Hard Sell: Power companies face hurdles in the form of needed permits and reluctant landowners

Editor's Note: This is the last in a series of articles that explores the proposed Southern Loop transmission upgrade project.

VERNON -- When Paul Miller learned that a power company hoped to build a 13-acre substation in the midst of one of his corn fields on the bank of the Connecticut River, the Vernon farmer balked.

"We're not all that interested in selling," he said. "We're here to farm."

The 260-acre property just north of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has been in Miller's family since 1916. After years away from Vernon, Miller's two sons -- Peter, an engineer, and Art, a teacher -- moved back home to help out.

"They're both professionals, and they wanted to raise children on farms. That's one of the reasons we're hesitant to sell the land for development," he said. "As far as we're concerned, our farm is a unit. If you sell a bit here and a bit there, you don't have a farm anymore."

Miller is just one of many landowners affected by a proposed set of transmission upgrade projects recently rolled out by Vermont Electric Power Co. and Central Vermont Public Service Corp.

In an effort to address growing power demand throughout the region, the

electric utilities are considering building an additional 345-kilovolt power line alongside an existing one, which stretches 51 miles from just south of the Miller farm to Cavendish. Other project components include expanded substations in Cavendish and West Dummerston, the new Vernon substation, a set of synchronous condensers in the Stratton area, and a new three-quarter mile line in West Dummerston.

The likelihood of these plans being implemented, however, is anything but certain. VELCO and CVPS are hoping that a variety of non-transmission alternatives, such as increased energy efficiency and localized generation will, at the very least, defer the need for the projects.

Furthermore, the regulatory process between the application and approval of a project of this magnitude can be long and uncertain. While the companies plan to officially petition the state's Public Service Board for a Certificate of Public Good on July 25, the earliest the project could be completed would not be until late 2010, according to VELCO spokesman Kerrick Johnson.

The Millers have not ruled out accommodating the proposed 13-acre substation, but they have asked VELCO to investigate other options.

Johnson would not characterize the status of negotiations with the family, but he said, "We prefer to find willing buyers and sellers, and it's fair to say they're not 100 percent behind the idea."

According to Johnson, VELCO representatives are actively working with landowners throughout the scope of the project to identify any environmental, archeological, and aesthetic concerns.

"What we're asking is 'share with us,'" he said. "Local landowners know more about their property than we do. We understand that and we want to work with them. What we're asking is, 'okay, tell us.'"

"In general, we seek to take the least-cost, most environmentally sound route," he said.

VELCO and CVPS gave towns in the path of the project 45-days notice in early June that they plan to file for a Certificate of Public Good July 25. At that time, the quasi-judicial Public Service Board will be charged with determining whether the project meets a number of statutory requirements.

The utilities will have to show that the project is necessary, that it would be stable and reliable, and that it would provide economic benefits to the region and to ratepayers. Furthermore, they will have to prove that the project takes into consideration environmental, historical and aesthetic concerns, according to Public Service Board documents.

"Every bit of this line is going to be reviewed, and citizens have the opportunity to participate in the process," said David Englander, an attorney for the Agency of Natural Resources. "In the end, of course, these cases are often about balancing competing interests."

The formal review process, following a petition, involves site visits, public hearings, written testimony and evidentiary hearings. In addition to the utility companies, the Department of Public Service, which acts as a public advocate, and ANR are automatically parties in the case. Individual landowners and towns with a compelling interest in the case can also take part, with the board's approval.

"The board has been pretty good about being very flexible in allowing them to participate," said board clerk Susan Hudson. "The board always wants to hear from the public because often times there are things that can be raised that the board would pursue on its own."

Cases of this size, Hudson said, can take quite a long time.

"The larger the project, the longer it takes," she said.

If the three-member board approves the project, it would likely do so with stipulations. The utilities could then begin to obtain other permits from state and federal agencies, but they would have to check in with the board to show they are in compliance.

Paul Miller said he isn't yet worrying about the prospect of VELCO taking his land with the power of eminent domain. He's still holding out for some sort of compromise.

"We're wanting to see what they come up with," he said.

But if a utility company obtains approval from the board and cannot reach a deal with a landowner, the possibility of a forced purchase exists.

"Eminent domain is a significant power that we have to use rarely if ever," Johnson said. "However reluctantly, if reliability demands it and the regulatory agency agrees, then yes, we can."

Pete Crossman, Vernon's first constable and a farmer on Tyler Hill road, said he understands Miller's dilemma.

"They want to buy right where his prime fields are. I don't blame him there. Paul Miller's a darn good farmer. He's one of the best there is," he said. "You can't fight city hall, you know?"

Crossman's own 165-acre farm borders VELCO's right-of-way along the Coolidge Connector for half a mile. He vividly recalls when his father sold the northern-most section of the land to the power company in the late 1960s.

"I remember, as a kid, that my father had a logger come in and log where they put the power line. I was only about 12 or 14 years old, so I didn't really care," he said.

Crossman's situation is far more typical of the hundreds of landowners along the Southern Loop than is Miller's or that of Dummerston residents whose property could be bisected by a brand new corridor. As an abutter to the Coolidge Connector, he would only lose a 100-foot buffer of woods between the power lines and his property.

"It means nothing to me. I don't feel like them people in Dummerston because it's on the north end of our property and we don't even go down there that much. From where the main farm is, it's almost a half a mile away," he said.

The way Crossman sees it, new power lines aren't anything to get too upset about. They are just another reminder of the steady march of time.

"You know, a lot of things have gone on here in the past 50 years -- a lot of changes," he said.

Crossman's concerns are of a more practical nature.

"All's I want to know is if I can cut the wood off it, because I'm in the wood business and I could use the wood," he said. "I'll take anything I can for nothing. It's not really for nothing though. It'll have to go to pay the taxes."

Paul Heintz can be reached at pheintz@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 275.