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082105come093009.wpd PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA CHARLESTON At a session of the PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA in the City of Charleston on the 30th day of September 2009. CASE NO. 08-2105-E-CS AES NEW CREEK, LLC Application for a Siting Certificate to Authorize the Construction and Operation of a Wholesale Electric Generating Facility in Grant County, West Virginia Public Service Commission of West Virginia Charleston TABLE OF CONTENTS I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY .......................................... 2 11. DISCUSSION OF ISSUES AND EVIDENCE ........................... 8 A. StatutoryTest ................................................ 8 B. The Commission’s Application of Part One ........................ 9 1. Part One (a) - The Interest of AES New Creek to Construct the Project ............................................. 9 2. Part One (b) - The Need for Generating Plants in the State andRegion ........................................... 10 3. Part One (c) - The Economic Gain to the State and the LocalEconomy ........................................ 13 4. Part One (i) - Community Residents’ Interest in Living Separate from the Project, Part One (ii) - The Project’s Negative Impacts be Minimally Disruptive to Existing Uses, and Part One (iii) - The Project’s Social and Environmental Impacts . 14 a. Viewshed ....................................... 15 b. Noise .......................................... 17 C. Birds and Bats ................................... 21 d. Water .......................................... 24 5. Proposed Conditions and the Memorandum Agreement ........ 24 C. The Commission’s Application of Part Two ....................... 3 1 111. FINDINGS OF FACT ............................................. 31 IV. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW ......................................... 43 V. ORDER ......................................................... 48 Public Service Commission of West Virginia Charleston COMMISSION ORDER By this Order, the Commission (i) grants a conditional siting certificate to AES New Creek, LLC (“AES New Creek”) and (ii) approves the January 14, 2009 Memorandum Agreement between AES New Creek and the Trades Council. I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY’ On December 19,2008, AES New Creek filed an application for a Siting Certificate2 (“Application”), pursuant to W.Va. Code 824-2- 1IC, to authorize the construction and operation of a $308 million wind turbine wholesale electric generating facility, including related interconnection facilities. AES New Creek proposed to construct up to sixty-six wind turbines on a seven-mile stretch of the New Creek Mountain ridge line from a point approximately one mile north of Greenland Gap near Greenland in Grant County and proceeding in a northern direction to the county line with Mineral County. AES New Creek EX. 1,p. 1-1. AES New Creek stated that the Project will be located within 4,900 acres of leased land that consists primarily of undeveloped mountainous woodlands. About fifty acres will be required for the Project’s final footprint. Id., pp. 1-1, 1-2, 7-1. AES New Creek has already obtained the leases needed for the construction and operation of the Project. AES New Creek Ex. RAC-D, p. 8. There is one residence located within 3,500 feet to the closest proposed turbine. That residence, a part-time residence, is located approximately 1,300 feet from the closest proposed turbine. The owner of this residence has entered into a lease agreement with AES New Creek. There are only nine residences within 4,000 feet of the Project, and three of these residences are under lease agreements with AES New Creek. AES New Creek Ex. RAC-D, pp. 8-9. 1 The Table of Contents and Headings are provided purely as a convenience to the reader. Material or discussion under one heading may also relate to material or discussion under another heading. In all events, the substantive content ofthe Commission’s Order, and not the wording or placement of any heading, controls. 2 AES New Creek’s Application consisted of three volumes in excess of 1,100 pages, including multiple tables and figures and nineteen appendices. The Application was filed in accordance with the Commission’s Rules Governing Siting Certificates for Exempt Wholesale Generators (‘‘Siting Rules”), 15 C.S.R. Series 30. AES New Creek numbered the pages of its Application and related materials beginning with a section and then specific page of that particular section. Thus, page 1-2 refers to Section 1, page 2, and not to pages 1 through 2. For the sake of consistency, the Commission will follow the same page numbering format when referring to the Application. Public Service Commission of West Virginia Charleston 2 According to the Application, AES New Creek selected this site because it has an excellent wind resource; the Project can meet growing demand for electricity in the PJM3 service territory; the