Mastic’s H061 & H062 Interconnection Agmts TERMINATED
August 18th, 2014
Peter Mastic, a/k/a New Era Wind, and Peter J. Mastic Holdings, LLC, has apparently been trying to leverage his MISO Interconnection Agreements into some sort of advantage as a proposer of a solar project in Goodhue County.
DOH! That won’t work — MISO went to FERC and requested that Mastic’s Interconnection Agreements for MISO queue projects H061 and H062 be terminated. “New Era” vigorously defended its Interconnection Agreements, and against claims it had not paid requisite costs. Oh well, that didn’t fly. FERC complied and issued the orders a couple months ago. H061 and H062 are TERMINATED!
FERC Docket No. ER14-1719-000_Order – TERMINATION of Interconnection Agmt H061
FERC Docket No. ER14-1684-000_Order – TERMINATION of Interconnection Agmt H062
So given the public nature of these Terminations, and MISO requests to FERC for termination which Mastic was obviously aware of, what would you call statements claiming that these Interconnection Agreements and spots on the MISO queue are Mastic’s asset, or that they could be used for any purpose? Hmmmmmm…
Latest version of PUC draft rules
August 17th, 2014
We’re working on the revisions of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rules for Certificate of Need (Minn. R. Ch. 7849) and for Routing/Siting (Minn. R. Ch. 7850), and it’s OH SO PAINFUL and tedious. But this is where it happens — the rules developed here will be presented to the PUC to release for public comment and adoption — and once they’re released, they can’t adopt rules that are significantly different, so realistically, there won’t be major changes. It’s now or never… this is where participation matters.
Our next meeting is Wednesday, August 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Commission’s Large Hearing Room in the Metro Square Building, located at 121 Seventh Place East, St. Paul, MN 55101. The PUC will provide refreshments.
FINAL MEETING – Wednesday September 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Please take a look at these rule drafts and send in your comments. Here are the latest drafts.
The next meeting is this Wednesday, so not much time for review and comment. Comments can be sent to kate.kahlert [at] state.mn.us and/or posted in the PUC’s Rulemaking Docket, 12-1246. To see what all has been filed in that docket, go to PUC SEARCH DOCKETS PAGE and search for 12-1246 (“12” is the year, “1246” is the docket number).
VOTE – Get out there and do it!
August 12th, 2014
Zip Rail comment period extended to 8/22
August 6th, 2014
The Comment Period for scoping for the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement has been extended until August 22, 2014. Really, here’s the quote from their site:
Comment Period Extended
In response to public interest, the comment period on the Scoping Booklet/Draft Scoping Decision Document is being extended to August 22, 2014, an additional 16 days.
And their press release:
August 6 2014 Zip Rail News Release – Public Comment Period Extension
So get to it and get your comment in:
or email:
or mail to:
MN DOT Passenger Rail Office ATTN: Zip Rail 395 John Ireland Boulevard, MS 470 St. Paul, MN 55155
For more info go to www.goziprail.org and for high speed passenger rail generally, with more technical info than you’ll find on the Zip site, try Midwest High Speed Rail Association, and make sure to look at their “Studies/White Papers” page.
IGCC Kemper plant lawsuit
August 6th, 2014
Thanks to John Blair, Valley Watch and Bruce Nilles for the heads up on this IGCC project settlement. We fought off one here, the Excelsior Energy Mesaba Project, which took a lot of people, a lot of groups, a lot of approaches and a lot of coalition, and thanks to all, we do not have a coal gasification plant in Minnesota.
What’s disturbing is that they get to run this boondoggle $5.2 billion dollar project (initially billed as $2.6 billion) at all, though they are shutting down older coal plants and converting to natural gas. It’s the most expensive power plant in history, and guess who’s paying for it?
