Legalectric

Kandiyohi burner rears its ugly head again, this time in Rockford, Minnesota. Their Midtown burner project went down in flames not even a year ago, and here they are again.

From a blurb on Current Issues on the City of Rockford site:

Proposed Industry – Biomass Plant

On October 7th the City Council and Planning Commission listened to a presentation from Kandiyohi. Kandiyohi is looking at constructing a wood burning biomass plant south of Highway 55 and west of County Road 32 that was recently annexed. The developer’s presented information about their operations which involves burning waste wood that will generate electricity through a steam process. The project will consist of the development of approximately 7 acres of land. The plant will be required to complete an environmental assessment and apply for an air quality permit. The group has been working together with Wright Hennepin Electric that is also located in the Rockford. Lane Wilson, from Wright Hennepin Electric was present at the meeting and stated that their company is very excited about the prospect of this new business and feels they can work well together to meet the future needs of electricity in the area.

Here’s the minutes from the meeting:

Workshop Meeting of Rockford City Council and Planning Commission

Here’s their powerpoint:

Kandiyohi Presentation – Rockford October 7 2008

… which makes me wonder…

They say that they’ll burn waste wood.

Did they tell the City of Rockford that waste wood produces emissions of formaldehyde, NOx and fine particulates?

Did they tell the City of Rockford that their failed Midtown Eco-burner project would spew nearly 1 million pounds of pollutants in the air?

Did they tell the City of Rockford that there’s enough wood to power the project? (see next section)

They say that Minnesota is one of the best places for biomass, and have a map showing biomass resources.

Did they tell the City of Rockford that there’s enough wood to power the project?

Did they tell the City of Rockford that the Green Institute’s study showed that there is not enough biomass to power a similar burner proposed for St. Paul’s Rock-Tenn facility, that there’s not sufficient wood to go around?

Green Institute Report: A Biomass Fuel Assessment

Did they explain what’s changed since the Green Institute report?

They say it employs established technology.

Did they tell the City of Rockford that the MPCA has only issued one woody biomass permit, for Laurentian (Hibbing and Virginia) and that that permit was violated, so extremely that the MPCA issued fines and reworked the permit?

LEGALECTRIC POST: Laurentian “biomass” Air Permit Draft (second time around)

LEGALECTRIC POST: “Biomass” violates air permit – fines likely

They say that it will replace fossil fuel and nuclear.

Did they tell the City of Rockford what fossil fuel or nuclear power plants would be shut down if theirs is built?

Does the power purchase agreement provide for shutdown of any fossil fuel or nuclear generation?

They say it will expand the City of Rockford’s tax base.

Did they tell the City of Rockford that for the Midtown burner they lobbied for and received an exemption from utility personal property tax?

Minn. Stat. 272.02, Subd. 82.
Biomass electric generation facility; personal property.

(a) Notwithstanding subdivision 9, clause (a), attached machinery and other personal property which is a part of an electric generation facility, including remote boilers that comprise part of the district heating system, generating up to 30 megawatts of installed capacity and that meets the requirements of this subdivision is exempt. At the time of construction, the facility must:

(1) be designed to utilize a minimum 90 percent waste biomass as a fuel;

(2) not be owned by a public utility as defined in section 216B.02, subdivision 4;

(3) be located within a city of the first class and have its primary location at a former garbage transfer station; and

(4) be designed to have capability to provide baseload energy and district heating.

(b) Construction of the facility must be commenced after January 1, 2004, and before January 1, 2008. Property eligible for this exemption does not include electric transmission lines and interconnections or gas pipelines and interconnections appurtenant to the property or the facility.

Did they tell the City of Rockford that their failed Midtown project would not have paid utility personal property tax to the county, city and school district because of this exemption?

Did they tell the City of Rockford that they would NOT seek an exemption from utility personal property tax for this project?

Did they commit to paying utility personal property tax to the county, city and school district?

They tout process steam and district heat potential.

Did they tell the City of Rockford of the infrastructure expense necessary to utilize this steam?

Did they tell the City of Rockford that the St. Paul District Heat plant had steam heat infrastructure in place for much of its St. Paul customer base?

