5.28.09 PUC overturns Judge’s decision, allows groups’ protest to be admitted in Susquehanna-Roseland line case

PPL Electric Utilities currently has an application before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to construct a new 500 Kv transmission line approximately 101 miles through parts of northeastern Pennsylvania.

The proposed Susquehanna-Roseland Line is the subject of much litigation before the PUC.  Both PJM and PPL state that the line is needed to relieve congestion and promote more reliability of electric power through northeastern Pennsylvania.

At its Public Meeting of May 28, 2009, the PUC voted 5-0 to reverse a decision of Administrative Law Judge Susan Colwell, the presiding officer in the case. Judge Colwell had ruled that the protest of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association and the Lackawanna Valley Conservancy was filed a month after the regulatory deadline and as a result, dismissed the protest and intervention. In a Motion by Vice Chairman Tyrone Christy, the filing was reinstated and both groups are now allowed to participate in the case.

Despite the fact that all the legally required notices were published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and the groups clearly failed to meet the deadlines prescribed by law, Vice Chairman Christy opined that members of the public do not always read the Pennsylvania Bulletin. He added that since the groups filed their protests within a reasonable amount of time following the public input hearings, the groups should be admitted into the case. He also added that allowance of intervention is a matter within the Commission’s discretion.