Hiawatha Transmission Project MOES Recommendation
May 18th, 2011
Xcel Energy’s Hiawatha Transmission Project moves forward.
Recently, Comments and Reply Comments were due in this “informal” Certificate of Need proceeding. All the intervening parties in the routing docket have been sitting on their hands, or worse (I hope not, but why the silence?). So when only MOES filed “Comments” I filed Reply Comments, because theirs were SOOOOO… soooooo… well, read them yourself, they’re in INITIAL comments recommending that the Certificate of Need be approved, shouldn’t they at least make it look better by waiting to see what comes in before declaring that it should be approved?!?!?! … and the basis, well, it’s just absurd:
Here’s what I filed — I don’t have a dog in the fight, no client, no direct interest, but I cannot stand it when there’s NO response, NO filings, it’s just not right, and that’s when I get twitchy that somebody is pulling a fast one, and others did join in:
Johnson – Reply Comment Attachment
City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County Reply Comments
And then MOES has the last word, complaining that Xcel’s aren’t allowed under the PUC Rules of Practice in Minn. R. ch 7829!
Exceptions filed to AWA Goodhue ALJ Recommendation
May 16th, 2011
Above, Chuck Burdick with attorney Todd Guerrero arguing at PUC last November.
Today Exceptions to the Report of the Administrative Law Judge were due in the AWA Goodhue docket.
First, the ALJ’s Recommendation:
And now for the Exceptions:
Belle Creek Township – Exceptions
Coalition for Sensible Siting – Exceptions
Ellen Anderson’s Confirmation Hearing
May 13th, 2011
This is worth a watch…
I’ve been receiving a lot of emails about the upcoming hearings, now this has happened and emails are coming in about it.
She has a good handle on it, the job, the role, and she’s been on energy issues f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I’ve just put it on, and she is sounding nervous, with reason, given the tone of some of what I’ve been hearing.
Now she’s got a story about Koppendrayer and Pugh, where LeRoy told Tom that this was not the legislature and he didn’t have to vote with the chair, Tom proceeded, and LeRoy then said, “You don’t HAVE to vote AGAINST the Chair EVERY TIME!”
Right now, she’s addressing questions from Sen. John Howe, from here in Red Wing, but he’s asking about things that are before the Commission right now, which she cannot address, it’s like asking a judge in confirmation hearing about issues before the court, she can’t go there… and from the sound of it, she’s not real familiar with the Goodhue Wind case, where the statute does allow County regulation.
Explaining differences… “You can’t just shoot off your mouth like I could as a Senator.”
Sen. Howe is now addressing “personal bias” and I wonder if he knows about her role in limiting nuclear generation and nuclear waste in Minnesota?!?! And balanced with that is her role in putting nuclear waste “in Goodhue County.”
And now a question about repealing the coal moratorium. HELLO, where do these folks think that there’s a need for a coal plant? She’s talking about generation and transmission planning, decreased demand (too weak on that, she should have the specifics). They’re wanting answers to questions like “What would be the circumstances for the public interest to add a new coal plant?” Unreal… no understanding that there’s no need. Sen. Metzen is saying “we used to think we were 5,800-6,000MW short and now, I don’t think the need is there.” Well DUH. I’ve been providing info to the Senate and House Energy Committees for so long about need and lack thereof, how is it that so many haven’t gotten it through their heads that there is NO NEED!
Sen. Scott Dibble is now referrring to a facility proposed, can’t tell if it’s Big Stone or Mesaba, probably Mesaba, “a facility that there were questions about.”
Sen. Doug Magnus: “What are your thoughts on transmission… how are we going to move this energy around where we need it?” There’s a number of transmission cases coming up before us… PUC has decided the first of the CapX lines, that line is intended to help support renewables. Related to that… one thing that’s been interesting, because there’s been transmission gaps, and logjams in recent years, more of the wind projects have been located closer in to the metro area… as we site more of those transmission lines… that will help bring wind farm siting more back to the high speed wind areas that are more rural… not quite as much contention. I did carry bill in 2005 to allow CapX utilities to get cost recovery to build out transmission…
(gotta get back to work!)
Pack time!
May 11th, 2011
Summer is doing so well, she’s got the “going outside” thing down, has learned “sit” and “wait” and is working on “down” (on command, she spends a lot of time in “down” naturally), and is working things out with Kady. Right now, all three are surrounding my chair, black and tan office rug, even Sadie, who usually spends the day upstairs with Alan.
Three dogs take a lot of time, especially if they’re not on the same schedule. Here they are today, in sync! Summer’s first walk on a Gentle Leader, she’s a lot peppier than we expected, and she’ll be doing some walking in her old age. What a relief!!!
ALJ Sheehy Files AWA Goodhue Wind Recommendation
April 30th, 2011
Whew, leave town and look what happens…
What sticks in my craw is this — if the law were unambiguous we would not be here today in this contested case:
And it’s that paragraph 43 and 44 that is particularly obtuse, because from here it looks as though that MOES Affidavit filed, to which GWT objected and about which GWT filed Subpoena Request, which were DENIED:
Goodhue Wind Truth – Subpoena Requests for Bjorklund and Bull
ALJ Sheehy’s Letter to Overland – Denial of Subpoena Requests
Were it unambiguous, we wouldn’t be in this contested case, and she wouldn’t be going through this elaborate dance to get to “it’s unambiguous.”
If it walks like an ambiguous, if talks like an ambiguous, it’s ambiguous…
Oh, and here’s another bizarre part, claiming that there are state standards in existence for 12 years:
Uh-huh… right…