Thursday - Annual Power Plant Siting Act Hearing

And it seems the PUC is now trying to get a handle on it!  In a transmission docket, where Xcel requested “alternative review” which is short, 6 months, with only cursory environmental review (see Minn. Stat. 216E.04, subd.2(3)).

Staff Briefing Papers - 11-948

The main recommendations of the Staff Briefing Papers are these doozies:

But wait… there’s more!

In light of the way Xcel has been inserting new routes at the tail end of the process, and noting that Commerce has been allowing that despite objections from parties and landowners alike, that paragraph just makes my day!  Look at the “Myrick Route” in the CapX Brookings-Hampton route docket, added during the evidentiary hearing after all but the New Prague “blizzard make-up” hearings were held?

That trick was repeated in the CapX Hampton-LaCrosse route docket, where a route was added near Cannon Falls when, as Applicants admit, their Preferred route was not feasible, so at the last minute, the day before the public hearings were to begin, or the day of, depending on which document you’re referencing, they sent notice to landowners that they may be affected, and called them too!  This came out at the Cannon Falls hearing, at which point I quickly filed a Motion to extend the deadline to intervene for the people who didn’t get notice until then, oh well, that went over like a lead balloon…  Here’s the route they proposed:

So we’ll see what these changes really mean…

Well, there’s good news and bad news… it’s probably cancer, likely mast cell cancer, and the good news is that last night I unwrapped it so that she wouldn’t eat the gauze and sock, and she cleaned it out really good, got rid of the white parts, the swelling is way down, and she can walk on her own!  Even get into the van by herself!  I’m SOOOO relieved.  We got some antibiotics, and pain pills, and stinky ointment to smear on it so she doesn’t keep worrying it.  But she can walk!  She’s our hospice doggy, so we’re not doing anything extreme, and presuming it’s cancer because doing a biopsy and knowing for sure wouldn’t really change our treatment of it — palliative care is where it’s at.

From this to the cleaned up version in the next photo:

She’s one happy dog today, her attitude reminds me a lot of Kenya, smiles in the face of perversity:

Update: Tuesday evening it was pretty gross, bleeding and weepy, but today it’s “in the pink” again:

The two “S & S Grrrrrrls” are even getting along better:

So she’s had aspirin again, and I found the leftover “prednisone poof” stuff for Ken, it’s neomycin sulfate, isoflupredone, acetate and tetracaine HCl… the “caine” part she’ll probably appreciate, and I hope this helps.  Now, to send this link off to the vet, and see how his diet’s going — I’ve been doing pretty well, but I can’t figure out what the grand prize should be, not a clue!

Meanwhile, she’s getting some quality time:

It’s the 100 mile garage sale!!!!

They say rain or shine, but we pretty much got rained out this afternoon, even the mini-donut stand near Lake City shut down.  We waited it out a bit and then headed home, the van only half full.  And found this — looks like I brought  Monica’s St. Louis wild weather back home:

OH MY!  It could have been a lot worse.  The good news is that it missed the house and missed the car that parks there on the street, not by much, there’s a hunk of wood stuck in the grill, but no dents, nada. WHEW!  Didn’t hit the house!  WHEW!!

It’s an old tree, it’s twin right across the street, and they’re HUGE, at least 50 feet tall, maybe more.  We don’t want to lose them.  Alan had called the city about trimming it, it needs a little maintenance.  The one across the street is in worse shape, missing large limbs, and now it seems this one is trying to catch up.  What’s strange is that nowhere else did we see any trees down.  Oh, except for the darker maple that lost a couple of small branches probably when the big one came down.

Now where’s that chain saw???

Bob Cupit, Energy Facilities Supervisor, is retiring from the Public Utilities Commission today… leaving me to wonder how… rephrase…  he CAN’T be replaced…  so what will happen now at the PUC?

Bob Cupit and Mike Casper are tied for “Most Influential” in subtle and not so subtle direction that helped get me to where I am today.  I began wrangling with him at the very end of 1994 in Nuclear Waste Daze, so it’s been a long time, and as Bret Ekness said, “a long strange trip.”

From my perspective, Bob has always provided a voice of sanity in a process that isn’t working, and I hate to see him leave because I can’t imagine them finding someone who recognizes or attempts to fix the problems that he had on his plate.

Here’s the PUC Staff Organizational Chart, soon to have a big hole.

The most difficult thing I’ve encountered in dealing with the Commission, other than some obviously utterly dreadful “decisions,” is that siting and routing is now handled by the Dept. of Commerce, which has no charge to protect the environment, and which is not representing the public interest.  The “work” by Commerce has been dreadful, process has been perverted, DEIS and EIS consistently leave out important information, and the public and the environment is left in the lurch.  Over and over and over again, they’re bumbling along, or intentionally screwing it up (Which is it?  I think it’s BOTH.).  They’re doing the “staff” work on these permits and then present it to the Commission, presenting only part of the story, and leaving the Commission exposed, making decisions on inadequate or inaccurate information, without “the rest of the story.”  I could go on and on (and I do elsewhere in this blog and at www.nocapx2020.info, search for more).

Years ago, when things were not going well, Kristen Eide-Tollefsen and I repeatedly riffed on obvious problems at public meetings and Cupit regularly responded with a measured lecture on the importance of all the aspects of permitting, the Certificate of Need, the Siting/Routing permit, and Environmental Review, that it was a three legged stool.  As an editorial comment, at one point, we presented him with a gold-painted strap-on one-legged milk stool.

Yes, the system was NOT working then… and for other reasons, it’s NOT working now.

Despite that, Kristen and I knew that as he retired, we had to give him one with THREE legs.  However, I had to give a disclaimer, that this is NOT to say that the system is working, because it isn’t.

Kate O’Connell, manager of energy regulation and planning for the Minnesota Department of Commerce (oh, I didn’t know that!), who worked in tandem with Bob, made comments from her “on the ground” perspective, heartfelt — and I wasn’t taking notes, so sorry, no specifics… but for sure over and over noted he will be missed.

Even LeRoy Kooppendrayer, former Commissioner and House Rep., and brother of current Commissioner and former Senator Betsy Wergin, came back to say goodbye:

Bill Grant, formerly of the Waltons, and now the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Energy Facilities Permitting, was there but thankfully didn’t get up to say anything — I’d forgotten to bring rotten tomatoes.

And the “Not Ready For Rate Base Singers” were on hand:

The room was packed, Bob said he was “overwhelmed” and so it appeared… and I am too… it’s a sad day for Minnesota, we’re losing too many MB’s of collective/institutional memory that we can’t replace.

This weekend was BaronFest, a gathering of German Shepherds in St. Louis.  Saturday, sitting around the table, I noticed clouds, and it was drizzling a bit, and I commented on it, Monica, hostest with the mostest, pointed out “southwest” from the yard and my directions were off.   But an hour later as I went towards the hotel, southwest was dark green and the wind picked up.  I quick fired off a text and by the time I got about half a mile down the road, BIG thunks were hitting the car, couldn’t see, and moi, who never stops, joined a couple other cars under the I-70 bridge.  The wind picked up even more and the sirens went off. I could barely see beyond the bridge, and soon it was full underneath.  This is the place where the tornado hit one year ago.  Above is the result, below too:

WOW!

From wall to wall German Shepherds to wall to wall ice balls… Monica might need a new roof, but otherwise damage in Maryland Heights wasn’t too bad.  But closer to downtown, the beer tent at Kilroy’s was another matter:

St. Louis tent collapse raises safety questions:

Back to Monica’s neighborhood:

Everyone was safe, dogs too, but most pups were terrified.

Tomorrow is the day — oral arguments of the appeal of the Public Utility Commission’s Order granting AWA Goodhue a permit.

Notice of Oral Argument

PUC Order - AWA Goodhue Wind Project Permit

Arguments are scheduled for 11:15 a.m. in Room 100 at the Minnesota Judicial Center, 25 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul.

I don’t have electronic copies of the Public Utilities Commission and AWA Goodhue briefs, here’s what I do have:

Coalition for Sensible Siting - Initial Brief

Goodhue Wind Truth - Amicus Brief

Coalition for Sensible Siting - Reply Brief

There’s a lot at stake here, primarily local control — whether a county can regulate a wind project.  Under the Power Plant Siting Act (PPSA), local governments are typically pre-empted from regulating utility projects, except in a few narrow cases, for example power plants and transmission where the project applicant chooses local review having met the criteria  set forth in Minn. Stat. 216E.05.  Another way local governments have a say in regulating utility infrastructure is through a legislative tax exemption under Minn. Stat. 272.02 and  Host Fee Agreement in lieu of Utility Personal Property Tax, where the legislative mandate and the Host Fee Agreement can include non-tax material terms.  Neither of these options are available to wind projects or local governments wishing to regulate wind projects.

HOWEVER, the legislature did pass this gem — note “shall” in the language:

216F.081 APPLICATION OF COUNTY STANDARDS.

A county may adopt by ordinance standards for LWECS that are more stringent than standards in commission rules or in the commission’s permit standards. The commission, in considering a permit application for LWECS in a county that has adopted more stringent standards, shall consider and apply those more stringent standards, unless the commission finds good cause not to apply the standards.

And this is what this appeal is about - whether the Public Utilities Commission had good cause not to apply the standards, because where they do not have good cause, they SHALL apply the county standards.

We’ll see how it goes tomorrow…

Our dear “hospice” NOT doggy, Summer, ate her leash in February, and back then, I predicted we’d see it in April.  It was a hemp leash, an inch wide but pretty soft, pliable, and I think that’s what’s saved her… so far.  Some of it has come through the dog, and I figured it would take a long time because the Wubba tails she ate before she ate the leash, before we knew it was SUMMER and not chewy Little Sadie, before we knew to keep things away from her, that Wubba took months to come out, and only two of three Wubba tails so far that I know of.

Here it is, April, and damned if I didn’t guess that one right!  Remember the fiercely rainy night a few days ago?  She wouldn’t go out, prissy thing that she is, so I went the other way, through the garage to get an umbrella, and by the time we got to the side door, rain had let up, and YES,  she went out.  Next day, Alan’s in the yard and notices the output — A FOOT OF LEASH — complete with two knots!  And some unidentifiable plastic to boot!

How much is still left in aforementioned dog?  Yesterday in the car at an ATC meeting, I found her happily laying on the floor chewing on a towel.  I do believe the towel was ripped in half before, hence designated a “dog towel,” but… SUMMER!!!

“Double Trouble” taken by Marie McNamara on her organic dairy farm within the AWA Goodhue project footprint.

I know, too much alphabet soup in the title… but the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) issued the Order denying the AWA Goodhue Avian and Bat Protection Plan week before last, and I’ve been drowning in CapX and didn’t get it posted, so…

AVIAN AND BAT PROTECTION PLAN

DNR Comments on ABPP

USFWS Comments on ABPP

Revised AWA Goodhue Avian and Bat Protection Plan

The DNR and USFWS wrote blisteringly negative comments, like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and AWA revised their plan, but not enough.  This was the scenario where Commerce wrote staff briefing papers for the Commission and didn’t even tell them about the agency comments, and didn’t update their “recommendation” even after the meeting had been cancelled twice for their failure to allow time for comments on the Revised Plan and failure to disclose DNR and USFWS comments and then rescheduled yet again for the PUC’s failure to provide legal notice of the meeting, an amazing series of screw-ups.  Finally, the PUC meeting was held, it lasted almost all day, and they rejected it.

HERE IS THE PUC’s ORDER:

PUC Order Denying AWA Goodhue’s ABPP

AWA Goodhue did NOT expect this, that was obvious.  The PUC was pretty clear that AWA had not complied, that “good enough” just wasn’t.

The Commission, too, is concerned about the extent of missing bat data because collecting a full season of data prior to construction would enable the parties and the agencies to make determinations as accurately as possible about the presence of bat species. That process has been severely compromised, and the permit condition was not met. The Commission will therefore direct AWA Goodhue to complete the acoustic bat monitoring required under the site permit and to conduct an additional season of monitoring in 2013.

And trumpeter swans!  They’re paying attention to trumpeter swans!

In August 2011, the DNR confirmed a report of trumpeter swans nesting within a two mile buffer of the Project’s footprint. AWA Goodhue stated that it will visit the nest site early in the 2012 breeding season to determine whether it is again used for nesting. AWA Goodhue also stated, however, that the Project area encompasses very little habitat potentially suitable for nesting by trumpeter swans. The DNR stated that swans are not likely to move substantially during the breeding season and that monitoring should be conducted during the breeding season, summer post fledging, and fall migration.

The Commission must ensure that the potential impacts to trumpeter swans, which were previously considered eliminated in Minnesota, are understood and addressed. The Commission concurs that future monitoring will be useful in making those determinations.

DNR’s Non-Game Wildlife - Trumpeter Swan page

Bottom line?  Here ’tis:

ORDER

1. The Commission hereby denies approval of the AWA Goodhue revised avian and bat protection plan.

2. AWA Goodhue shall conduct the bat monitoring required under the site permit.

3. AWA Goodhue shall conduct an additional season of acoustic bat monitoring in 2013 from July 1 to October 15 using the methods specified in site permit condition 13.1.2.

In today’s STrib:

Class-action suit alleging sexual harassment of female truckers at Iowa company backfires

When I started driving truck in 1983, few companies would hire women, and the crap we had to put up with was disturbing.  But those companies that would hire women knew the good deal they were getting and consistently hired without a hassle.  Make no mistake about it, I loved to drive, it fit my personality well, nothing is better than heading west through Wyoming on a beautiful Wednesday or Saturday morning, looking for antelope butts on the horizon, waking up, a 2 or 3 step “commute” to work, with a quart cup o’ coffee or two going down the road.  Yet I hated it at the same time, particularly on the receiving end, people who ordered the stuff but didn’t seem to want it and made it a chore to get unloaded.  It’s an addiction, and one that’s hard to break, that’s why I’m not fit to work for anyone and need road time — this “job” now is perfect that way.  On the other hand, I feel all those miles, to say I’m “high mileage” is an understatement, and my back, L rotator cuff, and hip are forever screwed up, glucosamine a necessity, movement is difficult and I’m in constant pain.  Those days had a lot to do with my going into law, and were the way I paid for a B.A. - the pay is great but try getting through college in a truck, class between trips to CA, faxing assignments in…  I don’t know what I was thinking and don’t know if I’d do it again knowing how hard it was.

You drive that thang?

I pulled into the Hammond truckstop,
tired, beat and worn
Feelin’ every bump in the 800 miles
I’d put on since dawn.
As I backed it up and I hit the brakes,
the cowboy next door yelled,
“Ohhh, baaaa-by, you drive that thang all by yourself?”

I took a quick look around the cab,
there was no one hiding there.
Just all my worldly possessions,
and me sittin’ in the chair.
He saw me pull in, he saw me back up,
and yell at the boss on the phone.
Tell me, why don’t he think I’m able
to drive this thing alone?

I’m the large car passing you by
don’t gawk, wink, or bat an eye,
‘cuz I’m a busy woman
with loads of things to do.

I’m the large car passing you by
and bubba, don’t you be surprised
I do this just as well,
and maybe even better than you!