ROCKY MOUNT, Va., Nov. 2, 2009 – The Steering Committee established to assist the review of the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) for the Smith Mountain Pumped Storage Project will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at Trinity Ecumenical Parish from 5:30 to 8 p.m. 
 
The church is located on Route 122 in Moneta.
 
The meeting is open to all area residents, businesses and recreational users of Smith Mountain and Leesville reservoirs and will utilize an open house format. Participants may visit at any time during the scheduled two and one-half hours. 
 
The purpose of the meeting is to gather community input regarding the existing SMP.  Lake users can use the opportunity to share concerns or concurrence with the plan and offer ideas for improvement to the SMP with Steering Committee members. 
 
Steering Committee members will host information stations that will provide relevant material and allow participant input. The stations will include: Smith Mountain and Leesville lake maps; goals of the Shoreline Management Plan; Commercial and High-Density Use Regulations; Low-Density Use Regulations; Public Use Regulations; Shoreline Stabilization and Dredging; and Vegetation Removal.
 
In addition to the public meeting, Appalachian Power and the steering committee are holding a series of discussion sessions with specific stakeholder groups such as marina operators and dock builders.
 
The steering committee was organized last month to participate in a mandated review of Appalachian Power’s SMP for the Smith Mountain Project hydroelectric generating facility in southwestern Virginia. The committee includes representatives from more than a dozen local governments, business organizations, property associations, developers and state agencies.
 
The SMP is a comprehensive plan designed to manage the multiple resources and uses of the shorelines of both project reservoirs so they are consistent with the company’s operating license requirements, project purpose and needs of the public. It provides guidelines, regulations and a permitting process for shoreline development and construction at the reservoirs.
 
A review of the SMP is required every five years by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Commission approved the project’s first SMP in 2005.
 
The Shoreline Management Plan and related information on the review can be found at www.smithmtn.com .
 
Smith Mountain Project is a 636-megawatt pumped storage hydroelectric facility that utilizes an upper reservoir (Smith Mountain Lake) and a lower reservoir (Leesville Lake).  Water stored in Smith Mountain Lake first passes through turbine-generators in the powerhouse to produce electricity and is discharged into Leesville Lake.  Most of the water is retained in Leesville Lake and pumped back into the Smith Mountain Lake for re-use.  A portion of the water goes through the turbine-generators at the Leesville powerhouse to generate additional electricity and to meet the minimum discharge requirements of the project´s operating license. 
 
Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. 
 
 
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