National Park Service OKs transmission line on park lands

The National Park Service has given its final approval to a proposed high-voltage electric transmission line that would cross public lands in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River as well as the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

The 500 kilovolt transmission line, known as the Susquehanna-Roseland line, has been proposed by utilities PPL Electric Utilities and Public Service Electric and Gas Co. It would run 145 miles from Susquehanna, Pennsylvania to Roseland, New Jersey.  Mid-Atlantic electric grid operator PJM, Inc. and national electric reliability organization NERC had called for the line to protect the grid's reliability by preventing existing power lines from facing overloaded conditions.  The line also received a fast-track review by federal agencies under the auspices of the Interagency Rapid Response Team for Transmission, a group formed to coordinate on an expedited review of transmission projects designed to increase grid reliability, integrate new renewable energy, and cut consumer costs.

While the line's route largely followed existing rights-of-way, environmentalists and park activists challenged the National Park Service's approval of expansions to the rights-of-way through these national parklands.  The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' approval of the project was also challenged, on the grounds that the state board failed to give adequate consideration to non-transmission alternatives that could have met consumer demand, such as programs promoting demand response and energy efficiency.  That case remains pending.

On Monday, the National Park Service issued its record of decision approving the line (31-page PDF).  As a condition of approval, the NPS required the developing utilities to contribute at least $56 million to a
fund to mitigate the line's impacts on federal lands by purchasing or otherwise conserving land for public use, compensating for impacts to wetlands affected by the line, and funding cultural and historic preservation in the affected parks.

In a Facebook post issued yesterday, the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club vowed to challenge the NPS's approval of the line in court.  PPL and PSE&G plan to place the line in service by June 2015.

NJ-PA transmission line challenged

A New Jersey court is considering a challenge by environmental activists to a proposed high-voltage transmission line connecting Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Proposed by PPL Electric Utilities and Public Service Electric and Gas Co., the Susquehanna-Roseland line would run 145 miles from PPL's Susquehanna substation near Berwick, Pennsylvania to Roseland, New Jersey.  The route, which is nearly finalized, would cross three units of land managed by the National Park Service: the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River and National Recreation Water Trail, and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. 

The Susquehanna-Roseland project has received the approval of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, as well as federal support in the form of an expedited permitting process.  Regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, LLC has also said that the line is essential to improving reliability and reducing transmission line congestion in the region.

At the same time, the line has drawn opposition from environmental groups and others.  The Sierra Club and other organizations have challenged the line as continuing a "reliance on toxic fossil fuels by shipping coal-fired power into New Jersey." Instead, the Sierra Club calls for increased use of demand response, energy efficiency and renewable energy to meet peak energy demands.  Other have challenged the project's proposed route through National Park Service lands, including widening some existing transmission corridors and associated road-building activity.

This past Wednesday, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey heard oral argument over whether the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' approval of the project was valid.  Among the challenges raised was whether the BPU fully considered non-transmission alternatives to the line, such as demand response and energy efficiency.

While the court process concludes, the utility proponents believe that construction should not be affected by the lawsuits.  The line is expected to be placed in service by summer 2015.