Comments for Stop Path! In Morgan County http://www.stoppath.net Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:42:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 Comment on Comment by David L. Boslaugh by Bill Dickinson http://www.stoppath.net/?p=345#comment-3 Bill Dickinson Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:57:31 +0000 http://www.stoppath.net/?p=345#comment-3 How many millions of dollars will this cost to implement? Following on David's comment above about the power needing to come from local sources instead of piped in from large distances away, wouldn't it be better to spend this money on something like solar or wind generators across the region? If the electricity companies implemented even small alternate energy generators at each power station, substation, or property they already control, it would provide significant increases in local power sources in an environmentally and socially friendly way. It might even end up costing less to implement this type of strategy then building hundreds of new large transmission towers with long miles of high-voltage cabling, as well as avoiding the need to purchase/impact many landholders and the ensuing legal costs involved in acquiring property rights in the construction zone. Overall, after reading through what has been presented by the electric company officials to date, it seems quite obvious to me that they have not thought enough of this through to allow PATH to happen. I, for one, though not in Morgan County, will be signing this petition. Sincerely, Bill Dickinson Jr. Hagerstown, MD How many millions of dollars will this cost to implement? Following on David’s comment above about the power needing to come from local sources instead of piped in from large distances away, wouldn’t it be better to spend this money on something like solar or wind generators across the region? If the electricity companies implemented even small alternate energy generators at each power station, substation, or property they already control, it would provide significant increases in local power sources in an environmentally and socially friendly way. It might even end up costing less to implement this type of strategy then building hundreds of new large transmission towers with long miles of high-voltage cabling, as well as avoiding the need to purchase/impact many landholders and the ensuing legal costs involved in acquiring property rights in the construction zone.

Overall, after reading through what has been presented by the electric company officials to date, it seems quite obvious to me that they have not thought enough of this through to allow PATH to happen. I, for one, though not in Morgan County, will be signing this petition.

Sincerely,
Bill Dickinson Jr.
Hagerstown, MD

]]> Comment on Welcome to Citizens Against Path by David L. Boslaugh http://www.stoppath.net/?p=1#comment-2 David L. Boslaugh Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:41:41 +0000 http://stoppath.net/?p=1#comment-2 Thomas Edison said the cheapest way to transport electrical power is in a coal car, so it seems that if the East Coast cities are going to need more electrical power in the future, the needed generating capacity should be built near the consumers rather than sending the power through an expensive and destructive 290 mile “extension cord” from West Virginia. Morgan County is 82% forested, and if we assume that this proposed 290 mile long transmission line will traverse through land that is only 50% forested it will cause the destruction of over 3,500 acres of forest land because of the 200-foot cleared cut it needs. Growing forests are very efficient at absorbing and storing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide which is now acknowledged to be the primary cause of global warming. This nation should be planting many more forests to help ward off global warming, rather than wholesale cutting them down for an unneeded high tension power line. In our own case, Route # 78 of the proposed power line will pass directly through our 61 acres near Unger, WV, will pass approximately 500 feet from our home, and will require the destruction of more than eight acres of our WV State sponsored managed forest land. It is hard to assess the ruinous effect on our property value, but no one is ever going to want to buy 61 acres of forest property with a high tension power line running through the middle of it. One of the stated reasons for the need for PATH is to increase the reliability of the regional power grid to help prevent future regional power blackouts. An article published in the September 2008 issue of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) “the institute” magazine titled “Perfecting the Power Grid,” puts this claim in a much different light. This article states, “In today’s grid, power flows the way it wants to flow, and you don’t have much control over which electron goes where.... But soon digital control of the power grid, with comprehensive electronic sensors operating at the same speed as the power flow, will let utilities reroute power instantly.... Digital electronic control will make the delivery system “self correcting and self healing.” Problems will be islanded rather than cascading. There should be no outages”. The article goes on to say, with digital control: “Utilities will be able to increase existing lines’ power throughput from one-third of theoretical capacity to as much as two thirds, without exceeding thermal limits or requiring new lines.” In view of the above statements by recognized authorities in the field of electrical power transmission, it must be concluded that the PATH project is not really needed. Thomas Edison said the cheapest way to transport electrical power is in a coal car, so it seems that if the East Coast cities are going to need more electrical power in the future, the needed generating capacity should be built near the consumers rather than sending the power through an expensive and destructive 290 mile “extension cord” from West Virginia.

Morgan County is 82% forested, and if we assume that this proposed 290 mile long transmission line will traverse through land that is only 50% forested it will cause the destruction of over 3,500 acres of forest land because of the 200-foot cleared cut it needs. Growing forests are very efficient at absorbing and storing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide which is now acknowledged to be the primary cause of global warming. This nation should be planting many more forests to help ward off global warming, rather than wholesale cutting them down for an unneeded high tension power line.

In our own case, Route # 78 of the proposed power line will pass directly through our 61 acres near Unger, WV, will pass approximately 500 feet from our home, and will require the destruction of more than eight acres of our WV State sponsored managed forest land. It is hard to assess the ruinous effect on our property value, but no one is ever going to want to buy 61 acres of forest property with a high tension power line running through the middle of it.

One of the stated reasons for the need for PATH is to increase the reliability of the regional power grid to help prevent future regional power blackouts. An article published in the September 2008 issue of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) “the institute” magazine titled “Perfecting the Power Grid,” puts this claim in a much different light. This article states, “In today’s grid, power flows the way it wants to flow, and you don’t have much control over which electron goes where…. But soon digital control of the power grid, with comprehensive electronic sensors operating at the same speed as the power flow, will let utilities reroute power instantly…. Digital electronic control will make the delivery system “self correcting and self healing.” Problems will be islanded rather than cascading. There should be no outages”. The article goes on to say, with digital control: “Utilities will be able to increase existing lines’ power throughput from one-third of theoretical capacity to as much as two thirds, without exceeding thermal limits or requiring new lines.”

In view of the above statements by recognized authorities in the field of electrical power transmission, it must be concluded that the PATH project is not really needed.

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