1 1 BEFORE THE OHIO POWER SITING BOARD 2 - - - 3 In the matter of the : 4 Application of AEP Ohio : Transmission Company for :Case No. 5 a Certificate of :16-701-EL-BTX Environmental Compatibility: 6 and Public Need for the : Lamping-Rouse, 138 : 7 Kilovolt Transmission Line : Project : 8 - - - 9 PROCEEDINGS 10 before L. Douglas Jennings, Administrative Law Judge, 11 held in the auditorium of Monroe Central High School, 12 469 Lewisville Road, Woodsfield, Ohio, on Tuesday, 13 June 6, 2017 at 6:05 p.m. 14 - - - 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 2 1 APPEARANCES: AEP Ohio Transmission Company 2 By Ryan F.M. Agular 1 Riverside Plaza 3 29th Floor Columbus, Ohio 43215 4 (614) 716-2931 5 On behalf of AEP Ohio Transmission Company. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 3 1 Tuesday Evening, 2 June 6, 2017. 3 - - - 4 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: The Ohio 5 Power Siting Board has assigned for a meeting at this 6 time and place, Case No. 16-701-EL-BTX, which is 7 captioned in the Matter of the Application of AEP 8 Ohio Transmission Company for a Certificate of 9 Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the 10 Lamping-Rouse, 138 Kilovolt Transmission Line 11 Project. 12 My name Doug Jennings. I am the 13 administrative law judge assigned to preside over 14 this board hearing. At this time, if anyone wishes 15 to make an appearance on behalf of the company, they 16 may do so now. 17 MR. AGULAR: Thank you, Your Honor. My 18 name is Ryan Agular. I'm counsel for the applicant 19 AEP Transmission Company, Inc., and with me today I 20 have a couple witnesses as well. 21 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Thank you. 22 In this case, AEP Ohio Transmission Company plans to 23 install a new 138 kilovolt electric transmission line 24 from a proposed lamping substation to the proposed 25 Rouse substation in southwestern Morrow County. The ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 4 1 preferred route, the transmission line is about 2 4.8 miles long, and about 70 percent of it is 3 consistent with existing transmission lines. There 4 is an alternative route and it's about 4.7 miles 5 long. 6 There will be an adjudicatory hearing on 7 this matter and is scheduled for June 13th, 2017, and 8 it will be held at the Ohio Power Siting Board's 9 offices in Columbus, Ohio. The purpose of this 10 hearing is to receive comments from the public 11 regarding the application in this case. I need to 12 emphasize that this is not a question and answer 13 session. It's your opportunity to voice your 14 concerns about the company's proposal. It's also an 15 opportunity to present your concerns about either the 16 preferred or alternate routes. You should be aware 17 that the -- 18 UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got a concern 19 about that. You know, a guy came to my house. 20 There's one way right behind my house -- 21 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Excuse me. 22 I'll give you an opportunity to voice your concerns 23 at the appropriate time. 24 UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. They've been 25 talking to me. They've been coming to my house and ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 5 1 everything. It's almost like a threat to me. 2 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Sir -- 3 UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys come out 4 there and trash and don't ask -- 5 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Sir -- 6 UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and now you're 7 going to come out here and do this. I'm going to 8 just stop dealing with this. It benefits the gas 9 company to have power to run their pumps. 10 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Sir -- 11 UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I'm done with 12 you. 13 (Unidentified male walks out of 14 meeting.) 15 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: You should be 16 aware the Board staff has filed a staff report in 17 this matter that was filed on May 22nd, and the 18 report contains recommendations of the staff. The 19 staff's recommendations are not necessarily going to 20 be the Board's decision. The Board appreciates any 21 information that you provide, and it will be 22 considered in making its decision. 23 At this point, I'll give an opportunity 24 for anyone who wishes to testify to take a seat and 25 express your concerns about the company's project. ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 6 1 Anyone wish to do so? 2 MR. BEATO: I heard you say it's not a 3 question and answer, and I don't know -- this is the 4 first time I've ever been to anything like this, so 5 as far as testifying -- I live off of Pleasant Ridge 6 Road -- 7 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Sir, I'll be 8 happy to take the information you want to provide, 9 but if you don't mind taking a seat so others can 10 hear you, and I can swear you in, and you can provide 11 the testimony, and it will become part of the record. 12 MR. BEATO: Okay. 13 (Witness sworn.) 14 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: You may 15 proceed. 16 MR. BEATO: So, again, this is my first 17 time I've ever done this. I really have a question. 18 It's unclear to me how you will choose one route from 19 the alternate route. The alternate route is closer 20 to me, but, yet, I can't tell how close by this map. 21 I don't know if that means right next to my yard. I 22 don't know if that means a quarter a mile from me 23 right through the middle of the state park, that's my 24 concern. 25 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Which route ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 7 1 gives you the greatest concern, the preferred route 2 or the alternate route? 3 MR. BEATO: The alternate route appears 4 to be closer to me because I see Pleasant Ridge Road, 5 which is where I live off of. 6 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: And if the 7 company were to choose the alternate route, what 8 would be your primary concerns? 9 MR. BEATO: My primary concerns would 10 be -- I don't know how that would affect me in terms 11 of health, because it would be so close to my home. 12 Also, for personal reasons, we're in the middle of no 13 man's land, so I have all satellite. Does it affect 14 my satellite TV? Does it affect my Internet? Does 15 it affect my phone, so forth and so on? 16 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Okay. Any 17 other concerns? 18 MR. BEATO: I don't know if this is 19 going through the middle of my yard or if it's going 20 through the state park. So, again, those are certain 21 questions that I -- concerns I have and questions 22 that I would like answered. 23 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Okay. If 24 there's nothing further, you may me excused. 25 MR. BEATO: Thank you. ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 8 1 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Thank you. 2 Anyone else? If not, I will conclude the hearing. 3 We are adjourned. Thank you. 4 - - - 5 (Thereupon the hearing concluded on 6 Tuesday, June 6, 2017 6:11 p.m.) 7 - - - 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481 9 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I do hereby certify that the foregoing 3 is a true and correct transcript of the proceedings 4 taken by me in this matter on Tuesday, June 6, 2017, 5 and carefully compared with my original stenographic 6 notes. 7 8 _________________________ Ebony M. Reynolds 9 Registered Professional Reporter 10 - - - 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614) 224-9481