

The NTSB has released its preliminary report on the TrAIL helicopter crash in Thomas, WV on October 30 according to this news report.  If you want to see the actual NTSB report, go here.  The crash was caused by contact with the power lines, according to the report.

Allegheny Energy, playing the part of Lady Macbeth, doesn't seem to have anything about it on their website, nor on their Trailco project site.  Out of sight is not out of mind for me.  No matter how many times they try to wash their hands, the blood spots remain.  All in the name of corporate greed.

Just a place to start storing news & blog links regarding the filing of the Preliminary Challenge. 

Frederick News Post
Leesburg Tomorrow
Coal Tattoo  (buried down in this long post - it's like a treasure hunt!)
Frederick News Post (second, longer article not written exclusively from a press release)

Yesterday, the Jefferson County Commission met with their new attorney in executive session to discuss strategy for the WV PSC's upcoming PATH case.  The media were on hand to report, but after brief introductions of attorney Brad Stephens by the County's prosecuting attorney, Stephanie Grove, the Commission went directly into Executive Session and we all got tossed out into the hallway.  The discussion was covered by attorney-client privilege and was understandably not open to the public.  This put us in the somewhat awkward position of attempting to comment on something we really weren't privy to, but who ever says "no" to more media exposure?  Commission President Lyn Widmyer made a statement afterward promising that the PATH case would be discussed at upcoming Commission meetings.

The Jefferson County Commission continues to stand firmly behind its citizens in opposition to PATH, which will devalue properties, decrease the tax base, endanger the health and well-being of residents living, working or going to school in close proximity and raise our electric rates, all without providing any local benefits.  The long-delayed WV PSC PATH case is moving along and Jefferson County needs to plan their case now in order to be prepared for testimony due in January 2011.

Press:  The Journal
           NBC25

Gearing up for more fun in Frederick tomorrow, the Frederick News Post ran another editorial panning PATH this morning.

There was also another dry, boring article by FNP business reporter Ed Waters, Jr., that was so insipid that I'm not even going to bother with the link.  When is FNP's management going to get a clue that PATH is not strictly a "business" issue but a larger, community issue that will affect residents (as opposed to businesses)?  By continually assigning all PATH stories to their business reporter, whose job is made easier by sucking up to corporations and reprinting press releases as "news", FNP continues to miss the REAL story here.  Maybe some day they'll actually want to sell some newspapers before they go broke and a whole bunch of people are out of a job.