Another powerline

MILFORD — Two of three proposed routes for a new 500kV electrical transmission line to feed power starved portions of New Jersey, would cross large portions of Pike County. PPL, which plans to build the Pennsylvania portion of the new Susquehanna-Roseland Powerline between 2010-12, has scheduled eight public workshop meetings this month, two of which will be in Pike County. The utility has mailed fact sheet notices to property owners with land within 1,000 feet of the new line. Describing routes possible in Pike, the utility says in most cases the line follows existing power routes or rights-of-way from its Berwick starting point, through Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wayne counties. They make no reference to existing power routes in Pike County, where Routes A and B would pass through Hawley. Route B turns south, just east of Hawley, through Blooming Grove, Porter and Lehman townships, and reaches the Delaware Water Gap national park area, south of Bushkill. Route A would pass east from Hawley, through Lackawaxen, Shohola and Westfall townships, crossing the Delaware near near Matamoras. Route C does not approach PikeCounty. PPL states, “all of the routes require the company to acquire some amount of new right of way.” PJM Interconnection, the regional electricity transmission organization, warns of the “potential for” regional system overloads by 2012, lacking new transmission options. Locally meetings are: June 18 at Wallenpaupack Area High School, and June 19 at the Fernwood Resort Center in Bushkill. For more information, visit www. google.com and type - susquehanna roseland fact sheet - in the search box.