Nov. 4--CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Developers of the proposed PATH power line have asked the West Virginia Public Service Commission to delay hearings and a final decision on the project for more than seven months.

Lawyers for American Electric Power and Allegheny Power, partners in the power line proposal, filed the request Wednesday in response to a motion by PSC staff to throw out the PATH project petition altogether.

If approved by the PSC, the power companies' proposal would delay hearings on PATH for 217 days, from February 2010 until late September 2010. A final decision, currently due under state law by June 22, 2010, would not be due by the PSC until Jan. 25, 2011.

The delay would be a victory for power line opponents, who have argued that an adverse decision by utility regulators in Maryland made it impossible for the PSC in West Virginia to make a realistic appraisal of whether PATH is needed.

AEP and Allegheny are seeking PSC approval for the West Virginia portions of a new, 765-kilovolt line that would start near the John Amos power plant in Putnam County and run more than 275 miles to a new substation proposed for Frederick County, Md. They've dubbed the line the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline, or PATH.

The $1.8 billion project also needs approval from regulators in Virginia and Maryland.

In September, the Maryland Public Service Commission threw out the PATH application, ruling that it was improperly filed because a PATH company formed for the project was not an "electric company" under Maryland law. Under that ruling, PATH was given 30 days to notify the Maryland PSC if the project application was going to be refiled under an appropriate company's name. In early October, PATH filed a letter that indicated that it was considering its filing options, but was not able to confirm whether or when it would submit a new application.

PATH's October filing in Maryland prompted the Virginia PSC's staff to seek to halt consideration of the project in that state. And last week, the West Virginia PSC staff filed a similar request.

Among other things, the West Virginia PSC staff argued that the lack of a pending application in Maryland makes it impossible for the commission here to judge the project, because it no longer has a clear ending location.

Also, the West Virginia staff argued that delays in refiling the Maryland application made data on energy need and transmission reliability in the West Virginia application outdated.

"Time elapses while PATH delays facilitating filing an appropriate certificate application before the Maryland PSC, the information presented in PATH's application grows stale and less reflective of a fluctuating economy," the West Virginia PSC staff motion said. "It is crucial to determine whether the updated information shows that the economic landscape developed differently in the last year than was expected."

In their filing Wednesday, the power companies said the staff concerns are "unjustified," but conceded the situation in Maryland has "complicated" the PATH permit application process.

"Applicants recognize that given the dismissal of [PATH's] initial application in Maryland, any potential refiling there would likely incorporate a procedural schedule with evidentiary hearings scheduled well into 2010, perhaps six months or more after the evidentiary hearings now scheduled for Virginia and West Virginia," the power companies said.

The power companies said using different data for the three state approval processes would "not necessarily be a concern," it would be "more administratively efficient" to use the same data and analyses for all three jurisdictions.

"Applicants do not take lightly the decision to toll any aspect of this proceeding, particularly for as long as 217 days," the power companies said. "PATH is a badly needed, long lead-time construction project ... yet in view of the procedural status of this multi-state project, and to address staff's concerns, applicants are willing to make the schedule concessions."

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.

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