2011 Vermont Code
Title 03 Appendix Executive Orders
Chapter 30 PUBLIC SERVICE
§ 3 30-3. (No. 09-94) [Declaration of Energy Emergency with Respect to Damaged PV20 Transmission Line]

Executive Order No. 30-3

(No. 09-94)

[Declaration of Energy Emergency with Respect to Damaged

PV20 Transmission Line]

WHEREAS, on April 19, 1994, wind-driven ice on Lake Champlain damaged or destroyed eleven support structures of the PV20 high voltage electric transmission line owned and operated by the Vermont Electric Power Company, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, when in service the PV20 transmission line, which extends from Milton, Vermont to Plattsburgh, New York, is necessary to ensure reliable electric service to Chittenden County and Northwestern Vermont; and

WHEREAS, the April 19, 1994 damage to the PV20 transmission line has taken out of service the section of the line between South Hero, Vermont and the Sandbar substation in Milton, Vermont; and

WHEREAS, the loss of the PV20 line has compromised, or threatens to compromise, levels of reliability and quality of electrical service in Chittenden County and northwestern Vermont; and

WHEREAS, without the PV20 line, by the end of June 1994 there will be an estimated ten to twenty percent chance per month of blackout in northwestern Vermont; and

WHEREAS, the fastest way to restore the PV20 line, and the only way to avoid subjecting northwestern Vermont to an unacceptable risk of blackout, is to replace the damaged line above-water within its existing route; and

WHEREAS, the Vermont Electric Power Company, Inc. has proposed a temporary above-water replacement of the line within its existing route to reestablish system reliability while it explores a permanent replacement for the line; and

WHEREAS, construction necessary to replace temporarily the damaged PV20 line is estimated to require at least thirty days; and

WHEREAS, time is of the essence in accomplishing the construction needed to replace temporarily the damaged PV20 line; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to 29 V.S.A. section 403 an Encroachment Permit from the Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation would ordinarily be required for the construction of the temporary replacement line; and

WHEREAS, the processing time for the Encroachment Permit is at least ten days, with an additional ten days delay from issuance before the permit would become effective; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Environmental Conservation does not have the authority to waive or shorten the processing time of the aforesaid permit; and

WHEREAS, the Agency of Natural Resources believes that the impacts to natural resources from temporary above-water replacement of the line within its existing route will be short-lived and can be controlled through conventional techniques; and

WHEREAS, it is my intention to authorize with this action only such activities as are necessary to restore temporarily system stability and reliability while a permanent solution is sought; and

WHEREAS, the Vermont Electric Power Company, Inc. has committed to seeking a certificate of public good from the Public Service Board for construction of a permanent replacement of the PV20 line within a reasonable period of time, and commits to presenting a completed application for an underwater line to the Public Service Board as one alternative for a permanent replacement for the above-water transmission line by October 31, 1994; and

WHEREAS, the Agency of Natural Resources concurs in the actions authorized by this Declaration of Energy Emergency;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT I, Howard Dean, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Governor of Vermont by Public Act No. 254 of the 1973 adjourned legislative session and as thereafter extended by Public Act No. 197 of the 1987 adjourned legislative session, do hereby find that an energy emergency is imminent in Vermont and declare an energy emergency with respect to the PV20 transmission line.

I hereby suspend the requirements of 29 V.S.A. section 403 and related procedural provisions for the construction of a temporary above-water replacement transmission line along the existing PV20 alignment, with such suspension extending only until such time as a permanent replacement for the PV20 is permitted and installed, but in no event shall this suspension extend past October 31, 1994 unless a completed application to the Public Service Board for an underwater line is received by the board, nor shall it in any event extend past December 31, 1995 unless explicitly authorized by the Governor of Vermont. This suspension of the requirements of 29 V.S.A. section 403 shall in no way be construed as an approval of a permanent above-water replacement of the PV20 transmission line.

I hereby direct the Agency of Natural Resources to address environmental impacts of the construction of the temporary replacement line pursuant to the provisions of 10 V.S.A. section 1272, and in that action to establish the duration of the temporary replacement line to be only until such time as a permanent replacement for the PV20 line is permitted and installed, and in no event shall this duration extend past December 31, 1995 unless explicitly authorized by the Governor of Vermont.

This Executive Order shall take effect upon signing.

Dated May 20, 1994.