By Catherine Kozak
The Virginian-Pilot
A power line upgrade project expected to start last week has been suspended because of a court-ordered stay granted to the town of Kill Devil Hills.
Dominion North Carolina Power had planned to begin installation last Tuesday of 88 new poles to carry high-voltage lines from Kitty Hawk to Nags Head. The North Carolina Court of Appeals issued the stay on Wednesday, pending the outcome of an appeal filed in October.
"While I am pleased to learn that the town has been successful in securing the stay order," Kill Devil Hills Mayor Ray Sturza said in a statement, "I am disappointed that it has become necessary for the town to turn to the judicial system in
order to have our concerns evaluated on a level playing field."
The town contends that plans to install the 85-foot electric poles and lines along the U.S. 158 bypass violate the town ordinance that restricts multiple utility corridors.
The transmission line corridor is located along the sound in Kill Devil Hills, and low-voltage distribution lines along U.S. 158 in the town are on shorter poles.
An order issued last September by the North Carolina Utilities Commission said the town had no jurisdiction to decide the location of the power lines, prompting the town to file the appeal.
Kill Devil Hills had proposed alternate sites to Dominion, but the power company rejected them, Sturza said in August.
"They had the option of retrofitting the sound line corridor with the new lines, or going out to the 158 bypass with new lines, or removing the soundside lines," he said.
Dominion spokesman Chuck Penn said in August that the town's proposals would be expensive and result in costs being passed on to consumers. The $9 million project would not involve any rate increase, he said.
The power company, which serves 120,604 customers - counted by meters, not people - in northeastern North Carolina, has said that it expects the 7 -mile project to double the available electrical capacity and to expand its ability to reroute power in its coverage area during outages.
With the 35,000 Outer Banks customers ballooning to as many as 300,000 at the height of the tourist season, the company says the improvements will provide the additional power necessary to meet demand during peak loads.
"The need for the new transmission line is well documented," Penn said Friday, "and once the jurisdictional issue between the Utilities Commission and Kill Devil Hills is resolved, we do feel confident that the project will proceed."
Although the proposed plans have construction starting in Kitty Hawk, Penn said the entire project is suspended until the appeals court issues its decision.
The Court of Appeals is expected to release opinions on Sept. 16, but it is not known if the decision on the Kill Devil Hills appeal will be issued then.
Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com
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morons
I agree...take the power out! See how long it will take this dumb council to change their minds and I live in this Town! NO I DIDN"T VOTE FOR YOU! And with all this mess you are causing, just wait till next election! This will not be soon forgotten!
This is how NC does business
I agree with the Outer Banks communities. Power Lines are both a necessity and an eyesore. I like the idea that all major utility lines have to follow the same path. The town has offered several options to mitigate the eyesore and the utility has said no. The town has every right to try to maintain there collective sense of how the landscape changes. The utility shouldn't have cart-Blanche to put transmission lines where ever they want to. But in NC, a commission of people from the state who won't have to look at those lines day after day can give permission for anything. This will be most interesting to see how the appeals court rules. Essentially, does a community have any say in where major transmission lines are located? I say a community should have such control. Just remember Virginia/Dominion Power had to mitigate and jump through hoops to put transmission lines through the National forest. So if we can control how lines look in the forest, Outer Banks communities should be able to control how transmission lines look or are routed in their community.
Dominion Poles
Good move! Make'em bury the #@%$&^)?< power lines. They are an eyesore and a beacon for storms for losing power. I can't believe Dominion still does that in 2008!
support the Mayor
Sounds like the Mayor has it right on this one. Who wants a major transmission line running thru town ? When the lines come down during a storm just think of the added risk. Why aren't they going to run these lines underground ? It might cost more now but think of the savings of not having to replace them after the storms come thru or they are run into.Not to mention how much better it would look not to have a "naked" forest lining the road.
Simple solution
They should just remove all electrical lines that feed Kill Devil Hills and let them run generators or use oil lamps for a while. Since they apparently don't want electric lines then they don't deserve to have electricity. It's amazing how a few can disrupt progress intended for the good of many in the future.