PUC hearing on new power line through area

[davidk]

The PUC has announced that they will be holding a public hearing concerning the proposed high tension power line that is to pass through the area, across Bald and West Mountains and into the upper portion of the county.
The hearing will be May 21 at 6:00 PM at the Newton-Ransom Volunteer Fire HOuse on the blvd.

Information on the plan can be found at:

http://www.pplreliablepower.com/index.htm

The new power line will include towers that will dwarf the existing towers and be clearly visible from many areas of the county, including the valley floor.
The footprint for the expansion will more than double the area currently used.
It will also drive up PPL rates to pay for the plan, while providing virtually no benefits to area rate payers.
PPL has failed to provide any information as to how this will benefit the area, besides saying it will strenghten the local grid. A grid which is fine and not fully utilized.

No, the whole plan is to provide power to NJ and take an unnecessarily log route to get there. A much shorter, straight shot proposal that would follow route 81, from teh Salem Power Plant to the end point in NJ has been essentially ignored and really was never under consideration.