Introduced Version
House Bill 2358 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2358
(By Delegates Fleischauer and Manypenny)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; 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 prohibiting
accelerated rates of recovery for the construction of electric
transmission facilities if the construction results in certain
adverse effects; requiring an application by a utility for a
certificate of need to include a statement of the impact of
greenhouse emissions and an analysis of alternatives to the
transmission line to be constructed; requiring the commission,
when approving an application, to determine whether the line
strikes an acceptable balance among competing interests;
requiring the commission to deny applications for lines that
are visible from or cross within five miles of certain scenic
areas; and requiring notices be given.
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 may not allow accelerated rate recovery if
it finds that the construction of the transmission facilities
adversely effects 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 may 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 has
obtained from the Public Service Commission a certificate of public
convenience and necessity approving the construction and proposed
location of the transmission line.
(b) The application for the certificate shall be in the form
the commission prescribes and shall contain:
(1) A description, in such detail as the commission
prescribes, of the location and type of line facilities which the
applicant proposes to construct;
(2) A statement justifying the need for the facilities;
(3) A statement of the
direct and indirect
environmental
impact of the 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) Other information the applicant considers relevant or the commission requires.
(c) Upon the filing of the 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 the form the commission directs, as a Class
II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article
three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, the publication area for
the publication to be each county in which any portion of the
proposed transmission line is to be constructed, a notice of the
filing of the application and that the commission may approve the
application unless within fifteen days after completion of
publication a written request for a hearing on the application 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 the request is timely received, the commission
shall set the matter for hearing on a date within sixty days from
completion of the
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 required for the
publication of notice of the filing of the application. At least
thirty business days before the deadline set by the Public Service
Commission to file a petition to intervene with regard to the
application, the applicant shall serve notice by certified mail to
all owners of surface real estate that lie within the preferred corridor of the proposed transmission line. Notice received by a
named owner who is the recipient of record of the most recent tax
bill that has been issued by the county sheriff's office for a
parcel of land at the time of the filing of the application is
sufficient notice regarding that parcel for purposes of this
subsection.
(d) Within sixty days after the filing of the application, or
if hearing is held on the application, within ninety days after
final submission on oral argument or brief, the commission may
approve the application if it finds 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;
(2) Will be in the best interest of West Virginia customers
and its citizens
by striking an acceptable balance among
power
transmission needs of the applicant, reasonable power needs of
electricity consumers in West Virginia and reasonable environmental
factors;
____________________________________________(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
;
and
(3) (4) Will result in an acceptable balance between
reasonable power needs and reasonable environmental factors.
(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 do This section does 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 rules it considers proper
for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this
section, which rules shall be promulgated in accordance with the
applicable provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(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 the lines exist, and shall promulgate rules requiring that
all public utilities or persons who install or maintain the lines
make the necessary markings.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to
prohibit accelerated
rates of recovery for the construction of electric transmission
facilities if the construction results in certain adverse effects.
The bill requires an application by a utility for a certificate of
need to include a statement of the impact of greenhouse emissions
and an analysis of alternatives to the transmission line to be
constructed. The bill requires the commission, when approving an
application, to determine whether the line strikes an acceptable
balance among competing interests. The bill requires the commission
to deny applications if a line is visible from or crosses within
five miles of certain scenic areas. The bill requires notices be
given.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.