Let's not sugar coat what the private company, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC, is trying to do in our community: obtain the power of federal eminent domain authority via Section 1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to build what has been referred to as “the largest transmission line in America” north of Dover.
They are seeking federal eminent domain because our own Arkansas Public Services Commission rejected their application to become a public utility in 2011. Arkansas is the doormat Clean Line is trying to use to get to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Their proposed converter station would only supply 3 percent of our summer energy and would not close a single coal plant. Clean Line, as I mentioned, is a private, for-profit company that would make money delivering power from Point A (Western Oklahoma) to Point B (Shelby County, Tenn., TVA).
To my knowledge, Clean Line has zero utility customers on the end-use side, and the generators to supply this power have not been constructed yet. This line would clear-cut a 200-foot wide, 120-200-foot tall swath through either Hagarville or Lutherville, through the Bullfrog Valley area where many of us enjoy the scenic floating opportunities in the spring/summer, across Walnut Valley road, straight across Pleasant Grove, across Pollard Cemetery Road, through Scottsville, over Cloud Mountain and would cross the intersection of 105/124 going toward Appleton.
This is a huge issue in our community, affecting many people who are already being hit hard by the proposed Diamond 20-inch crude oil pipeline that would follow a similar easement.
Let’s talk about jobs: Clean Line claims they will be providing “hundreds of jobs” to Arkansas. Transmission construction is a highly specialized industry. Clean Line will be using the Fluor Corporation of Irving, Texas, for their engineering and Pike Energy Solutions of Mount Airy, N.C., for its subcontracting.
There is nothing legally binding that requires Clean Line to hire in-state workers. They’d like for us to take them on their word. Their track record in our community makes that a difficult proposition.
We talk to people all the time who had absolutely no idea this could potentially impact them until early this year. How is that possible given the fact that Clean Line has been standing over a map since 2009 looking at our generations-old property, trying to figure out how they can use it to make a buck? It’s not right. We are asking you as fellow members of the community to stand with us in opposing this.
We are having a meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Dover High School Fine Arts Building. We will have a presentation about the project and what they’re trying to do.
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