Opinion ID: 1410812
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Allegheny Power holds itself out as the owner of the Blackwater Canyon

Text: When it's good for public relations, Allegheny Power takes credit for donating part of its Blackwater Canyon properties to the State for the creation of Blackwater Falls State Park. On its Internet home page, in a public-relations brochure discussing the environment, Allegheny Power claims: The majestic Blackwater Falls area in West Virginia became part of the public landscape in 1953 when Allegheny Power donated 600 acres to the state of West Virginia, ensuring that the natural beauty of this area would be preserved. Amazingly, while Allegheny Power claims on the one hand that it donated 600 acres of the Blackwater Canyon to the State in 1953, it claims on the other hand before the Public Service Commission and before this Court that it never owned that land. Which is true? I recognize that the donation of the Blackwater Canyon land in 1953, and the later sale of 3,000 acres in 1996, were ostensibly performed under the name of the West Virginia Power and Transmission Company. However, I'm curious to know where the money went from that saleif Allegheny Power management made the actual decision to sell the Canyon land, and if Allegheny Power's treasury received the money from the sale, or if Allegheny Power's in-house lawyers negotiated and oversaw the sale, then that sale should be open to scrutiny by the Public Service Commission.