Public participation in siting of new transmission lines has a long and storied history. In the early days of siting, public participation was neglected, or had little input from the public (regardless of the opposition) because adding new electric capacity was seen as acting for society's greater good. Many properties were taken by eminent domain, or by deals with property owners that benefited the utility.
As time went on and the public became aware of the negative consequences of locating landfills near populated areas, the phenomena of "Not in My Back Yard" (NIMBY) became very popular and changed the way siting of public facilities was conducted. NIMBY ushered in the era of public participation where the public was given a place at the table from the initial stages of siting through final approval. Today, public participation plays a significant role in the planning of new public facilities, and in particular, the siting of new overhead electric transmission lines.
This lesson will introduce you to the negative side of the siting process and how the public, using the Internet, protest letters, and even social media, can impact how utilities must address this opposition.
Your goal in this lesson is to understand what can cause negative public perceptions when there is a proposal to construct a new electric transmission line through a populated area. You will learn how to address this negative opposition by drafting a plan to deal with it early in the planning process.
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
This lesson will take us one week to complete. Please refer to the Calendar for specific time frames and due dates. Specific directions for the assignments below can be found within this lesson.
If you have any questions, please post them to our Questions? discussion forum. I will check that discussion forum daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.
For this activity, you will return to your role as the project manager for siting the Nebo-Baskins Road Interconnect transmission line and complete Phase 2 of your term project, "Addressing Negative Public Comments". You have just received a memo from the Vice President of Transmission and Distribution (T&D) for your company that describes some negative public comments he has received. He wants your help in addressing these. As you complete this activity, be sure to consider the principles of public participation that you learned in Lesson 4.
As you prepare the public participation plan for your term project, take a look at this 3:13-minute video of how a utility provider addressed the public participation aspect of the siting project. You can read more about it on USA Today's Public Opinion Website [3].
For this assignment, you will need to record your work in a Word document using Microsoft Word or Google Docs [4]. Your work must be submitted in Word (.doc) format so I can open it.
MEMO TO: Project Manager
FROM: R. Santini, VP T&D
SUBJECT: Public Participation Concerns
This week, I have received three protest letters (see attached) condemning the siting and proposed construction of the transmission line through the Nebo Valley. These three letters address aesthetics, public health concerns, the taking of private lands, destruction of environmental resources, etc. I anticipated some opposition to the line, and after reviewing company policy on public participation, I realized our plan for engaging the public is inadequate. As the project manager, I am asking that you address not only the letters, but also devise a plan to engage the public in the siting process.
By the end of this week, I need you to:
This plan should be a final information plan for internal review and a professional-looking brochure available for the public. It should contain, at a minimum, where the project is proposed, why it is needed, a map showing the proposed routes, places, dates and times for public meetings, and where the public can find updated information, such as company websites, etc.
Remember….First impressions will weigh heavily on public opinion. If you put little thought and effort into your plan, don’t expect it to be received well by the committee or the public and don’t expect it to be successful…….project delays can result in millions of additional dollars being allocated to addressing questions and concerns due to poorly developed plans.
If you have any questions, please contact me immediately.
Please submit your work to the Lesson 10 - Addressing Negative Public Comments drop box no later than Sunday at midnight of Lesson 10 (see our course calendar for specific due date). Use the following naming conventions:
Lesson10_ProtestLetters_AccessAccountID_LastName.doc (or .pdf)
Lesson10_PublicEngagement_AccessAccountID_LastName.doc (or .pdf)
Lesson10_ParticipationPlan_AccessAccountID_LastName.doc (or .pdf)
I will grade your work using the Public Participation Plan Rubric [11].
Category | Weight | 31 – 40 Points | 21 – 30 Points | 11 – 20 Points | 1 – 10 Points | 0 Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Written Response to Protest Letters | 30% | Provide a clear, objective, positive and professional response to each concern posed in each of the three protest letters. You will prepare three separate letters. | Provide a clear, objective, positive response to each concern posed in two of three letters. | Provide a clear, objective, positive response to each concern posed in one of three letters. | -- | Did not respond to any of the letters, or responded in a negative manner to any of the three protest letters. |
Develop an internal public engagement document, as part of the siting document | 30% | At a minimum, the document includes the following elements: 1) the project scope and description, 2) siting process explanation, 3) timeline for the proposed siting process, 4) maps showing alternative route locations and proposed selected route, 5) segment of the public to be notified, 6) the number and frequency of public meetings, 7) how the public can provide input to the siting plan, 8) typical questions to be addressed at the public meetings, 9) meeting dates & locations posted on company websites, social media websites, newspapers, TV and radio and mailed to affected parties. This document is for internal use by the executive oversight committee. | 8 of the 9 elements identified in the internal document, including the project description, siting process, alternative and proposed route location maps. | 7 of the 9 elements identified in the internal document, including the project description, siting process, alternative and proposed route location maps. | 6 of the 9 elements identified in the internal document, including the project description, siting process, alternative and proposed route location maps. | Less than 6 of the 9 elements presented. |
Public Participation Plan | 40% | A professional looking, detailed brochure, including meeting dates & venue, meeting agenda, speakers, workshops, interactive websites for comment submittals, including Facebook and other social media outlets, company point of contact for public inquiry and comment. This document is to be distributed to the target audience in both electronic and paper form. | Meeting dates, venue, speakers and workshops detailed. Company siting project website and point of contact established. | Meeting dates, venue, speakers and workshops detailed. Company siting project website established. | Meeting dates, venue, speakers and workshops detailed. | No brochure plan prepared. |
The grade for each category is calculated by multiplying the weight for the category times the number of points awarded for the category to arrive at the weighted score for the category. The final grade is the sum of all category-weighted scores.
Category | Weight | Points Earned | Weighted Score |
---|---|---|---|
Written Response to Protest Letters | 30% | 40 | 12.0 |
Develop Internal Document | 30% | 30 | 9.0 |
Public Participation Plan | 40% | 20 | 8.0 |
Total Score | 100% | 29 out of 40 = 72.5% |
In this lesson, you learned how to identify public opposition issues and how to respond to individual and group concerns. You developed a plan to be included in the siting process, that engages the public early on. You also developed a plan for how to engage the public at local meetings. To reach these goals, you researched the Internet for public participation plans and viewed links and documents presented in this lesson. The final outcome is a skill set that you can incorporate into your broader set of siting skills.
In Lesson 11, we will continue working on the case study by developing a slide presentation you can present to your peers, to your management, or to the public.
You have finished Lesson 10. Double-check the list of requirements on the first page of this lesson to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before beginning the next lesson.
If you have anything you'd like to comment on, or add to, the lesson materials, feel free to post your thoughts in the Discussion Forum. For example, what did you have the most trouble within this lesson?
Links
[1] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
[2] http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_warfield/
[3] https://www.publicopiniononline.com/story/news/2018/03/05/transource-energy-takes-24-franklin-county-property-owners-court/396709002/
[4] https://www.google.com/docs/about/
[5] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog469/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog469/files/documents/Friends%20of%20Nebo%20Valley.pdf
[6] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog469/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog469/files/documents/NEBO_HOA.pdf
[7] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog469/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog469/files/documents/Nebo_Protest.pdf
[8] http://www.srpnet.com/electric/transmission/
[9] http://psc.ky.gov/agencies/psc/siting_board/guide.pdf
[10] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog469/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog469/files/documents/transmission_line_siting_paper-wapa.pdf
[11] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog469/323
[12] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog469/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog469/files/documents/geog469_L10_Rubric_2017.docx