1 BEFORE THE OHIO POWER SITING BOARD 2 - - - 3 In the Matter of the : Application of American : 4 Transmission Systems, : Incorporated for a Certificate : Case No. 5 of Environmental Compatibility : 16-1982-EL-BTX and Public Need for the : 6 Construction of the East : Springfield-Tangy 138 kV Loop : 7 to Broadview Substation : Expansion Project. : 8 - - - 9 10 PROCEEDINGS 11 Before Jay Agranoff, Administrative Law Judge, 12 held at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, 13 180 East Broad Street, 12th Floor, Columbus, 14 Ohio, on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, at 10:00 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 Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP By Mr. Robert J. Schmidt, Jr. 3 and Ms. Emilly R. Taylor 4 41 South High Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 5 On behalf of the Applicant. 6 7 Mr. John Jones 8 Assistant Attorney General 30 East Broad Street 9 16th Floor Columbus, Ohio 43215 10 On behalf of the Staff of the 11 Ohio Power Siting Board. 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 DIRECT CROSS APPLICANT'S WITNESSES 4 5 Nataliya Bryksenkova 7 20 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 - - - MARKED ADMT 3 STAFF EXHIBITS 4 1 Staff Report of Investigation 21 21 5 2 Prefiled Testimony of 21 21 James S. O'Dell 6 7 JOINT EXHIBITS 8 1 Joint Stipulation and 13 22 Recommended Findings of 9 Fact and Conclusions of Law 10 APPLICANT EXHIBITS 11 1 Application 10 22 12 2 Public Notice 11 22 13 3 Initial Testimony of 9 22 14 Nataliya Bryksenkova 15 16 17 18 - - - 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 5 1 Tuesday Morning, 2 June 27, 2017. 3 - - - 4 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE AGRANOFF: 5 The Ohio Power Siting Board has assigned for 6 adjudicatory hearing at this time and place Case 7 No. 16-1982-EL-BTX which is captioned In the 8 Matter of the Application of American 9 Transmission Systems, Incorporated, or ATSI, for 10 a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and 11 Public Need for the Construction of the East 12 Springfield-Tangy 138 kV Loop to the Broadview 13 Substation. 14 My name is Jay Agranoff and I am the 15 Administrative Law Judge assigned by the Ohio 16 Power Siting Board to preside over this 17 adjudicatory hearing. 18 Pursuant to the entry of April 12th, 19 2017 the public hearing in this proceeding took 20 place on June 12th, 2017 in Springfield, Ohio. 21 The entry also scheduled an 22 adjudicatory hearing for today, June 27th, 2017 23 at the offices of the Ohio Power Siting Board. 24 At this time we will take the 25 appearances on behalf of the Applicant. ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 6 1 MS. TAYLOR: Good morning, your 2 Honor. Emilly Taylor and Robert Schmidt from 3 the law office of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur 4 at 41 South High street, Columbus, Ohio 43215. 5 ALJ AGRANOFF: Thank you. And on 6 behalf of the Ohio Power Siting Board. 7 MR. JONES: Yes. Good morning, your 8 Honor. On behalf of the Staff of the Ohio Power 9 Siting Board Ohio Attorney General, Mike DeWine, 10 Assistant Attorney General John Jones, 30 East 11 Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215 12 ALJ AGRANOFF: Thank you. I know 13 that there was prefiled testimony submitted on 14 behalf of both of the parties, and subsequent to 15 the filing of the pretrialed testimony there was 16 also the filing of a joint stipulation in this 17 matter; is that correct? 18 MR. JONES: That's correct, your 19 Honor. 20 MS. TAYLOR: Yes. 21 ALJ AGRANOFF: At this time is it 22 the intent of the parties to in essence proceed 23 under the stipulation and not pursue the 24 prefiled testimonies for the purposes of today's 25 hearing? ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 7 1 MR. JONES: You Honor, we are 2 proceeding with the stipulation and all 3 the exhibits marked in the stipulation, as well 4 as testimony in support of the application and 5 also testimony sponsering the Staff Report of 6 Investigation, which is outside the exhibits 7 listed in the stipulation. 8 ALJ AGRANOFF: Okay. Thank you. 9 And at this time is the Applicant ready to call 10 their first witness? 11 MS. TAYLOR: We are. Thank you, 12 Your Honor. The Applicant, American 13 Transmission Systems Incorporated, would like to 14 call as its witness Ms. Nataliya Bryksenkova. 15 (WITNESS SWORN) 16 ALJ AGRANOFF: Please be seated. 17 - - - 18 NATALIYA BRYKSENKOVA 19 called as a witness, being first duly sworn, 20 testified as follows: 21 DIRECT EXAMINATION 22 By Ms. Taylor: 23 Q. Good morning. Can you please state 24 your name and spell it for the record? 25 A. Nataliya Bryksenkova, ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 8 1 N-A-T-A-L-I-Y-A B-R-Y-K-S-E-N-K-O-V-A. 2 Q. Can you tell us where you presently 3 work? 4 A. FirstEnergy. 5 Q. What is the business address you use 6 at FirstEnergy? 7 A. 76 Sought Main Street, Akron, Ohio 8 44308. 