What impact would the Transource power line project have on the economy?
A 230 kV tower, about 135 feet tall, is pictured. Transource Energy is looking at rights of way for 230 kV lines — one in Franklin County and another in southern York County.(Submitted)
(Undated) — Transource Energy on Tuesday announced the short-term economic impact of building two high-voltage transmission lines in Franklin and York counties.
The construction of the Independence Energy Connection will provide about 130 full-time jobs and economic activity of $40 million, according to The Brattle Group, Cambridge, Mass.
L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp., said on Tuesday that the report did not change his opposition to the project.
“While I recognize the impact of the construction jobs, the vast majority of those will be short-term until the project is built with a much smaller number required to maintain the system,” Ross said. The project has more lasting impacts, he added.
Construction of the lines through Franklin and York counties is expected to take less than two years.
Transource announced the analysis as regulatory agencies in Pennsylvania and Maryland are reviewing the two routes. Residents in the two counties have organized to oppose the lines. They nearly filled a hearing room during a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission conference earlier this month. Formal hearings are expected this spring.
Transource has sued 60 people in the two county courts to gain access to their properties for surveys, tests and studies. Hearings in Franklin County Court start next week.
Transource emphasized the jobs in its press release about the Brattle report: “While electric cost-savings from the project will benefit the region, the analysis shows that significant jobs and economic activity will stay local.”
Transource has proposed building a 29-mile line through Franklin County and a 16-mile line in southern York County. The 230 kV lines would be strung on 13-story tall monopoles.
“The wages that we pay are far and above what the standards are in the construction field,” said Jerimiah Shuster, vice president of Newville Construction, Newville. “You’ve gotta look for the greater good of everybody here in the country. I’m certain that some people might think that the power that they’re getting in their house doesn’t go through these lines so why does it need to be. Well, if the people who had that attitude from Sunbury or Brunner Island or Susquehanna had those same thoughts, they would be out of power.”
PJM Interconnect, which manages the electrical grid in 13 states, selected Transource’s plan to convey cheaper electricity from the west to the Washington-Baltimore metro area. Dominion Energy, Baltimore Gas and Electric and PEPCO will pay for more than three-fourths of the $320 million project. Their ratepayers are projected to save $622 million in 15 years.
“Reinforcements of the regional electric transmission grid are large-scale economic development projects,” said Todd Burns, Transource director. “They strengthen the infrastructure that we all rely on, supply family-sustaining jobs for skilled, local workers and support economic growth in the project areas.”
The Brattle Group analysis is based on ill-defined assumptions, Ross said.
“I can only assume the Brattle Group has been contracted by PJM or Transource to provide the economic analysis, which by its very nature makes it a biased report,” Ross said. “There is no supporting evidence as to how such assumptions were developed, and it would be impossible to verify its accuracy unless the project is put into place. To that point, what would be the penalty to Transource or PJM should their assumptions not prove accurate? Meanwhile, the negative structural impacts to Franklin County would be permanent. Once a tower is placed in the Lowes parking lot, at the (Chambersburg) Mall, or next to the Falling Springs trout stream, it will be permanent.”
He had said in September that the transmission line could curtail future business expansion, hurt dairy production and change the county landscape.
Transource and The Brattle Group did not respond immediately to reporters’ questions on Tuesday.
The Brattle Group did not make clear how $2 million in state and local tax revenue would be generated during construction. According to its analysis, “The Franklin County government is expected to collect between $290,000 and $370,000 of taxes while the IEC project is being built, and the York County government is expected to collect between $190,000 and $240,000 in taxes.” Pennsylvania counties do not collect income taxes. The utility will build on rights of way and is expected to buy little land.
In Maryland, the IEC will pay property taxes of $700,000 a year when completed, according to the analysis.
Transource expects to receive regulatory approvals in 2018, to begin construction in 2019 and to have the line in service by June 1, 2020.
“We’re sitting on one of the biggest gas pockets in the country,” said Bernie Kephart business representative with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “You gotta have these lines. No sense in putting the gas lines in and putting the power plants in if you’re not going to put the power lines in to carry the electricity to the cities and the rural areas.”
Economic impact during the 2-year construction of Transource Energy’s Independence Energy Connection:
- Franklin County, 55 jobs, $17.5 million.
- York County, 34 jobs, $10.3 million.
- Rest of Pennsylvania, 18 jobs, $3.9 million.
- Maryland, 23 jobs, $8 million.
The jobs will depend on the skills available in the local labor market at the time of construction, but may include steel workers, linemen, equipment operators, construction supervisors, field engineers, or material handling specialists.
Source: The Brattle Group
This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion.
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