The Petition.
AEP and its subsidiary I&M (Indiana Michigan Power) have announced plans to rebuild our area’s transmission lines. They recently sent an update letter to those residents living along the project transmission line describing a small list of items they heard at the Weko Beach “Open House” on June 28. It is their intention to research these issues and share results at the end of September.
Once again, this letter highlights AEP / I&M’s communication disconnect with our community. They are focusing on implementation aspects of the plan they presented to us while we are asking for them to step back and explain why this project is happening and what alternatives exist.
Rather than an imposed solution without input from the people who live here, we want to establish a partnership between AEP / I&M and the community as a whole. We share a common goal of reliable energy, but we do not want a formulaic solution handed to us. We insist on knowing all comprehensive options and we must be an equal partner in the decision-making process.
The undersigned below therefore requests the following from AEP:
Our Requests:
∙ A thorough conversation with the community to explain the current plan, why it is necessary for us at this point in time and what to expect in the future. This explanation needs to go beyond corporate talking points.
∙ A discussion of the proposed plan and ways to make accommodations that address the five key values essential to our area residents: environment, aesthetics, business climate, property values and quality of life.
∙ Comprehensive sharing of all research studies performed in measuring the economic and environmental impact of the proposed solution.
∙ Participation in an interactive public forum with the community during which a full range of resident’s concerns can be aired and responded to, and through which AEP and other engineering specialists can share all viable options available and their respective costs and trade-off considerations.