In response to Clarence Martin’s glowing endorsement of PATH (June Observer) as “good for West Virginia” and its portrayal as a magical fix for grid congestion last month, it is important to publish the other side of the story.  

The supposed “traffic jam” on the grid is not caused by increased usage in our region, but by the increased export of power from coal-fired plants for hundreds of miles to end users in East Coast cities.  American Electric Power and Allegheny Energy are eager to expand their market to the East Coast, and because they are two of the biggest players in the PJM cartel, PJM has ordered the building of PATH.  PATH is nothing more than a giant extension cord from West Virginia’s Amos coal-fired plant to the East Coast.  The power companies will sell more power, displacing cleaner, albeit more expensive, local generation on the East Coast and hamper development of localized renewable energy resources.  All ratepayers in the PJM region, including West Virginia, will foot the bill for PATH’s estimated $1.8 billion construction cost.  In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has guaranteed the power companies a 14.3 percent profit on these construction costs, which will also come out of ratepayers’ pockets.  Consumers will be paying the infrastructure costs to enable a private corporation to sell more product, resulting in socialized cost and privatized gain.

PATH will create no positive economic benefits for West Virginia and will not provide local jobs for its citizens.  Construction will be contracted with out-of-state companies, who will temporarily import workers with the necessary specialized skills.  PATH will lower property values and cause the removal of many properties from tax rolls as homes and businesses are taken through eminent domain and razed to make way for PATH, resulting in a marked decrease in the tax base throughout West Virginia.  Specialized construction materials will be purchased from out-of-state companies for use in West Virginia.

Simply filing an application for PATH with the West Virginia Public Service Commission is not evidence of need, but evidence of desire.  Need will be determined by the commission, whose mission is to balance the interests of all parties, both West Virginians’ need to maintain quality of life and standards of living and the needs of corporations to earn a fair return on their investment in regulated services.  Indeed, a look at the PSC’s online docket for this case reveals hundreds of protests from West Virginians, while the only letters of support come from business associations and can be counted on one hand.  The West Virginia PSC can deny PATH’s application and champion the needs of its citizens over the state’s shameful history of putting corporate profits before preventing the destruction of its own environment and safeguarding the safety and well-being of its citizens.  Pennsylvania said no to a similar proposal and all but chased power company greed from their state.  The future of West Virginia lies in the ingenuity and resourcefulness of its citizens, not in the continued domination by out-of-state corporate fat cats.

PATH is about greed, not need.  The “need” claimed by PJM is manufactured.  As with any math problem, the desired answer can be obtained by playing with the variables used in the equation.  In other words, garbage in, garbage out!

As a resident of Jefferson County and citizen capable of doing research in order to make intelligent decisions, I do not support PATH, and I urge you to learn more about this corporate scam being perpetrated upon the citizens of West Virginia by visiting www.calhounpowerline.wordpress.com or www.wvcitizensagainstpath.com

Keryn Newman

Member of Citizens Against PATH

Shepherdstown, W.Va.