1 BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF OHIO 2 - - - 3 In the Matter of the : Application of AEP Ohio : 4 Transmission Company, Inc. : Case No. for a Certificate of : 16-0535-EL-BTX 5 Environmental Compatibility : and Public Need for the : 6 Yager-Desert Road 138 kV : Transmission Line Rebuild : 7 Project. : 8 - - - 9 PROCEEDINGS 10 Before Doug Jennings, Administrative Law Judge, 11 held at the offices of the Public Utilities 12 Commission of Ohio, 180 East Broad Street, 13 Hearing Room 11-A, Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, 14 February 9, 2017, at 9:00 A.M. 15 16 - - - 17 18 19 20 21 22 Armstrong & Okey, Inc. 222 East Town Street, 2nd Floor 23 Columbus, Ohio 43215 (614) 224-9481 - (800) 223-9481 24 - - - 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 2 1 APPEARANCES: 2 Ms. Erin C. Miller and 3 Mr. Mike Benza 1 Riverside Plaza, 29th Floor 4 Columbus, Ohio 43215 5 On behalf of AEP Ohio Transmission Company. 6 7 Mr. Werner Margard 8 Assistant Attorney General 30 East Broad Street, 16th Floor 9 Columbus, Ohio 43215 10 On behalf of the Staff of the Ohio Power Siting Board, 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 INDEX TO WITNESSES 2 - - - 3 AEP OHIO TRANSMISSION WITNESSES DIRECT CROSS 4 Ronald Howard 11 5 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 4 1 INDEX TO EXHIBITS 2 - - - AEP OHIO EXHIBITS 3 MARKED ADMT 1 Application 7 18 4 2 Proof of Publication 7 18 5 3 Proof of Publication 8 18 6 4 Proof of Service 8 18 7 5 Proof of Service 8 18 8 6 Proof of Notification 8 18 9 7 Proof of Publication 9 18 10 8 Proof of Publication 9 18 11 9 Prefiled Testimony of 9 18 12 Ronald M. Howard 13 JOINT EXHIBITS 14 1 Stipulation and Recommendation 10 18 15 2 Supplemental Joint Stipulation 10 18 and Recommendation 16 STAFF EXHIBITS 17 1 Staff Report of Investigation 10 18 18 - - - 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 5 1 Thursday Morning, 2 February 9, 2017. 3 - - - 4 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: The Ohio 5 Power Siting Board has assigned for evidentiary 6 hearing at this time and place Case No. 7 16-535-EL-BTX which is captioned In the Matter 8 of the Application of AEP Ohio Transmission 9 Company for a Certificate of Environmental 10 Compatibility and Public Need for the 11 Yager-Desert Road 138 kV Transmission Line 12 Rebuild Project. 13 This case was consolidated with the 14 Dennison-Yager 138 kV transmission line rebuild 15 project case, which is Case No. 16-534-EL-BTX. 16 Both cases were scheduled for hearing on January 17 25th, 2017. The parties filed a stipulation in 18 Case No. 16-534-EL-BTX. 19 Case No. 16-535-EL-BTX was continued 20 to today to allow Staff an opportunity to 21 consider the revised preferred route. 22 My name is Doug Jennings, I am an 23 Administrative Law Judge and I have been 24 assigned by the Ohio Power Sitting Board to 25 preside over this hearing. ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 6 1 At this point in the proceedings I 2 would ask the parties to enter an appearance on 3 the record, beginning with the Company. 4 MS. MILLER: Thank you, your Honor. 5 Erin Miller and Michael Benza, my colleague, on 6 behalf of AEP Ohio Transmission Company, Inc., 1 7 Riverside Plaza, Columbus, Ohio 43215. 8 MR. MARGARD: Thank you, your Honor. 9 On behalf of the Staff of the Power Siting 10 Board, Mike DeWine, Ohio Attorney General, 11 William Wright, Chief of the Public Utilities 12 Section, by Assistant Attorney General Werner 13 Margard, 30 East Broad Street, 16th Floor, 14 Columbus, Ohio. 15 ALJ JENNINGS: Thank you. I will 16 let the record reflect that there are no 17 parties, no other parties present. 18 And it's my understanding that a 19 revised stipulation has been filed. 20 MR. MARGARD: Yes, your Honor, 21 that's correct. 