They say there will be no odors.

Did they tell the City of Rockford the basis for that statement?

Did they tell the City of Rockford how many pounds of emissions are expected?

They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that some in the neighborhood were anti-business and anti-growth.

Did they tell the City of Rockford the basis of the neighborhood’s objections?

LINK: Neighbors Against the Burner

LINK: Minneapolis Residents for Clean Air

Minneapolis Residents for Clean Air – Refutation of Kandiyohi claim that impact of burner equals just 24 cars

They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that NIMBY caused some local politicians to flip-flop.

Did they tell the City of Rockford the factors upon which local politicians rejected the project?

They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that Xcel Energy was difficult to negotiate with?

Did they tell the City of Rockford the material terms of their power purchase agreement proposal that Xcel rejected?

They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that activists exaggerated emissions.

Did they tell the City of Rockford the specific emissions levels projected?

For Midtown Eco-Burner, per air permit application:

NOx 160 tons (320,000 lbs)
SO2 40 tons (80,000 lbs)
Ozone (O3) (not emitted directly)
CO 160 tons (320,000 lbs)
Lead 150 tons (also a “HAP”)
Particles 36 tons (72,000 lbs)
– PM 10 – 65 tons (130,000 lbs)
– PM 2.5

They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that cumulative impacts were claimed even though the project had low emissions.

Did they tell the City of Rockford of the existing arsenic contamination and other impacts of prior industry suffered by the Phillips community?

Did the tell the City of Rockford of the efforts that led to legislation passed requiring that cumulative impacts be considered?

They say that emissions for this project would be much lower than for District Energy or Hibbing.

Did they tell the City of Rockford the basis for this claim?

Did they provide the City of Rockford the emissions modeling to back up this claim?

They claim multiple options for water use and discharge.

Did they tell the City of Rockford what their plans are?

Do they have plans for water use, cooling and treatment?

Did they disclose the cost of water and treatment if they use the city’s system?

Did they disclose impacts of on-site water intake and discharge?

They claim their project will reduce emissions that may cause climate change.

Did they explain to the City of Rockford how a new power plant with new emissions without a linked closing of any other facility would reduce emissions?

They say they have $75 million in private capital.

Did they explain to the City of Rockford why they have this capital now but did not have it for the Midtown project and relied on public grants and financing?

They say they have a financing package prepared by Piper Jaffray.

Did they provide a pro forma to the City of Rockford?

Did they provide any documentation of this financing package?

LINK: Kandiyohi Request to City of Mpls for Extenstion to Close – Statement that Piper Jaffray financing reference – real estate and financing closing did NOT occur

They claim “project team experience” on a number of projects.

Did they tell the City of Rockford what project partners have what experience?

Did they tell the City of Rockford that Kandiyohi has no experience in successful development, construction or operation of a power plant?

Did they tell the City of Rockford that Kandiyohi has experience only in its failed Midtown burner project?

This project is yet another pig in a poke…

Here’s some information from the last time around, so that the City of Rockford can compare with what they receive:

Midtown Air Permit application – note it took them 3 submissions to get one that the MPCA would accept

Air Permit – Part I

Air Permit – Part 2

Air Permit – Part 3

Air Permit – Part 4

MPCA Documents

Midtown Draft Air Permit

Midtown Technical Support Document

Neighbors Against the Burner & Other Org’s Documents

Petition for Environmental Assessment Worksheet

EAW – Affidavit of Muller in Support of Petition

Green Institute Comments in Support of EAW

David Morris – ILSR – Position on Kandiyohi Midtown & Timeline of Events

Jeff Cook Coyle (formerly Green Institute) letter to Legislators

Petition for Contested Case

Alan Muller Presentation

Muller – Saying NO! to permits for Kandiyohi\’s Midtown Burner

(Air emissions info on slide 22)

Shame on you, you naughty utilities! FERC is investigating yet another utility for scheduling transmission reservations for local load and instead using them for wholesale sales, or put another way,  using network transmission service instead of point-to-point service to import power to facilitate off-system sales. Remember when Otter Tail Power got nailed for that recently?