9 Q. How long have you worked for 10 FirstEnergy? 11 A. For about seven and a half years. 12 Q. What is your current position at 13 FirstEnergy? 14 A. I am an engineer for Transmission 15 Siting Group. 16 Q. How long have you been in that 17 position? 18 A. For about two and a half years. 19 Q. Thank you. Do you recall preparing 20 initial testimony in this matter? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Was this initial testimony filed in 23 the docket in this matter? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. I would to draw your attention to ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 9 1 what's been marked for identification purposes 2 as Applicant's Exhibit No. 3, which should be in 3 front of you. Do you see that? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Do you have the document in front of 6 you? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Are you familiar with the document? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Can you tell me what the document 11 is? 12 A. It is my initial testimony. 13 Q. Did you prepare this testimony 14 yourself? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Is the information contained in this 17 initial testimony true and accurate to the best 18 of your information and believe? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Are there any changes that you would 21 like to make at this time to any of the 22 responses contained in this initial testimony? 23 A. No. 24 Q. If I were to ask you the same 25 questions today that are contained in this ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 10 1 initial testimony would your responses be 2 the same? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Thank you. We have previously 5 discussed what is going to be referred to as 6 Applicant's Exhibit No. 1. When I say 7 Applicant's Exhibit No. 1 do you know that is? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Can you tell me what that exhibit 10 would be? 11 A. This exhibit is the application for 12 the East Springfield-Tangy 138 kV loop to 13 Broadview Substation Project. 14 Q. And is that the project that is the 15 subject of this hearing? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. What was your involvement in 18 preparation of that document? 19 A. My role was to put together the 20 application and submit it to the Ohio Power 21 Siting Board for review. 22 Q. Can you generally describe what the 23 project entails? 24 A. The project proposes to construct a 25 loop from the existing East Springfield-Tangy ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 11 1 138 kV line to the existing Broadview Substation 2 in the Springfield area, Ohio. 3 Q. As the person responsible for 4 collecting and preparing the application, to 5 the best of your information and belief is 6 the information contained in the application 7 true and accurate? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Thank you. I would now like to 10 direct your attention to what has been marked 11 for identification purposes as Applicant's 12 Exhibit No. 2. 13 (EXHIBIT HEREBY MARKED FOR 14 IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) 15 Q. This should be in front of you. 16 Do you have the document? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Have you seen this document before? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Can you tell me what it is? 21 A. This document is the first public 22 notice with letters to the property owners in 23 the project area as well as the public notice 24 No. 2 which is the publication in the local 25 newspaper. And again the letters to property ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 12 1 owners and also proof of publication. 2 Q. Thank you. Would this exhibit 3 constitute documentation of compliance with 4 public notice provisions of the requirements of 5 the Board's rule? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Were you responsible for ensuring 8 that the property owner notice letters contained 9 in this exhibit were mailed? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Were they in fact mailed? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. Were you responsible for ensuring 14 that the second public notice was provided to 15 local newspapers for publication? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Was this second public notice 18 actually published? 19 A. Yes, it was. 20 Q. How do you know? 21 A. We have a notarized proof of 22 publication. 23 Q. Are those included in the exhibit? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. I would now like to direct your ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 13 1 attention to what has been marked for 2 identification purposes as Joint Exhibit No. 1. 3 (EXHIBIT MARKED FOR PURPOSES OF 4 IDENTIFICATION) 5 Q. This should also be in front of 6 you. Do you have the document? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Have you seen this document before? