We are facing a defining moment. We have drawn a line in the sand.
– R andy W oodward
STO WINS! SWEPCO withdraws
Becky Gillette Save the Ozarks won its battle to prevent the Shipe Road to Kings River 345-kiloVolt transmission line proposed by American Electric Power/ Southwestern Electric Power Co, (SWEPCO). The project pitted one of the larger electric providers in the country against residents of Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri determined to protect the environment, views, property values and tourism economy. On Tuesday, Dec. 30, SWEPCO withdrew its pending application to construct the proposed $116 million transmission line project citing a review by the Southwest Power Pool that determined the proposed project is no longer needed. SPP said it based determination primarily on updated forecasts that show significantly lower electric demand in an area identified as having the highest impact on need for the project. SPP also said the cancellation of several large, long-term transmission service reservations further reduces reliability needs in the area. “I did think we would have to push this all the way through the Arkansas Court of Appeals,” said STO director Pat Costner. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be wrong. The thing is, we were right and we proved our point that the power line is unnecessary. People in this community, Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri and especially Carroll County and Eureka Springs, have shown they can and will stand up for what they believe in and what they want to protect. And they have succeeded. So, congratulations to all of us.” Doug Stowe, a member of the STO Board of Directors, said the decision to withdraw the applications is a major
victory. “It was a great year-end gift, but it was not a gift,” Stowe said. “It was something we worked for very hard.” When SWEPCO announced the project on April 3, 2013, landowners affected had one month to oppose the project by intervening in proceedings before the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Opponents put in nearly 4,000 comments opposing the project, but it was approved by a commission in January 2014 that selected a route running through Missouri as having the least impact on aesthetics and homeowners. The project would have required six towers 130 – 150 ft. tall per mile, with an accompanying 150-ft.-wide right-ofway that would have been clear cut and maintained with herbicides. Citizens objected to an inadequate Environmental Impact Statement and failure to consider impacts to the tourism economy. Lack of need was the strongest argument. STO appealed the judge’s ruling, and achieved a major victory in June 2014 when the three-member commission overturned the judge’s decision. SWEPCO then elected to go back to SPP to re-evaluate the need for the project. “Based on SPP’s new findings, we are notifying landowners, community leaders and elected officials that we have withdrawn our application to the APSC for authority to construct the Shipe Road to Kings River transmission project,” Venita McCellon-Allen, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer, said. Arkansas State Sen. Bryan King, who opposed the project, said if SPP had determined the project was necessary and SWEPCO had submitted a new application, it might have met even more public opposition than the original
Orange Gras – Save the Ozarks director Pat Costner drove an appropriately colored tractor in the “Eureka Circus” Mardi Gras Parade March 1. STO petitioned the Arkansas Public Service Commission for a rehearing of its decision to allow SWEPCO to build a 56-mile-long transmission line through Carroll County and parts of southern Missouri. SWEPCO withdrew its application Dec. 30.
Photo by David Frank Dempsey
proposal because people in Benton County were becoming more aware of the pitfalls. King said he met with SWEPCO recently and told them that. King congratulated the citizens who were successful in opposing the project. “If this had been an ordinary situation, the bulldozers would probably already be out there,” King said. “It is a win for the people.” King said he still plans to go ahead in
the next legislative session and introduce legislation to strengthen landowner rights under eminent domain laws. The southern part of his district is facing a similar large transmission line project, the proposed Plains and Eastern Clean Line project that could deliver wind power from Oklahoma and Texas through Arkansas to other states. The project would run more than 700 miles through Arkansas impacting thousands of property owners.
Thanks, SWEPCO. I have never seen the community pull together like it has. You have united a family. – R oger S hoffit
INDEPENDENTSpecial Edition The Eureka Springs Independent, Inc. is published weekly in Eureka Springs, AR
A thousand pictures are worth one word ... “No.”
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178A W. Van Buren • Eureka Springs, AR 479.253.6101 Editor – Mary Pat Boian Editorial staff – C.D. White, Nicky Boyette Contributors Kenzie Doss, Steven Foster, Becky Gillette, Wolf Grulkey, Robert Johnson, Dan Krotz, Leslie Meeker, Melanie Myhre, Risa, Jay Vrecenak, Steve Weems, Reillot Weston Art Director – Perlinda Pettigrew-Owens Director of Office Sanitation Jeremiah Alvarado-Owens
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Orange “juice” – Anti-SWEPCO protesters marched en masse in the Fourth of July Parade in downtown Eureka Springs. The group won the support of onlookers and Power of the people – Save the Ozarks Director first place in the walking group division. Photo by David Frank Dempsey Pat Costner and STO attorney Mick Harrison confer in Little Rock on exposing incomplete and inaccurate studies done by giant power companies that would irreparably harm quality of life in the Ozarks. Photo by David Frank Dempsey
Remember our state motto: The People Rule. – Doug Stowe
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Save the Ozarks members Michael Shah, left, and Buz Peine shared a laugh at the STO tent at Lake Leatherwood during XTERRA on June 8 after STO won a rehearing before the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Photo by David Frank Dempsey
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