Updated: Here is a link to today’s Gazette story on the Flatwoods’ hearings.

FLATWOODS, W.Va. — The West Virginia Public Service Commission spent about 90 minutes earlier this afternoon hearing from residents of Braxton County and surrounding communities about the PATH power line project.

More than 100 people turned out, and nearly two dozen of them addressed the commission — and almost all of them spoke out strongly against the $1.8 billion project.

All three commissioners — Chairman Michael Albert, Jon McKinney and Ed Staats — showed up for the hearing. Recall that they got a nudge earlier this year from Gov. Joe Manchin to actually turn out and hear what the public had to say.

Typical of the comments at today’s hearing were remarks from Paris Webb, whose family has owned and lived on property in the Gassaway area for five generations. Webb said her family treasured a simple life out in the country, away from crowds and pollution. She didn’t want all that to change, and argued that PATH was mean to benefit residents of big cities along the east coast, while West Virginians would bear most of the burden.

Jude Binder, an artist and teacher from Calhoun County, agreed, and explained that she views the power line as little more than a path down the road toward continued reliance on dirty coal:

At a time when people all over the world are beginning to realize the dangers of fossil fuel consumption, it goes beyond all reason to cement our future into the same old ways of obtaining energy.

Interestingly, the PSC isn’t allowing anyone who formally intervened in the commission case to speak out at the public hearings. Albert explained that those folks who intervened will get their say during the formal hearing process.

This decision prompted Albert to block a construction union representative from speaking during today’s hearing.  And while Albert, a former power company lawyer, insisted the PSC wants everyone to get a say, he also made it clear that commissioners won’t mind if some folks who come out for the hearings decide not to speak:

We’re not trying to cut anybody off. We’re not going to get the hook and drag anybody off.

But:

If you feel like the people who came up before you kind of carried your sword, don’t feel compelled to come up.

We’ll see how that goes tonight. The PSC public hearing resumes at 6:30 p.m. here at the big Days Inn at the Flatwoods exit of Interstate 79. See you there, and watch tomorrow’s Gazette for complete coverage.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 28, 2009 at 3:58 pm and is filed under Power lines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.