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Can you tell me what it is? 11 A. This is a joint stipulation between 12 ATSI and Ohio Power Siting Board Staff. 13 Q. Does this joint stipulation 14 represent the written agreement between the 15 parties concerning this proceeding? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Does this joint stipulation 18 identified as Joint Exhibit 1 contain 19 recommended conditions for the project? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. Are those recommended conditions the 22 same as those found in the Staff Report of 23 Investigation? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Is ATSI as the Applicant prepared to ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 14 1 construct the project if approved by the Board 2 in accordance with the conditions recommended in 3 this joint stipulation? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. To the best of your knowledge does 6 the joint stipulation represent a reasonable 7 agreement between the parties in this case? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Was this agreement reached in the 10 joint stipulation by the parties after serious 11 discussions and negotiations? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. To the best of your knowledge were 14 the parties represented by competent counsel in 15 these discussions? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Is the agreement represented by the 18 joint stipulation in the public interest? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Why? 21 A. The project is proposed to provide 22 reliable service in the project area. 23 Q. Would the joint stipulation ensure 24 that the project is constructed which would then 25 ensure that the project serves the public ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 15 1 interest? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. To the best of your knowledge does 4 the joint stipulation violate any important 5 regulatory principles that you are aware of? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Do you recommend on behalf of the 8 Applicant that the Board adopt the 9 recommendations and the conditions included in 10 this joint stipulation? 11 A. Yes 12 MS. TAYLOR: I have no further 13 questions for this witness. 14 ALJ AGRANOFF: Okay. Thank you. 15 Any cross-examination? 16 MR. JONES: No questions, your 17 Honor. 18 EXAMINATION 19 By ALJ Agranoff: 20 Q. I just have a few questions with 21 respect to the negotiation. This was a product 22 of serious bargaining among capable, 23 knowledgeable parties? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Okay. With respect to the joint ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 16 1 stipulation, if you could please turn to Page 2. 2 Let me know when you are there. 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And if you could take a look under 5 heading A, Recommended Findings of Fact, and 6 then No. 3 that is under that particular 7 heading. 8 And if you see there is a reference 9 there that a public informational meeting took 10 place prior to the filing of the application, 11 and that meeting was held on, according to this 12 exhibit, October 26th, 2016? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. Was there another public 15 informational meeting that had occurred prior to 16 the October 26th, 2016 meeting? 17 A. We had informal meeting, informal 18 public information meeting, prior to that. Let 19 me think about it. 20 Q. Was there another informational 21 meeting that may have taken place on May 25th, 22 2016? 23 A. Yes. That was, yes, that's the one 24 I meant when I said we had another one, but we 25 considered it informal public informational ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 17 1 meeting. 2 Q. Okay. And if you could please turn 3 in that same exhibit to page 5. And please let 4 me know when you are there. 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And if I can call your attention to 7 Item 24 which indicates "That adequate data on 8 the proposed project has been provided to the 9 Board and its Staff to determine 10 the consideration of water conservation 11 practices considering available technology and 12 the nature and economics of the various 13 alternatives under Revised Code 4906.10(A)(8) is 14 not applicable to certification of the proposed 15 project." 16 Do you see that statement? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Why is it that the water 19 conversation practices is not applicable to this 20 particular project? 21 A. My answer would be because there is 22 no significant water bodies in the project area, 23 and the project is not going to affect any 24 waters in the project area. There is no 25 waterworks involved. ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 18 1 Q. Thank you. And then if you could 2 please turn your attention to Page 10 of 3 the same exhibit. Let me know when you are 4 there. 