Otter Tail Power to Disgorge $546,832 + Interest

It’s not like this is anything new, but I think it’s a lot more widespread, and given the market basis for electricity sales, it’s “incented” in the systemic structure, and FERC’s power to act on these violations is relatively new.  Here are some more examples:

FERC – SCANA – Stipulation & Consent Agreement

FERC – PacifiCorp – Stipulation & Consent Agreement

And I’ll spend a little time digging up some more…

Anyway, now Westar Energy in Kansas is under investigation, and reported this in a recent SEC filing. Here’s the story that popped up on that:

Westar’s power line use probed

By DUANE SCHRAG

Salina Journal

Federal regulators are looking into whether Westar Energy manipulated use of transmission lines, a practice that would drive up the cost of electricity to consumers.

“There was a question that came up, whether we have been over-reserving the level of capacity and preventing others’ use of the lines,” said Bruce Burns, director of investor relations at Westar Energy.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission investigation was noted in Westar’s quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was posted Friday.

“We are responding to a preliminary, nonpublic investigation by FERC of our use of transmission service … in 2006 and 2007,” Westar told investors, adding that it believes the company complied with all regulations.

Utilities schedule capacity on the lines, based on their estimates of how much power their customers will use.

At issue is whether Westar deliberately scheduled more capacity than it needed, Burns said.

He wasn’t certain when the regulatory commission began its investigation, but believes it has been ongoing for the better part of 2008.

Federal law requires that all utilities be allowed open access to transmission lines, regardless of who actually owns them. Line owners receive royalties for use of their lines.

Reporter Duane Schrag can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at dschrag@salina.com.

Also noteworthy is that Westar Energy had, like many utilities, a DECREASE in sales, in the case of Westar, 2% decrease admitted in a November 7, 2008 press release.

How many other utilities out there are under investigation, and how many are NOT under investigation when they should be? Something tells me this is a common practice.

What can I say, there’s no photo for “queasy feeling of impending stink”

I’ve got this non-specific queasiness.  Correction — I’ve got a specific queasiness and I think I know why.  Today was a “Stakeholder Meeting” of the Organization of MISO States.  That’s right… ready?  OMMMMMS … OMMMMMS … OMMMMMS…

I guess I just didn’t meditate myself into the right state of mind…  I wasn’t hypnotized by the baffling bullshit.  Y’all know how excited I get when these utilities try to pass of some lame excuse as “need” for transmission.  Now we’re getting a wholesale version of that, where need is presumed, and they’re going to take a few months and a lot of people’s time figuring out some bogus justification and in the process, a new regulatory scheme that circumvents state regulation and establishes a new regional transmission regulatory authority.  Watch… it’s straight out of the Wind on the Wires legislative agenda for 2005… and Mikey Bull is on hand to grease the skids for his former boss Gov. Pawlenty and the new boss…  WOW, subset of the Izaak Walton League.  That’s what I think is coming down the pike.

Whatever is she talking about, you say… it’s called the Organization of MISO States.

Who is the Organization of MISO States?

OMS Board

OMS Executive Committee

OMS Members – that isn’t listed

Who are they speaking for?  Seems they’re claiming to speak for the Public Service Commissions and Public Utilities Commissions of the many states that are MISO.

And whoever they’re speaking for, they’re speaking a lot:

OMS page for FERC filings

Here’s what they said about the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors:

OMS Comments on DOE’s NIETC – July 6, 2007

I have this thing about trajectory, and I’ve got a sense where this is going.  So now my job is to get up to speed on this, explain it all in a very clear way that can’t be misunderstood, and keep an eye on my navel… OMMMMMS.

Oh, and did I mention that “cost allocation” is THE driver?  In this time of zero capital available for “capital expenditures” cost allocation and recovery are issues.  What’s wrong with the current MISO scheme of cost allocation?

And the big question: Who’s minding the public interest?

