Legalectric

PJM, Delmarva Power, PEPCO, PHI, whatever, admit that demand is down and that the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, the transmission line through Maryland and Delaware to New Jersey, should be delayed

The Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, or MAPP, is part of PJM’s “Project Mountaineer,” a web of lines expressly designed to move coal generation from the Amos plant in West Virginia and gather other coal and nuclear generation and send it in a northeasterly direction:

See the MAPP line there in the NE section of Project Mountaineer line 4?

PJM has recommended delay of the inservice date for a portion of the MAPP line by a year, the portion from Indian River to Salem nuclear plant.  What remains, however, is a problem, because electrically, it makes no sense to build a 500kV radial line to nowhere.  If part of the line should be delayed, the ENTIRE line should be delayed.

Here’s the corporate Press Release and two “articles” which should be compared!

Press Release from Delmarva site

MAPP: Controversial High Voltage Electric Transmission Line Delayed for One Year

PJM Reinforces MAPP Need: Adds Year to Schedule (states “contributed by Delmarva Power”)

This demonstration of lack of need is something that should be raised in the Delmarva Power IRP docket, that demand is down so significantly that PJM thinks infrastructure construction should be delayed.  And yes, PJM demand is way, way down.

PJM Annual Report Link

So, since demand is so far down, this is a good time to let the PSC know, in the Delmarva Power IRP docket, that we know that demand is down, so far down that they can’t cover anymore and they have to postpone some of their infrastructure construction.  The Hearing Officer is taking public comments on the Delmarva Power IRP until some time in July, I think the 25th.

Send IRP Public Comments to the Hearing Eximaner Ruth Price:

ruth.price@state.de.us

What’s an IRP Comment?  The Integrated Resource Planning process is supposed to be the way a utility plans ahead to cover their demand, and it’s essentially the intersection of energy policy and those #(%&*)#*( utilities.  This is the arena where it’s determined whether they should meet their demand through conservation (the cheapest and environmentally the smallest footprint), efficiency steps like load shifting and SmartGrid,  offshore wind paired with natural gas for backup, and whether external costs of various generation options are taken into account.  SOOOOO, does that give you an idea of what’s up?

See Delmarva Power’s IRP docket at the PSC, scroll down beyond that rulemaking on the top:

PSC’s Delmarva IRP page

And note this sly trick — they couldn’t get their IRP right from last cycle and were told by PSC staff to take it home and try again, and the last revision of that last IRP is the one they submitted:

December 1, 2008 IRP (from last cycle)

And they said in their accompanying letter that this one should be for THIS cycle!   AAAAAAARGH!

So, it’s time to review this joke of an IRP, take a look at PJM load forecasting, look at PJM and PEPCO SEC filings like their 2008 10-K and 2009 1st Quarter 10-Q:

PJM 2008 Load and Forecast Report

Dig up some good conservation reports and sent them in as examples of what can be done.  Let them know that with PJM demand down, we expect some changes, that this is a good opportunity to take a sustainable fork in the road, when demand is down we can make conscious choices.

Once more with feeling, check out the Delmarva Power IRP and send comments to ruth.price@state.de.us.

I’ve heard he’s at Xcel, which given Pawlenty and WOW would not be that much of a change, but can it really be?

Yes, it is true, Mike Bull now works at Xcel Energy, confirmed by two independent sources and then confirmed by Mikey himself!  All I can say is, “Oh… my…” and shake my head in amazement.

I preferred speculating about what he might be doing:

Maybe he’s trying to get Pawlenty’s energy program on track?

Maybe he’s on maternity leave?

Maybe he’s at MISO with cohort Ed Garvey?

Maybe he’s high-tailed it to Costa Rica where they’ve got sensible energy policy?

Maybe he’s in the klink for corruption?

Maybe he’s at Commerce again trying to fix that hopeless Dogforsaken mess?

Maybe he’s out east to knock some “sense” into those transmission negative-nellies?

Maybe he’s in a cabin in the mountains writing the scandalous tell-all?

Maybe he’s at Briggs & Morgan selling/redeeming his soul?

Maybe he’s home house-training their new puppy?

Working for WOW made no sense at all, but now what?

Xcel????  Into the bowels of the devil itself, hard to get worse than WOW but … oh… my… this is worse…

… pass the barf bag…

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with Discovery to and fro with PSE&G.  Here’s the results:

PSE&G-response1 to BPU Discovery

This is their response to the BPU Discovery.  Although Ken Sheehan at BPU had said we could proceed with Discovery before we were parties, we’d sent the blanket request for others’ requests to avoid duplication and find out where we were at, but they ignored it, and even BPU would not forward their requests… so we sat in the dark until after our intervention was formally granted.  I asked again, and lo and behold, that same day, BPU turned over their requests and PSE&G turned over their respones to BPU Discovery.  Many of the responses aren’t, so I imagine there’ll be some wrangling about that.

Here’s what we’ve sent to them so far:

STL-Discovery-Herling-1

STL-Discovery-McGlynn1

STL-Discovery-Crouch1-corrected

STL-Discovery-Millies1

STL-Discovery-Bailey1

STL-Discovery-King1

The Discovery deadline for the Direct Testimony has been extended to June 5th.

Prehearing Order – May 14, 2009

Are we having fun yet?

The Chisago natural gas plant, dubbed “Sunrise River Energy,” finally made the news in Minnesota.   Could it be any larger?  “What do we need this for,” you may ask.  It’s simple, we DON’T, it’s for export.  Note their threat to move to Wisconsin if they don’t get what they want, and Rep. Kalin and Sen. Olseen buy into that and cave, giving them an exemption without letting the local governments who would lose tax revenue a heads up about it.   Here’s the whole thing from the STrib — sorry it took so long to post this, I’ve been on the road and mired in moving stuff:

855-megawatt power plant planned

A bill now before Gov. Tim Pawlenty would provide tax breaks for the $300 million gas-fired plant in Chisago County.

By MATT McKINNEY, Star Tribune

Last update: May 13, 2009 – 9:30 PM

One of the largest power plants in the state would rise in the township of Lent in Chisago County via a bill that on Wednesday went before Gov. Tim Pawlenty for his signature.

The $300 million Sunrise River Energy station, an 855-megawatt natural gas-fired plant, would open by 2013 pending regulatory approvals, according to the company that would build it, LS Power, a private utility with offices in New Jersey and Missouri.
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Yes, what’s new, but here it is again, so let’s take a look at their 2008 Annual Report and their 2008 Financial Report:

PJM 2008 ANNUAL & FINANCIAL REPORT LINK