SWEPCO rips power-line critics’ claims

No evidence of damage to tourism, filing asserts

Opponents of a proposed 50-mile high-voltage transmission line in Benton and Carroll counties say it will hurt tourism, particularly for Eureka Springs.

But an attorney for Southwestern Electric Power Co. said there’s no evidence of that ever happening anywhere.

“There is no evidence that an electric transmission line of any size has ever had any economic or financial impact on any local community,” wrote David Matthews of Rogers, SWEPCO’s attorney in the case, which is pending before the Arkansas Public Service Commission.

Save the Ozarks, a group that opposes the transmission line, has argued for months that SWEPCO hasn’t performed an economic-impact study.

“There is no discussion in the environmental impact study of adverse impacts on tourism, the arts or other businesses in local communities such as Eureka Springs,” according to a brief filed Tuesday by Mick Harrison of Bloomington, Ind., attorney for Save the Ozarks.

But intervenors in the case have offered “ considerable evidence” that the transmission line will cause “significant adverse economic impacts on the local communities” along the path, including impacts on tourism, wrote Harrison.

“Clearly there is a need for an analysis of adverse economic impacts of this project before the commission can even consider issuing a certificate allowing the project to proceed,” he wrote. “SWEPCO admitted that no analysis of adverse impacts on tourism in the local communities from the proposed transmission lines was prepared.”

SWEPCO is required to build transmission projects within its service area if the Southwest Power Pool determines they are necessary, Matthews said Aug. 26 during a hearing in Little Rock. He said the line is needed to provide reliable electric service in the future to northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.

The pool is a regional transmission organization under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It is responsible for planning electrical transmission needs for 6 million households in nine states.

Southwest Power Pool studies show that by 2016, some of the existing 161-kilovolt lines in Northwest Arkansas will overload if there’s a power failure on a 345-kilovolt line that goes from the Flint Creek Station in Benton County to Springfield, Mo.

In Tuesday’s brief, Matthews wrote that economic impact was addressed in SWEPCO’s application, not the environmental impact study.

“Section 10 of the application begins with the sentence ‘Construction of the proposed facilities will have little economic impact upon the local community …” Matthews wrote in Tuesday’s brief.

The remainder of that first sentence of Section 10, which was omitted from the brief, was “… through impacts upon agriculture or through increased employment.”

Section 10 of the application is one paragraph. It specifically addresses economic impacts on agriculture and the impact of employment of construction crews to build the proposed facilities. Tourism isn’t mentioned in Section 10.

Matthews wrote that Section 10 meets the requirements under Arkansas Code Annotated 23-18-511(6), which states that the application must contain “An analysis of the projected economic or financial impact on the applicant and the local community in which the major utility facility is to be located as a result of the construction and the operation of the proposed major utility facility.”

Save the Ozarks’ witnesses didn’t provide “a single shred of evidence” of impending economic harm, Matthews wrote.

“None of the intervenors have provided any evidence that a transmission line has impacted tourism in Arkansas, or anywhere else for that matter,” he wrote. “SWEPCO has repeatedly provided proof that the proposed transmission line will have a negligible impact on the local community economies and on tourism in the region.”

During the Little Rock hearing, SWEPCO representatives showed photographs of transmission lines co-existing with state and federal scenic byways, national parks and recreation areas.

“There are some existing transmission lines in the area around Eureka Springs, and there is no evidence that they have resulted in a deleterious effect on the local economy or tourism,” wrote Matthews.

SWEPCO applied on April 3 to build the transmission line, which would be 46 to 59 miles long depending on the route chosen.

To support the transmission line, six towers would be needed every mile. They would average 130-160 feet tall, according to SWEPCO’s proposal. The towers would require foundation holes 40-50 feet deep and up to 10 feet wide. A 150-foot-wide right of way also would be required.

Connie Griffin, an administrative law judge with the Public Service Commission, recessed the hearing on Aug. 30 and requested briefs to be filed by Tuesday addressing particular issues, including economic impact. Reply briefs are due Oct. 16.

Griffin will make a decision within 60 days of the hearing’s end. She could determine the best route for the line or decide the project isn’t necessary. The three-member commission can overrule Griffin, and opponents can appeal the commission’s decision to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

The power-line proposal has generated thousands of comments from people opposed to the project at hearings in Eureka Springs and Rogers and filed electronically.

Three routes are still being considered: 33, 108 and 109. The routes are primarily in Benton and Carroll counties.

From the proposed Kings River substation near Berryville heading west, Route 33 is a 49-mile route that would travel north of Eureka Springs, through Gateway and Garfield, then southwest between Bentonville and Bella Vista. That route would cost about $96.3 million.

Route 108 is a 59-mile track that would go south into Madison and Washington counties before crossing Bethel Heights and along the western edge of Cave Springs. Constructing that route would cost about $117.4 million.

Route 109 is a 56-mile path that would go north of Eureka Springs, then north along the Arkansas-Missouri line before turning south on the west side of Bella Vista. That route would cost $102.8 million.

SWEPCO has said it wants the approval process and design engineering done by December. After right-of-way acquisition, construction is scheduled to begin by March 2015, and the company wants the new line to be in service by June 2016.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 10/03/2013

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