SMECO plans line expansion

Commissioners hear presentation

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The 230-kilovolt line would stretch from the planned Holland Cliff Switching Station in Huntingtown, pass Prince Frederick and reach Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby before crossing the Patuxent River at Solomons, according to a map of the ‘‘Southern Maryland Reliability Project” provided by SMECO before the April 15 meeting.

SMECO representatives say the project would improve energy reliability in Southern Maryland in routine and emergency situations. ‘‘Skyrocketing” energy demand in the past 30 years, driven both by growth in the region and the proliferation of personal electronics, makes the project necessary, a SMECO statement said. Without the project, Southern Maryland would eventually see brownouts because of the lack of infrastructure for energy distribution, said SMECO CEO Austin J. Slater Jr.

The project would require two new switching stations in Calvert, Holland Cliff and another proposed station, the Southern Calvert Switching Station in Lusby. The expansion would begin at Aquasco and end at the Hewitt Road Switching Station in Lexington Park, where it would join an already-existing SMECO line.

The exact path of the line near the river and the location of the Southern Calvert Switching Station are not yet known.

In all other places, the line would follow existing rights-of-way that currently contain 69-kilovolt lines, according to SMECO spokesman Tom Dennison.

The new line would have about three-quarters as many poles as the current line but they would be larger and taller, Slater said. The new steel poles would be ‘‘self-weatherizing,” meaning that the outer layer would be permitted to rust, giving them a more ‘‘natural” brown color intended to blend into the environment better than galvanized steel.

The co-op would likely use directional drilling to lay line under the Patuxent River at Solomons, Slater said.

But the line could also be laid underwater or as part of an anticipated new Gov. Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge.

The costs of the project would eventually be reflected in electric rates, with a ‘‘worst-case scenario” being a 4.8 percent increase over 10 years in addition to other rate changes, Slater said.

SMECO plans to apply in October for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Maryland Public Service Commission, a necessary first step. Construction should begin in 2011 and be finished in 2015, according to SMECO.

‘‘Clearly this is a need, you’re addressing that need and we appreciate your coming in here as part of that initial going-forward,” said commissioners’ President Wilson Parran (D).

While the project seemed to receive support from the commissioners, one portion of it met with opposition from residents who may be affected.

During the public comment period, three Huntingtown residents spoke against the expansion of Holland Cliff Switching Station.

Bill Prochownik, who said he had worked as a safety regulator of utilities in the past, questioned the stability of a cliff at the site. He said the cliff was collapsing and could bring a tower at the site with it.

‘‘From the river, you can see that cliff. ... It’s collapsing. Not from the top but from the bottom down, it’s washing out into the creek there,” he said.

‘‘It’s going to drastically destroy our neighborhood,” local resident John McGuire predicted of the expansion, while Karen Egloff presented the commissioners with a petition, which she said more than 100 people had signed, asking them to oppose the expansion.

SMECO officials have previously said the expansion is safe.