ANSTED, W.Va. — A number of Fayette County residents are challenging the proposed location of an Appalachian Power substation to be built in their community.
The Victor Substation Transmission Line Project is a plan to upgrade the electric transmission grid in Fayette County, involving approximately three miles of 69 kilovolt (KV) transmission line along U.S Route 60. The project will assist the retirement of two older substations by replacing them with the new, up-to-date substation at the Victor location.
However, while most residents in the area say they are in support of the new substation, they are predominately opposed of it being built on the current proposed location not far from the Victor Post Office along U.S. Route 60.
The state Public Service Commission held a public hearing at Hawk’s Nest State Park last week to hear from residents and the utility.
Ansted Mayor Stephen Pridemore said residents feel they have not been granted enough opportunity to speak out since Appalachian Power proposed the plan five to six years ago.
“The only problem is, until people were notified of it in the last year, they have not really had a voice in it,” he said.
Residents allege the project was being improperly constructed without permission from the commission. They argue that its placement there will cause many interruptions in the area.
“There’s going to be a lot of traffic, especially during construction, there’s going to be a lot of residual noise as far as the transmission lines themselves, and the transistors, and it’s just not going to be well-received,” Pridemore said.
He added that it’s also taking away from good land that the area has to offer.
“I mean it’s going to affect landowners, they’re coming in, they’re needing that 100-foot right of way through property, which the property that it will be going across is some beautiful farm property,” said Pridemore.
Appalachian Power Director of Communications Philip Moye said the power company is trying to be attentive to the community’s concerns while also trying to benefit them through providing electricity more efferently to their homes.
“When we propose projects like this, it’s because we believe there will be a benefit to the communities it will serve, either by enhanced reliability or replacing aging infrastructure. We also understand that landowners have concerns, so throughout the process we reach out to them for input,” Moye told MetroNews.
Appalachian Power said it encouraged residents back in 2021 to provide feedback about how it might affect their property, and ever since the current location to build the substation was determined, public hearings on it have been being held.
PSC Chair Charlott Lane told MetroNews the commission is currently evaluating the next steps. The commission plans to hold another public hearing about the issue in Charleston later in the year which they will notify residents about beforehand.
Although Pridemore said he’s not hopeful, the aim is for Appalachian Power to construct the substation in an alternative location, a common theme which most of the residents seem to be reiterating.
“Out of sight out of mind. If they would settle on a site that is not as intrusive as sitting one right off Route 60, then it would be well-received in the area if they could accomplish that,” said Pridemore.
However, Pridemore added that residents have already proposed a number of alternative sites for the project which have been rejected.