22 ALJ JENNINGS: Okay. 23 MS. MILLER: And we have that to 24 offer after we mark exhibits. 25 ALJ JENNINGS: Okay. Let's proceed ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 7 1 with marking of exhibits. 2 MS. MILLER: Okay. Bear with me. We 3 have a few here. Okay. 4 AEP Ohio Transco would like to mark 5 as Exhibit 1, AEP Exhibit 1, the Application 6 filed on July 22, 2016 and certified as complete 7 by the Board on September 20th, 2016. 8 And additional supplementation 9 documentation with that filed in the docket on 10 January 23rd, 2017 and February 6th, 2017, 11 respectfully. 12 ALJ JENNINGS: Okay. Exhibits will 13 be marked accordingly. 14 (EXHIBIT MARKED FOR PURPOSES OF 15 IDENTIFICATION) 16 MS. MILLER: Thank you, your Honor. 17 The company would like to mark as AEP Exhibit 2 18 proof of notification filed on April 15th, 2016. 19 ALJ JENNINGS: So marked. 20 (EXHIBIT MARKED FOR THE PURPOSE OF 21 IDENTIFICATION) 22 MS. MILLER: Thank you. I would 23 like to have marked AEP Ohio Transco Exhibit No. 24 3 proof of publication filed on May 5th, 2016. 25 ALJ JENNINGS: It shall be so ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 8 1 marked. 2 (EXHIBIT HEREBY MARKED FOR 3 IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) 4 MS. MILLER: Thank you. I would 5 like to have marked as AEP Ohio Transco Exhibit 6 No. 4 proof of service filed on -- excuse me. 7 AEP Ohio Transco No. 4, proof of publication 8 filed on May 5th, 2016. 9 ALJ JENNINGS: It shall be so 10 marked? 11 (EXHIBIT HEREBY MARKED FOR 12 IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) 13 MS. MILLER: Thank you. AEP Ohio 14 Transco Exhibit 5, proof of service, filed on 15 October 14th, 2016. 16 ALJ JENNINGS: It shall be so 17 marked accordingly. 18 (EXHIBIT HEREBY MARKED FOR 19 IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) 20 MS. MILLER: Thank you. Okay. AEP 21 Ohio Exhibit No. 6, proof of notification filed 22 on December 9th, 2016. 23 ALJ JENNINGS: Shall be so are 24 marked. 25 (EXHIBIT HEREBY MARKED FOR ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 9 1 IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) 2 MS. MILLER: AEP Ohio Transco 3 Exhibit No. 7, proof of publication filed on 4 December 28th, 2016. 5 ALJ JENNINGS: Shall be so marked. 6 (EXHIBIT HEREBY MARKED FOR 7 IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) 8 MS. MILLER: Thank you. Okay. And 9 AEP Exhibit, Transco Exhibit No. 8, proof of 10 publication, filed on January 9th, 2007. 11 ALJ JENNINGS: Shall be so marked. 12 (EXHIBIT HEREBY MARKED FOR 13 IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) 14 MS. MILLER: Thank you. And lastly 15 AEP Ohio Exhibit 9, prefiled filed testimony of 16 Ronald M. Howard filed in the docket on January 17 19th, 2017. 18 ALJ JENNINGS: Shall be so marked. 19 (EXHIBIT MARKED FOR THE PURPOSE OF 20 IDENTIFICATION) 21 MS. MILLER: Thank you. And if I 22 can mark, we can mark this as a joint 23 stipulation. 24 MR. MARGARD: Yes. 25 MS. MILLER: Okay. We would like ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 10 1 to, the parties would like to have marked as 2 Joint Exhibit 1 the Joint Stipulation and 3 Recommendation filed in the docket on January 4 19th, 2017. 5 ALJ JENNINGS: Shall be so marked. 6 (EXHIBIT MARKED FOR IDENTIFICATION) 7 MS. MILLER: And the parties would 8 like to have marked as Joint Exhibit 2 the 9 Supplemental Joint Stipulation and 10 Recommendation that was filed in the docket on 11 February 8th, 2017. 12 ALJ JENNINGS: Shall be so marked. 13 (EXHIBIT MARKED FOR THE PURPOSE OF 14 IDENTIFICATION) 15 MS. MILLER: Thank you. We have no 16 further exhibits to mark. 17 ALJ JENNINGS: Thank you. 18 MR. MARGARD: Your Honor, the Staff 19 would request that the Staff Report of 20 Investigation that was filed in this docket on 21 December 27th, 2016 be marked as Staff Exhibit 22 No. 1. 