Legalectric

Friday, Freeborn Wind is before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, where Association of Freeborn County Landowners’ Motions for Reconsideration are on the agenda:

20192-150272-01-1_Motion to Remand to ALJ

UPDATE:

AFCL_Motion-Addendum to Remand to ALJ_FINAL FULL PACKET

Why update? Because we got more juicy details.  As I was filing the “Motion to Remand to ALJ” I got an email from Commerce-EERA’s John Wachtler, and he said that there were no emails, that Commerce deletes them after 90 days.  Well, emails weren’t all that was requested, and yet, NOTHING was produced. NOTHING!

Here’s what we asked for:

Exhibit C_Commerce-Agreement_Data Practices Act Request

Why am I not surprised…

There’s been a lot of speculation about the low wind production during the low-low temps at the end of January.  Turns out there’s an issue not anticipated by MISO that they’re going to have to deal with.  I heard it first from a little birdie who heard it while in a flock…

And now from a bigger birdie with primary info from the horse itself: Turbines apparently have a -22F degree or so automatic shutoff, so when it was way cold, they shut off.

Unidentified temperature cutoff thresholds challenged
wind forecasting in morning of Jan 30. Unexpected
shutoffs led to a large deviation from planned output.

Ummmmm, that’s a problem.  Here’s the MISO update on that:

20190207 MSC Item 04 Jan 30 Max Gen Event317407

And from my “good friends” at Center of the American Experiment, who got it twisted again:

Bitter Cold Shows Reliable Energy Sources Are Critical

Twisted?  What’s wrong with that?  Well, their focus is that it was an intermittency issue, which it was not.  As above, it was that shut-off at -22!  And note the part in their post about “unforeseen.”  And THAT is the problem, because the -22 cut-off was not integrated into the MISO modeling, plans, and that was a surprise, and they’re going to have to figure that one out.  It’s possible, probable, and now apparently likely that we will have another -22 degree spell in the foreseeable future.  So get with it, MISO!

And natural gas.  I keep thinking about that CenterPoint natural gas underground storage dome.  7 billion cubic feet at least.  There’s a lot of gas in storage.  Are they relying on pipelines, and does that reliance take into account the many newer natural gas plants?  Does Xcel share/buy from CenterPoint, take advantage of the storage?  What is the impact of so many electric generators fueled by natural gas?  They did recently do a lot of natural gas pipeline work on that primary north/south line running north from Waseca, was that a capacity expansion… upgrades or maintenance ??

Here we go again…  On January 24th, Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission denied the Petition for Rulemaking filed by Jewell Jinkins Intervenors, where we’re trying to get them off the dime and promulgate some solar siting rules.

Petition for Rulemaking_JJI_Solar_FINAL

Here’s their written order, just out today, with some bizarre statements:

PSC Order_2-6-2019- Denial of Rulemaking Petition

Bizarre statements?  Yup, here’s one, the grand finale:

As Bob Cupit would say that I say, “GIVE ME A BREAK….”

For those of us “at a certain age,” some things to consider.  Lee Schafer’s article in the STrib brought up a few articles about where Minnesota fits into the mix, and that the usual suspects of states to go to for retirement (often AZ for those of us west of the Mississippi, and FL for those on the East Coast) may not be so hot.  Cost of living in AZ sure is high and the climate sure sucks!

America’s Health Rankings – 2018 Senior Report

But what about Minnesota?  The United Health Foundation’s study put Minnesota pretty high, #4, but last year we were #1.  Click for larger version:

The considerations, above, are ones that make sense to me.  For instance, looking at rates of volunteerism of those 65 and over, isolation and sense of community:

… looking at rates of “excessive drinking” for those over 65 — hey, MN, we were #48 on the list, tied with Hawaii, and above only Wisconsin!  WHOA, folks, consider that! Click for larger version:

And the one that I need to deal with (much easier with mostly resolved plantar fascitis) — I can be a woman of substance in other ways, eh?

And Delivery of Home Meals (Meals on Wheels?!?):

Here’s Schafer’s column today in the STrib — you can check out the other linked studies here:

The best spot to retire might not be the warmest

Oh come on, folks, it’s not that cold. -7 right now in Red Wing. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I remember when… I remember in the 60s those -30 mornings penguin-walking a mile to school in Michelin Man costume.

And I’d rather forget those awful mornings in the 70s, so glad to have that long muskrat coat, I appreciated each and every dead muskrat.  And 1974 for sure was awful, living in an unheated attic, and trying, and failing, to start the car, a personal emergency.  Piglet, my ’64 Galaxie just couldn’t do it.

Early 80s, changing the oil in my van because I’d flooded it beyond hope. What hell that was…

And in 1994, when my new Dodge Colt froze up!  How did that happen?  Caught it overheating as it was warming up, and lucky to get it to the shop and thawed out. WHEW, too close.

But as you well know, climate has changed. I kept telling Alan Muller that winters are not “normal” here, little snow, and not -30 or worse. Now and then, we do get reminders (click photos for larger versions).