As Transource appeals regulator, years-long fight over power line may not be over

A more than four-year fight over the proposed construction of a high-transmission power line through southcentral Pennsylvania may not be over quite yet. 

Landowners and local officials rejoiced in May when the state's Public Utility Commission denied Transource Energy's application to run power lines through Franklin and York counties on 13-story monopoles as part of a proposed $320 million project to upgrade the power grid. 

Now, Transource is looking to state and federal courts in hopes of a reversal. The company filed challenges last week with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. 

In early 2017, Transource proposed the Independent Energy Connection Project in order to meet electricity demands in the Baltimore and Washington metro area. PJM Interconnection, the organization that manages the electric grid and flow of energy in the mid-Atlantic region, had determined a year earlier an update was needed. 

Tall monopoles would carry the high-voltage line through 24 miles of countryside from a new substation in Shippensburg in Franklin County, Pa., to near Smithsburg, Md., and over 15 miles through southern York County, Pa. 

Franklin County landowners immediately objected to it, arguing, among other things, that the construction of the line would harm property values, disrupt farming practices and cause irreparable damage to the environment. They banded together and fought the Columbus, Ohio-based power line company.

Judge:Pennsylvania regulator should not approve power line project

PUC denies Transource:Four-year fight over proposed high-power transmission line ends

In denying Transource's application, the PUC adopted Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Barnes' ruling from December that found overwhelmingly in favor of property owners. In the ruling, Barnes found that Transource "failed to show need for the project" and that it "will have a detrimental economic and environmental impact."

She wrote that the project "appears to be a means for a foreign electric transmission provider to gain access to the Washington, D.C./Baltimore metro area while subsidizing its costs through Pennsylvania."

In challenging the decision, Transource said PJM's determination of need is a "requirement that needs to be followed in order to efficiently and reliably operate the regional transmission system."

“New transmission infrastructure is necessary to incorporate new energy sources into the market while maintaining system reliability, and the evidence clearly demonstrates that multi-state regional planning is the most effective way to meet these needs," said Brian Weber, Transource senior vice president. 

Transource said the project would create 130 full-time jobs and support $40 million in local economic activity.

While Transource has faced opposition in Pennsylvania, its application for an alternate route won the approval of the Maryland Public Service Commission last summer. 

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.