23 ALJ JENNINGS: Shall be so marked. 24 (EXHIBIT MARKED FOR IDENTIFICATION) 25 ALJ JENNINGS: Any other exhibits? ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 11 1 MS. MILLER: No, sir. 2 ALJ JENNINGS: Do you have a 3 witness to support the stipulation? 4 MS. MILLER: Yes, your Honor. The 5 company is prepared to proceed. 6 ALJ JENNINGS: Yes. 7 MS. MILLER: At this time 8 the company will call Ron Howard to the stand. 9 (WITNESS SWORN) 10 - - - 11 RONALD M. HOWARD 12 called as a witness, being first duly sworn, 13 testified as follows: 14 DIRECT EXAMINATION 15 By Ms. Miller: 16 Q. Good morning. If you would, please 17 state your name and business address for 18 the record. 19 A. Ronald M. Howard, Jr., 700 Morrison 20 Road, Gahanna. 21 Q. Okay. And, Mr. Howard, by who are 22 you employed and in what capacity? 23 A. AEP Ohio as a Siting Specialist. 24 Q. And if you would, please, describe 25 your educational and professional background. ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 12 1 A. I graduated from Ohio State 2 University and have a Bachelor's in science and 3 chemical engineering and specialty working in 4 the regulatory field since 1993 working with 5 state, local and federal agencies. 6 MS. MILLER: Your Honor, may I 7 approach the witness? 8 ALJ JENNINGS: Yes. 9 Q. Mr. Howard, I am handing you what's 10 been marked as AEP Exhibit 9. Can you please 11 identify what I am handing you there; 12 A. This is my prefiled testimony. 13 Q. And did you cause this testimony to 14 be filed in the docket on January 19th, 2017? 15 A. Yes, I did. 16 Q. Okay. And, Mr. Howard, what are 17 your responsibilities as a transmission line 18 site specialist? 19 A. I am responsible for the 20 coordination of different groups within AEP to 21 site the best line possible. 22 Q. Okay. And what is the purpose of 23 your testimony today? 24 A. It's to support the joint 25 stipulation. ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 13 1 Q. Okay. And do you sponsor any 2 exhibits as part of your testimony? 3 A. Yes, I do today. 4 Q. Would that be the Joint Stipulation? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And Recommendation? Okay. Thank 7 you so much. 8 And additionally, you will also be 9 sponsoring the Supplemental Joint Stipulation 10 and Recommendation; is that correct? 11 A. That is correct. 12 Q. Okay. And, Mr. Howard, do you have 13 any additions or corrections for your prefiled 14 testimony today? 15 A. I did have an addition filed on 16 February 6th to the docket. 17 Q. Okay. And if you would just 18 describe the addition that was filed in the 19 docket on February 6th, please. 20 A. Correct. The addition to the docket 21 reflects a modification to the preferred route. 22 Based upon coordination with the property owner 23 there would have been impact to a habitable 24 structure on someone's property. 25 We modified the route because the ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 14 1 two property owners to the north were both 2 amenable to the relocation on their properties. 3 They were already impacted by the project and 4 this re-route was able to occur because of their 5 willingness, and we are able to not impact the 6 habitable structures on the property around 7 there. 8 Q. Okay. What are the major provisions 9 of the stipulation? 10 A. The stipulation describes the 6.8 11 mile project between Yager and Desert Road 12 stations. It is the re-build of a 69 kV line to 13 138 kV standards. 14 Q. Okay. And, Mr. Howard, is this part 15 of a larger program for the improvements that 16 the company will be rolling out in eastern Ohio? 17 A. Yes, it is. Based upon customer 18 growth in the region, there are many projects in 19 this area that AEP is working on. 20 Q. Okay. So customer growth and in 21 turn reliability? 