Urbana, Md., residents wait longer for hearings on high-power lines

URBANA, MARYLAND - Residents will have to wait until January to give more input on whether a high-power transmission line should run above ground through residential parts of Urbana.

The first set of hearings on the power line, proposed by Allegheny Power, have just concluded.

In January, residents can attend three hearings at Urbana Fire Co. The exact time and date of the hearings have not been set.

The Maryland Public Service Commission will decide whether to allow Allegheny Power to build a 2.1-mile, 230,000-kilovolt line in the rural, residential neighborhood.

If approved, the line would run northeast from a pole on Lynn Street, cross a historic farm, disturb relatively untouched forested areas, ruin a view of Sugarloaf Mountain and eventually end at the substation next to Urbana Fire Co., according to testimony by residents.

The hearings that began nearly 12 months ago came to an end Thursday at Winchester Hall an hour sooner than anticipated because residents were able to get the public service commission to throw out some of Allegheny Power's evidence.

Allegheny's attorney, Philip Bray, attempted to introduce a series of photos depicting an underground line in a rural area of Pennsylvania.

Residents and attorneys representing agencies opposed to Allegheny's proposal objected to the photos because the power company has strongly expressed a lack of interest in putting part of the new line underground.

Mr. Bray argued in favor of allowing the photos anyway. He said the hearing examiner might ask Allegheny to put some lines underground and said it was necessary to illustrate what might happen.

Public Service Commission Hearing Examiner Dennis Sober dismissed the photos. He said they lacked the basic requirements that even a lax set of standards would mandate - such as who took them and when they were taken.

"The timing of the photos is also prejudicial," he said.

The objectivity of an Allegheny witness was also questioned.

Jose Daconti, a witness for Allegheny, said the company hired him for $125 per hour to present testimony about the potential difficulties of putting a transmission line underground. Mr. Daconti estimated the power company would have spent more than $10,000 on him.

Mr. Sober further questioned Mr. Daconti's objectivity.

"When Allegheny came to you, was the assignment to give an objective testimony or was it for a specific reason?" he asked Mr. Daconti.

Mr. Daconti replied, "I was asked to show you why underground could be difficult."

Mr. Daconti said the biggest weather-related problem with underground lines is flooding. But flooding wouldn't be as much of a problem if manholes - where most flooding occurs - are raised above ground.

Other weather conditions that damage above ground lines - wind damage and ice storms - would not harm lines below the ground much at all, he said. Accidents from vehicles knocking down poles would also be eliminated if the lines were underground.

The main disadvantage to putting lines partially underground, as residents in Urbana have suggested, is that if a line goes out, it would take longer to repair it.

But given the relatively short distance of the proposed transmission line, the repairs would take less than two weeks, and it would be feasible to use emergency energy towers, Mr. Daconti said.