Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp. has received permission from the Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) to build a $25-million 161-kilovolt transmission line stretching 31.4 miles long between the Dry Creek Switching Station near Green Forest and the Smyrna Transmission-Distribution Substation located near Huntsville. Some citizens are wondering why they are only finding out about the project after it has been approved, and asking why information wasn’t included in CECC’s monthly newsletter mailed to members.
Former Green Forest Mayor Charlie Reece said he hadn’t heard anything about it and he tries to keep attuned to what is going on. A proposed SWEPCO 345-kV transmission line through Benton and Carroll counties was defeated in 2014 after a large public opposition campaign and a challenge regarding need for the project. SWEPCO withdrew its application.
“When something similar has already been defeated, why would Carroll Electric think this is something better?” Reece asked. “No one I know has mentioned anything to me about it. It is sneaky. It doesn’t make sense to me. Something about this just stinks to high heaven. I am all about public forums and discussion. I would need to see proof of the need. Is there going to be a significant population or industrial explosion in this area? I don’t think so.”
Reece said combined with the $300-million Nimbus Wind Facility project proposed south of Green Forest that would connect at the Dry Creek Switching Station, he feels the area is about to get hammered without public input.
“It sounds to me they think they are dealing with a bunch of hillbillies,” Reece said. “It bothers me a great deal.”
Christopher Fischer, who lives in rural Carroll County, said it is not acceptable that the project has proceeded without people being aware of it. He said he had talked to people who live near the proposed line who were “astounded.”
“There is a broad array of concerns and no one that I know was even aware of these plans,” Fischer said. “We evidently missed the public notices and public meetings.”
There was no local press coverage of the issue, nor of public meetings. The USDA document states CECC published newspaper notices announcing the availability of the EA for public review. But public notices apparently were not published in Carroll County newspapers. CECC Vice President of Corporate Relations Cory Smith wrote in an email that Carroll Electric invited members of the public to open house meetings on July 11 and 18, 2019, which were held at the Cooperative’s community room in Huntsville and on July 25, 2019, at the Rule United Baptist Church, four miles south of Green Forest.
“Both meeting sites were common locations surrounding the proposed route of the transmission line,” Smith wrote. “These meetings occurred between the hours of 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. The open house was also publicly noticed in the Madison County Record to encourage anyone to attend and provide feedback on the proposed project.”
Smith said regulated utilities like CECC are required to obtain a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need from the APSC prior to constructing a new transmission line with a design voltage of 100-kV or more and extending a distance of more than ten miles.
“The proposed routing of the transmission line was selected based on a routing analysis study that considered alternative transmission line routes, feedback gathered from the public at various open house events, and discussions with landowners directly affected by the proposed routing,” Smith wrote in an email. “The total cost of the project was estimated at $25.2 million and will be financed through Rural Utility Service (RUS) low-interest loans.
“The transmission line is part of the Cooperative’s long-term construction work plan and is needed to address voltage fluctuations and low voltages that occur in the southeastern area of the Cooperative’s service territory; regions located in southwestern Carroll County and northeastern Madison County. Additionally, the transmission line will address concerns of reliability and regional capacity in areas where the Cooperative has seen a growth in energy-related demand.”
Fischer said that the Dry Creek to Smyrna transmission corridor would be far more impactful than the nearly four-mile transmission line proposed by Scout Clean Energy from its 43-turbine Nimbus Wind Facility that would connect at the Dry Creek Station.
Nimbus is proposing to produce 160 megawatts of electricity. Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), which provides electricity to CECC and all other rural electric cooperatives in the state, told the Eureka Springs Independent that once the Nimbus power reaches the Dry Creek station, it could be sold anywhere because of laws governing open access to transmission lines under the management of MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator).
Smith denied that the CECC transmission line is related to the Nimbus Wind Facility.
The USDA RUS issued a Finding of No Significant Impact on Feb. 10 that would involve 480-acres of easement that could be taken from private landowners by eminent domain, and removal of 200 acres of trees.
USDA RUS is considering financing the project.
“Prior to taking a federal action (i.e., providing financial assistance), RUS is required to complete an environmental impact analysis in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,” the FONSI statement says. “After completing an independent analysis of an environmental report prepared by Carroll Electric Cooperative Corporation and its consultant, RUS concurred with its scope and content. …RUS finds that the EA is consistent with federal regulations and meets the standards for an adequate assessment.”
Information about the project is on the APSC website under docket number 22-005-U. The application was submitted on April 15, 2022, and there was 33-page testimony from one of the APSC staff engineers recommending the project. A final order approving a CECPN was issued in November 2022.
The USDA document states construction of the transmission line is proposed to commence in winter 2023 and be completed in fall 2024.
Pretty weak public noticing. I’m sure few attended the open houses.
A lot of the clearing already has happened, as evidenced on CR 905. It’s a shame, a real shame, there isn’t a better way for the public to be informed about these things.