Legalectric

U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to Meet Feb. 9

You can send a missive to the U.S. Postal Commission AT THIS LINK.

Here’s what I sent:

• 1) PLEASE fire DeJoy. The lawsuit to rollback changes back a few years ago wasn’t enough. We need firm change in direction of USPS.
• 2) Needed now, wage increase, serious recruitment, and establishment of a float pool to cover staff shortages. This is a management problem going to the very top. For months, we did not get mail, or very sporadically, like once, and maybe twice a week. Now we’re getting mail at least a few times weekly. This is not acceptable service from USPS.

You have to read it to believe it — scathing, and so long overdue. Short version?

The Environmental Impact Statement for the Lava Ridge wind project, proposed by Magic Valley Wind, is now available — get it here:

BLM page for Lava Ridge

I’d first learned about this when we were on the way from Craters of the Moon National Monument …

… to our next stop, which took us through Jerome, Idaho, and to the Minidoka National Historic Site.

That’s a “new” historical site, where a Japanese internment camp was located. And as we were learning about it online between the two sites, the Lava Ridge wind project popped up — turns out that the wind project as proposed would be adjacent to the historical site! Check the first map above, hunt for “Hunt” Idaho, and here’s Minidoka in relation to “Hunt.”

And from there, Friends of Minidoka popped up, and their advocacy to protect the site, so we’d learned some before we got there:

Friends of Minidoka has an excellent “Comments” page — written suggestions for EFFECTIVE and SUBSTANTIVE comments, and scroll down for a youtube (see also National Trust for Historic Preservation Action campaign), as does the linked BLM pate. From that Friends of Minidoka page:

How to Submit Effective Comments

Effective comments will produce actionable items for BLM. How to Write Substantive Comments provides tips and examples. As per Kasey Prestwich of the BLM, it is important to:

* Focus your comments on the proposed project and what is being analyzed.

* *Describe the significance of the potential impacts and how they affect you, others, places, and activities.

* Provide any new information that is relevant to the project (e.g., potential affected resources).

* Discuss modifications to existing alternatives or suggest other reasonable alternatives with justification.

* Provide detailed information and references to back up your comment.

If your comment includes a statement that describes your opposition or support for the project, ensure you describe specific elements of the project or specific potential impacts that are influencing your position. Position statements must include enough information to help the BLM inform reasonable changes to the alternatives or revisions to the assessment of potential impacts. Avoid comments like “I don’t like this” or “I do like this.”

Identical comments are treated as one comment, including form letters.

Get to work on comments!

For decades now, I’ve been arguing that transmission isn’t “needed,” it’s wanted, and we’ve got so much in the way of transmission “incentives” that it’s hard to believe transmission lines are being approved. Updates, yes, most of the electrical grid was built and nothing since, and there’s so many reasons, so many millions of dollars of reasons, to underground transmission and distribution lines. Climate change extreme weather that’s downing lines makes this a priority, and then there’s substation domestic terrorism — it’s no longer the squirrels taking out substations!

Squirrel causes brief power outage for 9,500 customers in Minneapolis

But this — this is what the building push, infrastructure and more infrastructure, is all about — EXCESS CAPACITY! It’s not about “need” for more electricity, or building it at or near load so the system isn’t vulnerable to storms and/or domestic terrorists of any sort. It’s about SELLING EXCESS CAPACITY!

Xcel’s 2022 3Q SEC Filing

Next time you hear a utility “NEEDS” transmission, do remember this, and remind them that you know it’s not about need, it’s about facilitating marketing and bulk power sales.

Flashback…

In Grist today: Transmission Lies

February 3rd, 2009

Filed and served, Complainant Carol A. Overland’s Initial Brie — all the Respondents’ briefs are due next Friday, January 20:

And the Complaint from last November: