Legalectric

The Minnesota River at the Minnesota-South Dakota border, by Henry Lewis. 

Border Girl Reporting — a new blog from the Minnesota - South Dakota border… what’s going on there and perspectives of one “border girl” looking out into the world, looking out for us!

GO Border Girl, GO!!!  Welcome to the cybercrew!

And to think they called Rudy “Governor Goofy!” Pawlenty takes the cake for goofy toadyism when he sucks up to coal. McCain better let this guy know what a liability he is when he says stupid things like:

“Next-generation coal is going to need to continue to be part of our energy future for this country,” said GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, chairman of the National Governors Association.

“It is abundant, it is available, it is Americanized in the sense that we control the supply,” he said Saturday. “We would be incomplete and doing a disservice to the debate and the ultimate policy direction that we’re going to take if we don’t envision coal being part of that.”

Pawlenty announced another bowl of alphabet soup: SCEF

Securing a Clean Energy Future

You can find a story on the National Gov’s Ass. winter meeting here:

Governors see place for clean coal energy

With cute quotes like:

Presidents of two big power companies urged governors not to dismiss coal. “We cannot ignore coal, we cannot demonize coal,” said Thomas Farrell, chairman of Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources Inc.

Well, DUH, of course, what else would big power companies say???

Something similar in the STrib:

In D.C. Palwenty calls for cleaner energy

And to all that I say, “NO NEW COAL!” DUH!

Harris McDowell runs the Senate Energy Committee here in Delaware. There’s a ongoing spat, seems he isn’t excited about enforcing what’s affectionately known as H.B. 6 (LINK HERE), which is how the Bluewater Wind project was put on the map. Bluewater won a level playing field RFP competition between its proposal and NRG’s IGCC/coal gasification plant and a ho-hum gas plant. So he’s decided to have hearings about it — why, I don’t know, because everything’s been public record, the PSC has held so many hearings, even I’ve testified three times and written too many comments. So why? Only reason I can see is delay. Alan’s been dealing with him for some time, and it seems his primary constituent is Delmarva Power. Check Green Delaware Alert 581 for more on that.

I’m inclined to agree. What I’ve seen is that Delmarva Power is resisting, they do NOT want to sign a PPA with Bluewater Wind, they do NOT want offshore wind for Delaware. The state legislature, reeling from huge price increases that came with deregulation (and that deregulation bill was thanks to Harris McDowell), passed HB 6, which required that Delmarva do an RFP to stabilize cost for the “SOS” customers, “Standard Offer Service,” but the other meaning is as relevant. These are the residential customers hardest hit. There was a level playing field comparison of the three bidders, which were NRG with a coal gasification plant (oh, give me a break…), Conectiv with more natural gas, and Bluewater Wind with offshore wind (in Delaware, the wind is offshore, and onshore, it just doesn’t cut it). Bluewater won, following a very detailed, careful and thoughtful analysis by PSC staff, the PSC approved it, but it takes approval of four agencies, and at the meeting of the Gang of Four, the Gov’s Office of Management & Budget rep made a motion to table the whole thing and it was tabled! Since Bluewater won at the PSC, it’s sour grapes everywhere, and the people are clearly shouting, “WE WANT WIND” and the legislature is getting into the middle of it rather than follow HB6 (because they don’t like the results — rumor has it that this was desgined for NRG to get an IGCC plant and that didn’t work so they’re trying to throw a wrench in the gears — and to this observer, that rumor makes sense, whereas to the rest of the world, IGCC is senseless). McDowell doesn’t get that it’s not binary — he tosses out “conservation” and “efficiency” when faced with new generation of a type he doesn’t like, and doesn’t get that it’s electricity but it’s NOT binary, that we need it all, and we need it now. We need conservation, we need efficiency, we need wind and we need the gas for backup, and then we can shut down the coal plants (which is something he NEVER talks about, fancy that). So, here are primary documents shaping the fracas:

Delmarva RFP

Delmarva IRP

Delaware PSC Staff Recommends Wind/Gas Combo

Having experienced the first of Harris McDowell’s Senate Energy “public hearings” today, well… it was sort of like testifying about transmisison at Rep. Bill Hilty’s House Energy Committee… let’s start at the beginning.

Alan and I got there early, not an easy or common thing for either of us. We signed in, and I checked the box that said I wanted to speak (with a BIG green X) and roamed around. It was standing room only and were lucky enough to find a seat, a desk on the Republican side of the Senate chamber, B. Gary Simpson’s desk. Only three Energy Committee members were present! Maybe they didn’t want to join in the farce? We sat and sat and sat, listening to speaker after speaker, mostly the “usual suspects” in Delaware, and suddenly he says, “We’ve gone through the list,” and he held it up, and started to close it down. At that point, I hollered out from the floor, “I don’t think so, I signed up as we came in.” He said that we had to sign up by 5:00 p.m. to speak ?? say what?? Where was that publicized and if that was the case, why sign in lists at the door with a box to check to speak? A young staffer ran up to confer, and it turns out there’s an “A” list and a “B” list.

Really! There was the list prepared beforehand, the “A” list that he called on at the “public hearing,” and then there was the “B” list, the list of the public who had made the effort and travelled to show up at the hearing and who had signed up to speak on the list they provided. And he calls this a “public hearing.” What a farce.

Alan had questions last week and had been called back by McDowell’s staff guy, and I know he had actually talked to him, the guy on the phone was very gracious and helpful in answering Alan’s questions, but I also know that he was asked if he wanted to speak, if he was planning on it, and Alan said he didn’t know, he wanted to see how it goes (and at the time, I thought that was strange, and noted it and asked him about it, wanting to know why he didn’t demand time to speak), but apparently he’d been put on the “A” list anyway, even though he didn’t ask. So Alan was called and he spoke. I’d signed up at the door and was not called, and the same goes for the others who signed up at the door and had not been put on the “A” list. I stuck to my guns and probably wore out my welcome in Delaware, but it’s not a small thing to shut out the public and include only those few you want to speak. Worse, he’s holding a series of “public hearings” but this one, of at least five, is the only one where the public can speak! Suffice it to say, this did not sit well, and I stuck to my guns and after some mild protestations and a few hostile glares, he moved over to the real list, and went through it, protesting repeatedly that it was late, that we didn’t have time for them all, and of course I was last. Thankfully, though, after I spoke, he asked if there was anyone else, and a representative of the Delaware Nurse’s Association spoke about the health risks associated with coal, and it was GREAT! Perfect ending to a really stupid night…

I’m writing up my comments, what I’d planned to say, and I’ll post that tomorrow, but in the meantime, what I did say, when finally given the “opportunity” to speak, was in essence that he’s obviously got an “A” list and a “B” list and that’s not OK, that this process seemed to be a delay and that they should just get to it and order that the agencies approve the wind project, and most importantly, that his sense of procedure was appalling, that he’s shutting the public out. They need to know that the people of Delaware have spoken and they want wind, and shutting them out won’t change that, can’t be avoided, the people want wind, so get to it, just do it and make it happen.

More tomorrow…

OH, I almost forgot, one of these guys for Harris McDowell, III:

Minnesota Office of Energy Security

… or as said ON THE RECORD today, “well, we call it Moe’s, and we’re looking for Larry’s and Curly’s…” (Curly’s used to be on Franklin, but it’s been a while)

… or in things energy, “the agency formerly known as the EQB”

… another day, another name, yawn…

… Ed Garvey… yawn…

“Edward Garvey is the right person to lead this new office because of the universal respect he enjoys from all sectors of the energy industry.”

’nuff said…

Or is he just digging a deeper hole…

In today’s STrib, there’s an article that is hard to take seriously.  It’s “Pawlenty: State overemphasizing social services,” where Pawlenty opines:

“If we don’t get a handle on this at both the federal and at the state level, and at county, school district and city level, these programs are growing so fast and so out of proportion with the rate of the private economy, that within 15 years it will consume a vast majority of the state’s budget,” Pawlenty said.

And a story of a “welfare king” with 11 kids conniving health care:

Jim Carlson. owner of Carlson Financial Strategies in Burnsville, was one of those business people who said he was glad to hear the govenor talking of containing such costs.

Carlson told the governor and others of one of the unintended consequences he’s seen when it comes to the high cost of health care — and the state’s generosity. One of his clients, who works in the construction industry, had been trying to earn less than $50,000 a year so that his 11 children could qualify for public assistance for health care, Carlson said.

Pawlenty said he, too, has heard of people who try to adjust their income so they can qualify for subsidized health care.

Snickering questions aside about whether vasectomies are covered by “subsidized health care,” how could someone afford to pay for health coverage for 11 kids?  What would that amount to monthly?   If this is an example of the type of social service expense Pawlenty wants to cut, is this what’s meant by “family values?”  And nevermind that the big state health care line item is nursing home costs… sigh…

Pawlenty spells out legislative agenda 

And here’s his Energy agenda…

Clean Energy Technology Collaborative

Governor Pawlenty today signed an Executive Order creating the Governor’s Clean Energy Technology Collaborative (CETC). This group of up to 15 members appointed by the Governor will be responsible for developing a Clean Energy Technology Roadmap that will provide the research and development vision, along with a plan and milestones, to ensure Minnesota achieves the state’s clean energy goals.

Among those goals are the 25 x ’25 renewable energy standard that requires 25 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2025.

CETC members will include scientists from industry and academia, with the Director of the Office of Energy Security and Commissioners of Agriculture, Employment and Economic Development and the Pollution Control Agency serving as ex officio members.

“To achieve our clean energy goals we will need new, better and cheaper renewable energy technologies. That requires scientific and technological breakthroughs,” Governor Pawlenty said. “This collaborative will bring together scientists from our state’s great academic laboratories and industry research centers to draft a roadmap for achieving these breakthroughs and reaching our nation-leading clean energy goals.”

Office of Energy Security

A second Executive Order signed by Governor Pawlenty today creates the Minnesota Office of Energy Security within the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

“Clean energy and energy security is a critical issue to Minnesota’s future. This organizational change will keep Minnesota moving towards a better energy future,” said Governor Pawlenty.

The Governor appointed Commerce Department Deputy Commissioner Edward Garvey to also become the director of the new office. Garvey will coordinate energy and climate issues throughout the administration. Creating a focused office on energy security will allow the public easier access to energy information and technical assistance.

The Office of Energy Security will be housed in and receive administrative support from the Department of Commerce and there is no fiscal impact from this change.

“This structural change will support Governor Pawlenty’s efforts to secure a clean energy future,” said Glenn Wilson, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce. “Edward Garvey is the right person to lead this new office because of the universal respect he enjoys from all sectors of the energy industry.”

Carbon Market Planning Authority

Through increased energy efficiency, use of renewable energy and changing industrial processes over the next several years, Minnesotans will address the threat of climate change and take actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

These actions could result in marketable carbon credits that could be sold in developing regional, national or global carbon trading programs.

To help plan for and foster this credit trading opportunity, Governor Pawlenty is proposing the creation of the Carbon Market Planning Authority (CMPA) within the newly created Office of Energy Security. Creation of CMPA will be submitted to the legislature in the 2008 session.

CMPA will study and plan for the potential for a carbon market exchange and the need for financing strategies to encourage the creation and viability of a carbon credit market.

CMPA will include six at-large members appointed by the Governor, as well as the Commissioners of the Pollution Control Agency, Employment and Economic Development, Finance, and Agriculture and would be chaired by the Director of the Office of Energy Security.

“While it’s still too early to know exactly how the carbon credit market will develop, it’s not too early to prepare for the emergence of markets,” Governor Pawlenty said.

Mikey’s been busy…