Folks in Benton and Carroll Counties are upset by a proposal by SWEPCO to build a 48-mile 345 kV power line from a plant under construction, the Shipe Road Station near Centerton, to the utility’s proposed Kings River Plant northwest of Berryville. To do so, the utility company will have to exercise its power of eminent domain. Carroll County News reported [subscription required] that more than 100 people showed up at a meeting of Save the Ozarks to address the proposal. Residents say SWEPCO project will enable it to sell power to Missouri.
SWEPCO filed for a certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for both plants — including the one it is already building, in true utility company fashion — on April 3. Residents have until May 2 to weign in SWEPCO’s filing with the Arkansas Public Service Commission.
Save the Ozarks has information, maps, links to documents filed with the PSC and to the PSC’s online public comment page.