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BY STAFF CORRESPONDENT · BEREA, MADISON COUNTY · FILED UNDER THE SOCIETY PAGES

PHOTOGRAPH: STAFF

BEREA — On the eve of tomorrow's 9 a.m. hearing over East Kentucky Power Cooperative's proposed 69kV Big Hill transmission line, The Observer sat down with one of Berea College Forest's most elusive— and longest-standing — residents.

Sasquatch says he plans to come out of hiding to testify because he would rather risk being seen than seeing his home destroyed.

The Observer team met the legendary conservationist at his den overlooking Owsley Fork Reservoir, Berea's primary drinking water source. Sasquatch had spread maps of the proposed corridor across a moss-covered limestone rock.

“This is not vacant acreage,” he began evenly. “It is a protected forest above a protected water supply. People hike here. Families drink from here. Wildlife lives here. Students learn here.”

At issue is whether EKPC has abused its statutory discretion in pursuing a transmission line across approximately one mile of Berea College's forest. The College argues the line would impact the ridgeline visible from the Pinnacles and fragment part of its 9,000-acre woodland.

EKPC maintains the line is necessary for residential reliability.

Sasquatch does not reject the need for reliable electricity.

“I understand infrastructure. I have lived long enough to see it replace horizons,” he said. “But this? Scale matters.”

Court filings reference prior testimony before the Public Service Commission noting industrial inquiries in the Duncannon Lane area totaling up to 420 megawatts — a figure commonly associated with very large industrial users or data centers.

“That is not incremental load,” Sasquatch said. “That is planning at a magnitude that invites serious questions.”

EKPC has stated such development “may or may not come to fruition” and that the Big Hill Line serves residential needs.

Sasquatch says the numbers still deserve transparency.

“When you size a corridor for significant capacity near a watershed, people will speculate. That is not conspiracy — and trust me — I know conspiracies. That's just basic math. Even I know that.”

— SASQUATCH, LOCAL CONSERVATIONIST

He also raised concerns about long-term vegetation management.

“Transmission corridors require maintenance. Herbicide use is routine in many right-of-ways,” he said. “But when that right-of-way sits above the primary drinking water supply for an entire town, routine becomes relevant.”

He paused, then clarified what he meant by “property rights.”

“I do not claim ownership in the conventional sense,” he said. “I claim stewardship. Many years ago, the college and I had an agreement: the forest is a living laboratory and a sanctuary held in perpetuity for native creatures, both known and unknown.”

He gestured toward the tree canopy stretching toward the Pinnacles.

“I represent the uninterrupted ridgeline. I represent the salamanders in the creeks. I represent the hikers who come here for quiet. I represent the families who turn on their taps in Berea and assume the water began somewhere protected. The utility company says they will offer compensation, but that can't assign a market price to a century of uninterrupted refuge. They're pricing soil. I'm defending home.”

Legal observers note that Kentucky law grants utilities broad discretion to build, provided decisions are not fraudulent. Judge Kristin Clouse has ruled that Berea College may examine certain non-public documents to determine whether that discretion has been abused.

Sasquatch says tomorrow's hearing is about proportion.

“Seven megawatts for stability is one discussion,” he said. “Four hundred twenty megawatts is another.”

As night settled over Owsley Fork Reservoir, he folded the maps carefully.

“I have lived here longer than anyone,” he said. “If that does not constitute standing, I'm not sure what does. People have called me a myth because I was hard to find. EKPC is calling this route inevitable because they stopped looking. They were hoping we would remain quiet — like the legend they prefer me to be — so their convenience could pass for necessity.”

When we left Sasquatch's lair in the hills surrounding the Owsley Fork Reservoir, he was reviewing load projections by headlamp, shaking his head with a tear welling up in his eye.

Court begins at 9 a.m. Friday, February 27.

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY