Xcel, STOP IT!
August 26th, 2010
It’s one of those mornings, had a long bath in the bestest tub in the world, then got the doggies fed and out and pooped, and ready to commence work, fired up the machine, got maybe two emails opened and suddenly… SILENCE and DARKNESS (it’s dark on the side of a bluff). No computer, no light, no ceiling fan… There goes Xcel again, they know I’ve got work to do, and they sent out their terrorist army.
NOT… it was a squirrel. Alan hear the fuse on the distribution pole across the street go, and saw something drop, I said, “it’s a squirrel.” Damned if it wasn’t a squirrel he saw fall, a brave soul who gave is life to Xcel to bring everything to a halt this a.m. Power is back. And neener, neener, neener, neener, Xcel, I got to office in Prestigious West Red Wing withwireless, Greek Strata and unlimited coffee.
Xcel’s “forward sale agreement”
August 5th, 2010
Xcel is trading a bunch of paper for a bunch of money, 21,850,000 pieces of paper to be precise. How much money is that? Seems to be $469,775,000, or $408,500,000, gross, or $396,245,000 net to Xcel, depending on what numbers you look at, or what they sell at!
What will they do with it? According to the prospectus, and an article written about it:
“Xcel Energy intends to use any net proceeds that it receives upon settlement of the forward sale agreement described above, or from the sale of any shares to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, to repay outstanding commercial paper and make capital contributions to its operating subsidiaries.”
Here’s an article from Marketwatch:
Doesn’t this have the feel that they’re desperate for cash flow? We know they can’t get their construction capital to build the Brookings transmission line, and they’re hot to trot both about PUC ordained rate recovery, which they did not get and their Motion for Reconsideration (PUC Docket 09-1048) went nowhere.
Here’s Seeking Alpha’s Xcel 2Q Earnings Call Transcript!
Seeking Alpha Xcel 2Q Earnings Call Question & Answer
And a choice answer snippet from the Q&A:
Toady Mark Roberts, MD had a busy day…
July 23rd, 2010
Well, a busy couple of days. Mark Roberts, M.D., Exponent, toady for whatever project developer has the dough to pay him, made appearances in Goodhue, Minnesota for a hearing on the Goodhue Wind project, and in Wausau, Wisconsin, for an open house for a proposed biomass plant. How much of a toady is he?
Dig this, he was “Corporate Medical Director of BP.” Yes, our friend British Petroleum!
Wednesday, he was here in Goodhue, a puppet for the developers.
Here’s a link to the rest of the story: Goodhue Wind Truth
Thursday, he’s in Wausau, WI, a puppet for the developers.
Here’s a link to the rest of the story: Saving Our Air Resource, opponents of that Wausau biomass plant.
From Faux News 55:
Here’s from the Wasau Daily Herald:
Rothschild residents preview Biomass plant plans
Goodhue Wind hearing continued to 3pm today
July 22nd, 2010
The Public Utilities Commission hearing/meeting on the Certificate of Need (09-1186) and Siting Permit (08-1233) for Goodhue Wind went on until 10:30 last night, and many people still had not spoken. It starts up again at3:00 p.m., again at the Goodhue school.
For the full record, go to www.puc.state.mn.us and “Search eDockets” for 08-1233 (siting) or 09-1186 (Certificate of Need).
And here is a small part of Goodhue Wind Truth’s filings:
The “How-To” Guide to Siting Wind Turbines to Prevent Health Risks from Sound
News coverage of yesterday’s shindig:
On MPR:
At Finance & Commerce:
Goodhue Wind execs, opponents meet before administrative judge
Rochester Post-Bulletin:
Wind buffer proposals from Zumbrota, Goodhue meet resistance
And at MinnPost:
Rochester Post-Bulletin:
Proponents and critics of proposed Goodhue County wind farm speak up
On KSTP - check the video!!!
I’d guess there will be something in the News Record and the Beacon soon too…
In the STrib - info on capital funding for the Goodhue project and other National projects:
Deutsche Bank funding will give a push to local wind developer
National Wind will get help on 12 projects and a loan to expand.
By JENNIFER BJORHUS, Star Tribune
A Minneapolis-based wind developer is getting a lift from Deutsche Bank. The German investment bank will help finance 12 wind projects, including five slated for Minnesota, that National Wind has in various stages in the pipeline, National Wind said Thursday. The bank also gave the developer a senior secured loan for an undisclosed amount to finance an expansion to the West Coast and New England.
“We anticipate that Deutsche Bank will participate in financing those projects,” Leon Steinberg, National Wind’s chief executive, said in an interview Thursday.
The projects are still subject to underwriting, but it’s good news for the company at a time when many wind developers are struggling with tight financing.
Robert Martorano, managing director of Deutsche Bank’s asset finance and leasing group, said in a statement that Deutsche Bank is making renewable energy a priority.
National Wind, which employs about 42 people, develops relatively large wind farms with local land owners who maintain majority ownership when projects are done. It has sold three operational wind farms so far: one in Minnesota’s Cottonwood County and two in North Dakota. The 12 projects it is working on would generate 3,950 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power an estimated 1.6 million to 3.6 million homes, depending on weather and the sizes of the homes. The five slated for Minnesota would generate about 1,030 megawatts, or enough to power 412,000 to 927,000 homes.
National Wind made headlines in April with news that one of Texas oil magnate Boone Pickens’ companies is backing another National Wind project in the state, a 78-megawatt wind farm it’s developing around Goodhue, Minn., south of Red Wing. Pickens’ Mesa Power is helping finance that project and supplying about 52 1.5-megawatt GE wind turbines.
The state Public Utilities Commission has granted the Goodhue farm preliminary approval. A group called Goodhue Wind Truth has been opposing the project, which would span about 32,000 acres.
GWT files Testimony for 7/21 hearing
July 19th, 2010
Today (well, really really late yesterday), Goodhue Wind Truth filed the testimony of Richard R. James, INCE, for Wednesday’s hearing over in Goodhue:
A must read:
The “How-To” Guide to Siting Wind Turbines to Prevent Health Risks from Sound
And this was published earlier this month:
To check out the rest of his exhibits, look at the PUC docket for the AWA Goodhue Wind project:
- www.puc.state.mn.us
- and then to “Search eDockets”
- and then search for docket 08-1233
Wednesday’s hearing is for both the Certificate of Need and Siting Permit for AWA Goodhue’s 78MW wind project in Goodhue County, west of the City of Goodhue, utilizing the Goodhue and Vasa substations. This is the one that T.Boone Pickens is involved with, and they’re claiming it’s a C-BED project — but the AWA Goodhue LLC’s HQ is at 8117 Preston Road, Suite 200, Dallas, Texas, 75225. Walker Clarke is the “organizer” and he’s in Houston.
Yup, sounds locally owned to me!







