What happened: The Arkansas Court of Appeals interpreted the term “single proceeding” under Ark. Code Ann. § 23-18-502, or the Utility Act, to mean all matters concerning generating plants and transmission lines shall be resolved in a single proceeding. The Court of Appeals reversed the Arkansas Public Service Commission’s (APSC) grant of a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (CECPN) to SWEPCO which authorized them to build a 1.6 billion dollar power plant in Hempstead County. The APSC conducted three separate proceedings regarding construction of the plant in Hempstead County: one for the baseload capacity, another for the construction and financing of the generating plant, and finally one for the proposed transmission line construction. The Court of Appeals found this was not in conformance with the Utility Act and CECPN law.
Rationale: The court found the legislative intent behind the single proceeding process was to alleviate the confusion created by the prior regulatory maze and to provide a straight forward, public-friendly forum for the discussion of the relevant economic and environmental issues.
Consequences: Effective June 2009, the Utility Act and CECPN law requires all APSC proceedings concerning generating plants and transmission lines to be resolved in a single proceeding. SWEPCO may reapply for a CECPN in accordance with the holding of this case.
Hempstead County Hunting Club, Inc. v. Ark. Pub. Serv. Comm’n, 2009 Ark. App. 511 (2009).
Posted on
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
by Katy Carver