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PUC schedules more Transource hearings in Franklin and York counties

transource_powerline.jpg

Farmers are organizing in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, to oppose a Transource power transmission project. (Photo: File)

(Harrisburg) – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has scheduled more hearings in Franklin and York counties about the proposed Transource power transmission line.

Some landowners who were served with eminent domain applications have not yet testified at a public input hearing and may not have received adequate notice to understand they could do so, according to the PUC announcement.

Transource Pennsylvania on May 15 filed 133 eminent domain applications, 93 to acquire rights-of-way across lands in Franklin County and 40 across lands in York County.

Many landowners are in the process of negotiating rights of way, and Transource had to meet the PUC deadline for any easement which might require eminent domain, according to Transource spokeswoman Abby Foster.

“Those names may come off as negotiations happen,” she said.

Transource will not proceed with eminent domain proceedings until the project is approved, according to Foster.

Landowners should meet with Transource right-of-way agents so they can understand the process and can negotiate the location of the line, she said. 

 

“They can still say no at the end of the process,” she said. “It’s up to the landowners whether to sign the documents.”

The project, known as the Independent Energy Connection, is still on schedule, according to Foster. The approval process has eaten into the timeline, but Transource plans to begin construction in mid-2019 with the wires coming online in mid-2020.

Transource also on May 15 filed two zoning exemptions regarding proposed substations near Shippensburg in Franklin County at Furnace Run in York County.

Stop Transource Franklin County has challenged the zoning exemption. Transource was created solely to construct the project and is not a public utility, but rather a new type of entity in Pennsylvania, according to Curtin & Heefner, the law firm representing the group.  

Transource maintains that the PUC has granted it status as a public utility.

Utilities can be exempted from municipal zoning rules in Pennsylvania for support buildings.

Transource is seeking approval from public utility regulators in Pennsylvania and Maryland for permission to erect 13-story-tall monopoles and string high-voltage transmission lines for 29 miles through Franklin County to Ringold, Maryland, and 16 miles through southern York County to Harford County, Maryland. Residents along both lines have organized to fight the project.

The PUC hearings will be held:

  • At 1 and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18, in the New Franklin Volunteer Fire Department Social Hall, 3444 Wayne Road, Chambersburg.
  • At 1 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Airville Volunteer Fire Department, 3576 Delta Road, Airville.

The additional hearings will allow landowners affected by the eminent domain applications and entities or people opposed to the zoning exemption petitions to testify about those issues.Individuals, who may focused on different issues in their previous testimony, will have another opportunity to testify as to an eminent domain application or shelter petition regarding their property rights. 

PUC Administrative Law Judges Elizabeth H. Barnes and Andrew M. Calvelli will preside over the public input hearings.They were scheduled after new filings to the PUC. 

Earlier this summer PUC’s eight public input hearings drew nearly 1,000 residents and more than 200 speakers. The ALJs encourage those who may be interested in testifying again to not duplicate testimony or evidence already in the record.

Stop Transource Franklin County is seeking donations to fight the transmission line. The group has raised $60,000 of a needed $150,000, according to the group’s fundraising letter. Checks shold be made out to “FCVB – Stop Transource” and sent to Franklin County Visitors Bureau, 37 S. Main St. #100, Chambersburg, PA 17201.

Offering Comment at a Hearing

Members of the public are welcome to attend the hearings and provide comments for the PUC record. The PUC offer tips on how to participate:

  • Prepare what you are going to say beforehand.  Even though it is not required, you may want to write out your statement, which can be read.
  • Bring copies if you are attending an in-person hearing.  If you have a written statement you would like to give to the judge, please bring copies for the court reporter and other participants.
  • Understand that parties in the case may want to ask you a question to clarify something you said.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion

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