Roanoke, Va., August 21, 1998 -- American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) has provided the Virginia State Corporation Commission staff with the report it requested about a two-phased 765 kV alternative to the proposed Wyoming-Cloverdale 765 kV transmission line.

The scope of the study called for additional technical, economic and environmental analysis to assist the SCC staff and its consultants in evaluating an alternative consisting of two 765 kV phases, Wyoming-Jacksons Ferry East and Axton-Joshua Falls. (Wyoming Station is in Oceana, W.Va., Jacksons Ferry East would be a new station to be built south of Pulaski; Axton Station is between Martinsville and Danville, Joshua Falls is east of Lynchburg)

The report states that the two-phased 765 kV alternative project could provide electrical transmission reinforcement comparable to the Wyoming-Cloverdale line. The length of the alternative would be between 151-173 miles and would cost between $341-$377 million. The 132-mile long Wyoming-Cloverdale line would cost $263 million. Like the Wyoming-Cloverdale project, the phased alternative would cross the Jefferson National Forest, the Appalachian Trail and the New River. In addition, the first phase of the alternative would cross the New River Trail State Park.

The Virginia proceedings on the power line were suspended June 9 so AEP could respond to the SCC staff request for additional information about the alternative to the Wyoming-Cloverdale project.

"We continue to be concerned about delays in addressing the electric reliability issues that face this region," said Dan Carson, AEP Virginia/Tennessee president. "The earliest the Wyoming-Cloverdale line can be in place is the winter of 2002/2003. By then, on as many as 100 days a year customers´ demands will require the transmission system to operate beyond safe limits exposing the region´s electrical system to an unacceptable risk of collapse that could lead to blackouts."

Last September AEP filed applications to construct the Wyoming-Cloverdale line to reinforce the transmission system that brings electricity to AEP customers in southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia. These customers are setting peak electric demands that are more than double what they were when AEP built the last line of this type in 1973. The applications were submitted to the Virginia SCC and the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.

On May 27 the West Virginia PSC granted AEP permission to build the line saying that its construction is needed to prevent blackouts in southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. The SCC has held five public hearings. The procedural schedule, including the evidentiary hearing originally scheduled for July 14, was suspended to accommodate this recent study. Once the SCC staff makes a recommendation to the hearing examiner, a new procedural schedule will be established in a future Commission ruling.
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