landowners support the Project; the Project is located away from sensitive receptors such 2s residences and recreational areas 2nd near an existing electric transmission line; and environmental aspects are expected to be minimal. AES New Creek Ex. 1, p. 1-1; AES New Creek Ex. RAC-D, p. 11. AES New Creek asserted that neither the Project nor the related interconnection facilities is a utility providing service to the public, and there will be no direct financial impact to West Virginia ratepayers from the construction and operation of the Project. AES New Creek Ex. 1, App. B, p. 2. Rates charged for electricity from the Project will be subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) for negotiated rates. _.Id. According to the Application, the Project will be capable of generating up to 160 megawatts (“MW’)‘ to an existing Allegheny Power 500 kV overhead transmission line that runs from Mount Storm to Doubs and is located approximately 3,300 feet from the southern- most proposed turbine location. AES New Creek Ex. 1, pp. 1-1,4.1. A collector system of buried cables will conduct electricity from each of the wind turbines to a new collection substation. From the collection substation, power will be conducted to a new switching station located adjacent to the collection substation and then to the existing 500 kV transmission line. Id.,pp. 1-3,4-1, AES New Creek will bear all of these costs and the costs for any other upgrades necessary for the Project to deliver its electricity to the existing 500 kV transmission line. Id., p. 4-1. AES New Creek will enter into agreements with PJM to govern the Project’s operation and interconnection with the 500 kV transmission line. According to the Application, the PJM feasibility study indicates that there is adequate capacity to accept 160 MW from the Project. Id., p. 1-3 & App. F. According to the Application, AES New Creek will obtain 40 to 60 percent of the Project funding through equity, and the remainder of its funding will be borrowed. No public funds will be used, and there are no agreements with public entities regarding the funding of the Project. Id., p. 12-1; AES New Creek Ex. RAC-D, p. 15. 3 PJM Interconnection L.L.C., a regional transmission organization (ccRTO”),coordinates the movement of electricity through all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia; operates a wholesale electricity market; and manages a long-term regional electric transmission planning system to maintain the reliability to the power supply system. 4 A megawatt is enough electricity to power approximately 800 to 1,000 homes. Public Service Commission of West Virginia Charleston If the Project is constructed at its full maximum size of 160 MW, then the estimated property tax that AES New Creek will pay to Grant County is approximately $673,000 per year. For the full maximum size of 160 MW, AES New Creek will also pay approximately $2 19,000 per year in Stzite taxes for the first ten years of the Project and $437,000 per year thereafter. AES New Creek Ex. 1, pp. 12-3, 12-4. If the Project size results in a capacity of 99 MW, then the estimated property tax that AES New Creek would pay to Grant County is approximately $428,000 per year, with approximately $135,000 per year in State taxes for the first ten years of the Project and $27 1,000 per year thereafter. Id., p. 12-4. The Project will result in about 123 construction jobs and eight to ten permanent jobs when the Project is operational. Id.,pp. 12-2, 12-3. Under the requirements of W.Va. Code 924-2- 1lc(b), the Commission must issue its final order in this proceeding by October 15,2010. Initial Public Notice & Comment Letters The Commission received letters in support of and in opposition to the Project after AES New Creek filed the Application. By the end of June 2009, the comment letters in support of the Project numbered approximately 44, and the number of comment letters in opposition numbered approximately 107. AES New Creek published notice of the Application on December 30, 2008, in Kanawha County in The Charleston Gazette and in Grant County in The Grant County Press. See Affidavits of Publication filed January 5,2009. AES New Creek placed a copy of the Application at the Grant County Public L brary. AES New Creek Ex. 1 (cover letter). Reauest for Waiver of Filing Requirements; Interventions On February 23, 2009, the Commission granted a request of AES New Creek for a waiver of certain certificate application filing requirements. Because the Commission's jurisdiction, by law, is limited regarding the operations of the Project, the Commission did not require AES New Creek to file information that relates to the traditional public utility model under which the Commission establishes rates for service based on the cost to the utility to provide that service. February 23,2009 Commission Order, pp. 6, 12. Additionally, AES New Creek filed a photograph to satis& Siting Rule 3.1 .g.2 that was three months older than the Siting Rules require and sought a waiver from the requirement of the Siting Rules.