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And specifically Item 7 which 7 references the requirement of a continuous 8 course of construction of the proposed facility 9 within five years. 10 And what is your understanding of 11 what continuous course of construction 12 constitutes? 13 A. My understanding that continuous 14 course of construction means that when the 15 project disturbance in the area started it 16 should be completed within five years. 17 Otherwise we need to reapply for the project. 18 Q. Okay. And finally, in the 19 application itself there had been a reference to 20 the preferred route and it's proximity to the 21 Buck Creek State Park and the Perry Road Fence 22 State Nature Preserve. Are you familiar with 23 those references? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Based on the stipulation that is ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 19 1 being proposed today is there going to be any 2 need to seek approval from the Ohio Department 3 of Natural Resources in order to commence with 4 the preferred route as a result of any impact on 5 the Buck Creek State Park or the Prairie Road 6 Fence State Nature Preserve? 7 A. No, we don't need to seek approval 8 due to the significant distance away from the 9 affected area. 10 ALJ AGRANOFF: Thank you. Any 11 follow-up based on my questions? 12 MS. TAYLOR: Yes, your Honor. 13 FURTHER DIRECT EXAMINATION 14 By Ms. Taylor: 15 Q. Ms. Bryksenkova, if you could 16 return to Page 5 of this joint exhibit. Looking 17 at Item No. 24, in reference to the water 18 conservation practices, we would like to clarify 19 whether or not any water will be used in the 20 project itself. Will you be using any water in 21 the project? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Therefore, is it true that water 24 conservation practices are not applicable 25 because we wouldn't be using any water in the ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 20 1 project itself? 2 A. Yes. 3 MS. TAYLOR: Thank you. No further 4 questions, your Honor. 5 ALJ AGRANOFF: Thank you. Any 6 follow-up from Staff? 7 CROSS-EXAMINATION 8 By Mr. Jones: 9 Q. I have just one question for you as 10 to Page 10, Condition No. 7, again to 11 the language of continuous course of 12 construction. 13 Does that language represent only 14 that construction has to begin in that time 15 frame? Is that your understanding? 16 A. That is my understanding. 17 Q. It doesn't have to be completed; is 18 that correct? 19 A. That is right, yes. It should be 20 commenced within the five years, not completed 21 within five years. 22 MR. JONES: Thank you. That is all 23 I have, your Honor. 24 ALJ AGRANOFF: Thank you. Thank you 25 for your testimony. At this time would Staff ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 21 1 like to mark exhibits? 2 MR. JONES: Yes, your Honor. Staff 3 has two exhibits. And I would like to mark for 4 identification Staff Exhibit 1 would be 5 the Staff Report of Investigation that was filed 6 in this docket on May 30th, 2017. 7 And also like to mark as Staff 8 Exhibit 2 the prefiled testimony of James S. 9 O'Dell that was filed in this docket on June 21, 10 2017. 11 And Staff would like to move for the 12 admission of Staff Exhibits 1 and 2 into the 13 record, your Honor. 14 ALJ AGRANOFF: Okay. The exhibits 15 shall be marked accordingly. 16 (EXHIBITS MARKED FOR THE PURPOSE OF 17 IDENTIFICATION) 18 ALJ AGRANOFF: And is there any 19 cross-examination on behalf of the Company? 20 MS. TAYLOR: No, Your Honor. 21 ALJ AGRANOFF: Okay. There being no 22 objections Staff Exhibit 1 and 2 shall be 23 admitted as part of the record at this time. 24 (EXHIBITS ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE) 25 ALJ AGRANOFF: And would the Company ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 22 1 like to move for the admission of their 2 respective three exhibits plus the Joint 3 Exhibit? 4 MS. TAYLOR: Yes, your Honor. 5 ALJ AGRANOFF: Any objections to the 6 admission of the aforementioned exhibits? 7 MR. JONES: No, objections, your 8 Honor. 9 ALJ AGRANOFF: There being none 10 Applicant Exhibits 1, 2 and 3 and Joint Exhibit 11 1 shall admitted as part of the record at this 12 time. 13 (EXHIBITS HEREBY ADMITTED INTO 14 EVIDENCE) 15 ALJ AGRANOFF: Is there anything 16 further that we need to address? 17 MR. JONES: No, your Honor. 18 MS. TAYLOR: No, your Honor. 19 ALJ AGRANOFF: Okay. If not then we 20 are adjourned and the matter shall be submitted 21 on the record. Thank you. 22 (At 10:20 A.M. the hearing was 23 concluded) 24 - - - 25 ARMSTRONG & OKEY, INC., Columbus, Ohio (614)224-9481 23 1 2 CERTIFICATE 3 I do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct transcript of the 4 proceedings taken by me in this matter on June 27, 2017, and carefully compared with my 5 original stenographic notes. 6 __________________________ 7 Michael O. Spencer, Registered Professional 8 Reporter. 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