22 A. Correct. This line was constructed 23 originally in 1967. 24 Q. What criteria has the Board used in 25 reviewing and approving stipulations among ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 15 1 signatory parties? 2 A. There were three. The stipulation 3 must be a product of serious bargaining among 4 capable, knowledgeable parties. 5 The stipulation must not violate any 6 important regulatory principle or practice. 7 And the stipulation must as a whole 8 benefit customers and the public interest. 9 Q. Thank you. Does the stipulation 10 represent a product of serious bargaining among 11 capable and knowledgeable parties? 12 A. Yes, it does. 13 Q. Does the stipulation violate any 14 important regulatory principles and practices? 15 A. No, it does not. 16 Q. Okay. Does the stipulation benefit 17 consumers and the public interest? 18 A. Yes, it does. 19 Q. And are there tax benefits that are 20 associated with this project? 21 A. Yes. The approximate tax benefits 22 to the region is about $850,000 on an annual 23 basis. 24 Q. And that is both for the preferred 25 and the alternate routes; is that correct? ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 16 1 A. That is correct. 2 Q. Okay. And did AEP Ohio Transco take 3 into account the public input in its 4 deliberations? 5 A. Yes, it did, as could be evidenced 6 by the supplemental information we filed on 7 February 6th. 8 Q. With respect to the route 9 modification. 10 A. That's correct. 11 Q. Thank you. And is it AEP Ohio 12 Transco's position that the stipulation meets 13 the three-part test regarding consideration of 14 stipulations and so should be adopted by the 15 Board? 16 A. Yes, it is. 17 MS. MILLER: I have no further 18 questions. 19 EXAMINATION 20 By ALJ Jennings: 21 Q. Thank you. Mr. Howard, in your 22 testimony you referred to an alteration in the 23 preferred route to avoid a habitable structure? 24 A. That's correct. 25 Q. Does the revised preferred route ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 17 1 affect the property of this landowner, does it 2 cross the boundaries of the landowner? 3 A. The re-routed section does not 4 impact that specific property owner. With 5 the center line or the easement that we are 6 taking there are no easements taken on that 7 property. 8 Q. So the route completely avoids the 9 landowner's property? 10 A. Yes. That is correct. 11 ALJ JENNINGS: Thank you. No 12 further questions. 13 MR. MARGARD: I have no questions. 14 Thank you, Your Honor. 15 ALJ JENNINGS: Thank you. You are 16 excused. 17 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 18 ALJ JENNINGS: I believe there is 19 nothing else. 20 MR. MARGARD: Your Honor, I would 21 move the admission of Staff Exhibit No. 1. 22 ALJ JENNINGS: Okay. And the 23 exhibits identified by AEP Transco. 24 MS. MILLER: Yes, your Honor. At 25 this time we would move for admission of all ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 18 1 the exhibits that the company identified. In 2 addition the Joint Stipulation and the 3 Supplemental Joint Stipulation. 4 ALJ JENNINGS: Okay. All exhibits 5 as identified by counsel will be admitted into 6 the record. 7 (EXHIBITS ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE) 8 ALJ JENNINGS: Thank you. I 9 believe that concludes the hearing if there is 10 nothing further. We are adjourned. 11 MS. MILLER: Thank you. 12 (At 9:20 A.M. the hearing was 13 concluded) 14 - - - 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 19 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct transcript of the 3 proceedings taken by me in this matter on February 9, 2017, and carefully compared with my 4 original stenographic notes. 5 __________________________ 6 Michael O. Spencer, Registered Professional 7 Reporter. 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