| I bet you've been trying to figure out what's going on with PATH - the headlines in the newspapers for the last week or so make it sound like the project is dead.
The answer to that is ... NO! PATH is NOT dead! We are experiencing a fleeting moment of victory, a chance to catch our collective breath, but the fight is not over!
Here's where things stand:
PATH's application in West Virginia is on hold for the moment. The Public Service Commission has ordered parties to the case (the power companies, intervenors, and the PSC staff , including the Consumer Advocate Division) to submit final motions arguing whether to dismiss the application or to delay ("toll") it for several months, to give the applicants time to (a) file a new application in Maryland and (b) submit new need information based on economic and electricity demand forecasts that will be released in the next couple of months. These motions must be submitted to the PSC by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The commission is likely to make a decision pretty quickly - maybe by the end of the week, though I personally would bet that it will be released during Thanksgiving week. So far, we have only seen motions for dismissal or tolling; nothing is final until the Commissioners issue their decision.
If the PATH application is dismissed without prejudice, that is NOT the same thing as being denied. The companies will be free to submit a new application, and when they do, the process starts over again.
Meanwhile, right now there is no PATH application in Maryland. The companies submitted a letter to the Maryland PSC stating that Potomac Edison will be submitting a new application by Dec. 31.
And here's your call to action: The Virginia State Corporation Commission is considering a staff motion to dismiss, similar to the West Virginia motion. There is a public hearing set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Lovettsville Community Center. Lovettsville is only about 3 miles from Brunswick, Md., across the Route 17 bridge over the Potomac.
The SCC has ordered the participants to make oral arguments on the motion to dismiss at 6 p.m. that night in Lovettsville.
THIS IS A CHANCE TO MAKE OUR OPPOSITION HEARD!
West Virginia residents can testify at the Virginia hearing. WV intervenors - who were not allowed to speak at our own public hearings - can testify at the Virginia hearing. And we can demonstrate outside the community center.
This hearing is likely to get a lot of media attention. We need a good turnout, to show the public that the residents of all three states are united in opposition. If you go, wear/bring your StopPATH gear -- t-shirts, protest signs and whatever else you may have that will show your opposition both inside the hearing (no protest signs inside the hearing -- we need to use our courtroom manners) and out. We will have some protest signs available as well as t-shirts for sale.
WE NEED YOU THERE!!
The address of the community center is 57 E. Broad Way, Lovettsville, VA 20180. MapQuest and Google both give good directions.
PLEASE JOIN YOUR VOICE TO OURS IN OPPOSITION!!
Update: If you want to speak at the public hearing, you do not have to be there before 7 p.m. The SCC runs a sign-up list and calls on people to speak in order. If you can't get there until after it starts, you'll still be able to sign up! |
