H. B. 4403
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Staggers, Lawrence,
Manypenny, Susman, Doyle, Eldridge,
Beach, M. Poling, Marshall, Hunt)
[Introduced February 9, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on Energy, Industry and Labor, Economic Development and
Small Business then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2-1e and §24-2-11a of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to not allowing
accelerated rate of recovery for adverse effects of
constructing transmission facilities and revising the
definition of need.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-2-1e and §24-2-11a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§24-2-1e. Rate recovery for construction of electric transmission
facilities.
(a) In order to encourage the construction of transmission
facilities necessary to transmit electric power from generating
facilities located in this state to areas where such power can be
economically marketed, the commission may allow an electric utility accelerated rate recovery for transmission facilities constructed
or upgraded for the purpose of increasing the capacity to transmit
electric power to areas outside the utility's service territory
where such power can be economically marketed. In allowing
accelerated rate recovery, the commission shall include the impact
of the investment in transmission facilities on any investment
equalization agreement in which the utilities participate.
(b) The commission shall not allow accelerated rate recovery
if the commission finds that the construction of the transmission
facilities creates an adverse effect on ratepayers in West
Virginia, reduces competitiveness of business or industries in West
Virginia, or has a significant effect on the environment.
§24-2-11a. Requirement for certificate of public convenience and
necessity before beginning construction of high
voltage transmission line; contents of application;
notice; hearing; criteria for granting or denying
certificate; regulations.
(a) No public utility, person or corporation shall begin
construction of a high voltage transmission line of two hundred
thousand volts or over, which line is not an ordinary extension of
an existing system in the usual course of business as defined by
the Public Service Commission, unless and until it or he
or she
shall have obtained from the Public Service Commission a certificate of public convenience and necessity approving the
construction and proposed location of such transmission line.
(b) The application for such certificate shall be in such form
as the commission may prescribe and shall contain:
(1) A description, in such detail as the commission may
prescribe, of the location and type of line facilities which the
applicant proposes to construct;
(2) A statement justifying the need for such facilities;
(3) A statement of the
direct and indirect environmental
impact of such line facilities;
and
(4) A statement of the direct and indirect impacts on
emissions of greenhouse gases anticipated from construction and
operation of such line facilities;
(5) A detailed analysis of reasonable alternatives to the
facility, including demand-side reduction programs; and
(4) (6) Such other information as the applicant may deem
relevant or the commission may require.
(c) Upon the filing of such application, the applicant
provides written notification to each property owner within one
mile of the center line of the proposed transmission line via
certified mail, and shall publish, in such form as the commission
shall direct, as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with
the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, the publication area for such publication to be each county in
which any portion of the proposed transmission line is to be
constructed, a notice of the filing of such application and that
the commission may approve the same unless within fifteen days
after completion of publication a written request for a hearing
thereon has been received by the commission from a person or
persons alleging that the proposed transmission line or its
location is against the public interest. If such request be timely
received, the commission shall set the matter for hearing on a date
within sixty days from completion of said
notification and
publication, and shall require the applicant to
provide written
notice and publish notice of the time and place of hearing in the
same manner as is herein required for the publication of notice of
the filing of the application.
(d) Within sixty days after the filing of said application, or
if hearing shall be held thereon, within ninety days after final
submission on oral argument or brief, the commission may approve
the application if it shall find and determine that the proposed
transmission line:
(1) Will economically, adequately and reliably contribute to
meeting the present and anticipated requirements for electric power
of the customers served by the applicant or is necessary and
desirable for present and anticipated reliability of service for electric power for its service area or region;
and
(2) Will result in an acceptable balance between reasonable
power needs and reasonable environmental factors power transmission
needs of the applicant, reasonable power needs of electricity
consumers in West Virginia and reasonable environmental factors;
and
(3) Will not be visible from or cross within five miles of
state or federal designated scenic areas, including, but not
limited to, scenic rivers, scenic highways and scenic overlooks.
(e) The commission may impose conditions upon its approval of
the application, or modify the applicant's proposal, to achieve an
acceptable balance between reasonable power needs and reasonable
environmental factors.
(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the
construction of line facilities which will be part of a
transmission line for which any right-of-way has been acquired
prior to January 1, 1973.
(g) The commission shall prescribe such rules
and regulations
as it may deem proper for the administration and enforcement of the
provisions of this section, which rules
and regulations shall be
are promulgated in accordance with the applicable provisions of
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code as if the same were set forth
herein in extenso.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, the commission shall determine, in its discretion, which
transmission line or lines crossing above the Ohio River must be
marked to be made visible to airborne traffic flying in any area
where such lines exist, and shall, within one hundred twenty days
of the effective date of this section, promulgate rules requiring
that all public utilities or persons who install or maintain such
lines make the necessary markings.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to stop accelerated rate
recovery because of adverse effects of constructing transmission
facilities and revising the definition of need.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added