As members of the West Virginia Public Service Commission convened here this week for the first public hearing on the multi-state Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline, both opponents of the plan as well as those who support the project turned out.

While many in the audience oppose the proposal for the 270-mile line -- which would extend from the John Amos Power Plant in St. Albans to the Eastern Panhandle and through parts of Virginia and Maryland -- dozens of union members attended to praise PATH's power to create jobs.

"There's the potential for a lot of good-paying jobs," Richard Carter of the Hampshire County community of Springfield told the five PSC members sitting on the stage of the Frank Arts Center on the campus of Shepherd University.

The initial public hearing occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 22 with other sessions Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Carter brought along about two dozen fellow members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union based in Cumberland, Md.

"There are a lot of people unemployed in the region who could use this work," he said.

But other West Virginia residents urged the PSC to abandon the project, calling it unnecessary and sure to harm the environment, their health and the value of their homes.

John Doyle, a Democrat who has represented Jefferson County in the House of Delegates since 1992, thanked the officials for holding a public hearing in Jefferson County, but he made it clear he doesn't view the PATH project as necessary.

"Electric usage is going down in this country," he said. "It's a slow-moving trend, but people clearly are trying to lower their energy consumption.

Many Americans also are beginning to focus on adding solar panels to their homes and investing in other alternative sources of energy, Doyle said.

Officials with the power companies pursuing the project say PATH is needed to ensure an adequate power grid for the growing mid-Atlantic for years to come.

Joe Gagnier, who splits his time between Washington, D.C., and property in Lewis County that is in the proposed line of PATH, drew applause from many in the audience as he described PATH as a "badly conceived and deceitful project."

He shared a quote from famed nature photographer Ansel Adams: "It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment" and suggested fellow West Virginians shouldn't adopt a "Not In My Back Yard" mentality about the project.

"We have a civic duty to look after one another," Gagnier said. "When it comes down to it, we all share the same back yard."

Following the Shepherdstown hearings, public hearings are scheduled for later this month and in October in Sutton, Charleston, Davis and Buckhannon.

According to the project timeline outlined by the West Virginia PSC, approval from officials in the Mountain State will come by late June. The project also must gain regulators' approval in Virginia and Maryland.