We dropped in on the Dominion Power Mt. Storm - Doubs Open House event on Thursday night before heading over to the public hearing in Purcellville.
What a difference a little honesty makes! Instead of one of PATH's Charlie Foxtrot Open Houses, this one was pleasant and low-key: I didn't hear one person raise their voice; there was no "security" needed; and no pictures were required! What I did see/hear was landowners getting their questions answered, the media being invited to talk with citizens by Dominion personnel, StopPATH WV being permitted to hand out their own information; and the promise to treat landowners fairly and with respect during the rebuild project. There was also a bit of laughter, but it just wouldn't be nice to point out the person who was the butt of the joke now, would it? He knows who he is ;-)
Dominion needs to realize that StopPATH WV takes a promise seriously though, and the clock starts now. One of the main purposes of our organization is social justice, which includes ensuring that landowners and citizens are treated fairly during this project. If you feel that Dominion isn't treating you fairly, we want to know about it. This would also include Dominion removing their old foundations to at least a 4-foot depth on farmland so that they won't interfere with tilling, right fellas? Doing this extra bit of work doesn't cost Dominion anything since the cost of this project is being socialized among PJM's 51-million ratepayers and isn't costing them a dime. And it's only fair to the farmers not to leave landmines behind that are going to damage very expensive farming equipment.
The Mt. Storm - Doubs rebuild is a good start on Dominion's Alternative One to the PATH project, but it is only a start. Rebuilding and modernizing of aging transmission infrastructure will vastly improve the reliability and capacity of the grid without requiring additional sacrifices from landowners, environmental destruction, and the waste of billions of dollars building new transmission projects. The first step has now been taken, so let's get on with a solution that is win-win for everyone involved and makes perfect sense. Afterall, you wouldn't go buy a brand new car when your current vehicle needs an oil change, would you? Why would you build a new transmission line when repair of an existing one is much cheaper and satisfies the need?
Here's an article about the Open House that was published in today's Journal.
What a difference a little honesty makes! Instead of one of PATH's Charlie Foxtrot Open Houses, this one was pleasant and low-key: I didn't hear one person raise their voice; there was no "security" needed; and no pictures were required! What I did see/hear was landowners getting their questions answered, the media being invited to talk with citizens by Dominion personnel, StopPATH WV being permitted to hand out their own information; and the promise to treat landowners fairly and with respect during the rebuild project. There was also a bit of laughter, but it just wouldn't be nice to point out the person who was the butt of the joke now, would it? He knows who he is ;-)
Dominion needs to realize that StopPATH WV takes a promise seriously though, and the clock starts now. One of the main purposes of our organization is social justice, which includes ensuring that landowners and citizens are treated fairly during this project. If you feel that Dominion isn't treating you fairly, we want to know about it. This would also include Dominion removing their old foundations to at least a 4-foot depth on farmland so that they won't interfere with tilling, right fellas? Doing this extra bit of work doesn't cost Dominion anything since the cost of this project is being socialized among PJM's 51-million ratepayers and isn't costing them a dime. And it's only fair to the farmers not to leave landmines behind that are going to damage very expensive farming equipment.
The Mt. Storm - Doubs rebuild is a good start on Dominion's Alternative One to the PATH project, but it is only a start. Rebuilding and modernizing of aging transmission infrastructure will vastly improve the reliability and capacity of the grid without requiring additional sacrifices from landowners, environmental destruction, and the waste of billions of dollars building new transmission projects. The first step has now been taken, so let's get on with a solution that is win-win for everyone involved and makes perfect sense. Afterall, you wouldn't go buy a brand new car when your current vehicle needs an oil change, would you? Why would you build a new transmission line when repair of an existing one is much cheaper and satisfies the need?
Here's an article about the Open House that was published in today's Journal.
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