There was a public meeting scheduled for next week about Dairyland’s plan to open a new coal ash dump, er… an “off-site disposal facility for coal combustion byproducts.”  Uh-huh…

A couple of days ago, they canceled it, and had a press conference, where they stated:

Today, Dairyland Power Cooperative is extremely pleased to announce that we are indefinitely suspending the permitting process… All testing and permitting activities and future development plans will be halted at all three potential sites: the two sites in the town of Harmony and the site adjacent to the Vernon County landfill.

Here’s the whole enchilada:

Press Conference Statement – November 3 2008

And more:

Genoa Disposal Facility Suspension – November 3 2008

Same point, same language distributed differently… IT’S OVER!

Xcel’s Hiawatha Project is in the STrib today.  I’d posted on this a while ago:

Hiawatha Project — transmission line through Phillips

It’s my old neighborhood, mostly I lived a couple of blocks north of the now Greenway on 16th Ave., but for a while I’d lived just one house north of the train track on 14th, that was back when the tornado came roaring through, I watched it from the Post Coronary Rehab unit at HCMC where I worked.  It tossed a bus into Robert’s Shoes, pieces of the Sears warehouse went flying around, and it took out the roofs of most every house on the block north of mine… climbing through trees to get home, oh, that was something.  Anyway, I digress as usual…

Xcel is hosting meetings, and there are two more today:

Xcel’s Hiawatha Project Open House

Noon to 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. today

Midtown Exchange (former Lake Street Sears building) Global Market basement level

Here’s Xcel’s Hiawatha Project page.

Here’s the Hiawatha Project Map.

And here’s today’s STrib’s article on Xcel’s Hiawatha Project:

High-voltage lines: Power struggle in south Minneapolis?

By STEVE BRANDT, Star Tribune

November 5, 2008
The lights flickered and Sharon Hannigan’s computerized cash register shut down. The grocery store she manages at the Midtown Exchange on Lake Street came face to face on a recent Saturday with Xcel Energy’s sporadic problems getting reliable electrical service to parts of south Minneapolis. Rather than pay a hefty help-desk charge to get her credit card equipment restarted, the Produce Exchange went cash-only for the rest of the weekend.

Nearby, Abbott Northwestern Hospital experienced 16 unplanned outages last year, compared to six in 2002. During an outage, it shifts quickly to back-up generators,

“We have seen a trend over the last five or six years of increased reliability issues,” said Tim Grote, who manages hospital facilities. “It is important, especially in health care.”

Such stories emerged last week when Xcel hosted its first open houses about its plans to build high-voltage power lines in south Minneapolis. About 60 area residents and business people came, many to quiz the utility about its plans or to express concern, mainly about the aesthetics or health impacts of the lines. Two more sessions on the Hiawatha Project are scheduled for today.

Xcel wants to branch twin 115-kilovolt transmission lines into the Lake Street corridor, starting at Hiawatha Avenue and reaching almost to Interstate 35W. It also plans new substations at either end.

Company officials say that brownouts and interruptions like those reported by Grote and Hannigan are increasing for customers near the end of its current distribution system. It said that adding the new lines will increase reliability.

But the project, which Xcel intends to complete in 2010, also is arousing opposition. Some of it stems from the same coalition of neighborhood activists who successfully opposed a biomass plant in the Hiawatha-Lake area earlier this year. Their leaflet suggests that Xcel could obviate the need for the proposed high-voltage line with facility and conservation improvements, a claim the company disputes.

Some of the opposition arises from those concerned about the aesthetics of having a high-voltage line for a neighbor. Although Xcel has said that it’s looking anywhere in a five-block swatch paralleling Lake for a route, a number of opponents fear that the line could run in or near the Midtown Greenway.

“We as residents can’t tell you how upset we are,” said Darlene Moen, who bought a new condo overlooking the bike and pedestrian greenway. “A lot of people here don’t know how to fight back.”

Xcel said that it wouldn’t seek to install its transmission towers of up to 70 feet tall in the greenway itself, but might consider using the south lip overlooking the recreational trench. It is also looking at whether the lines could be meshed with a rebuilding of E. 26th St.

Some residents favor burying the lines, which is technically feasible but would raise the cost of the lines by ninefold, according to Xcel’s rough estimate. That cost would be paid by area customers.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438
POWER LINE OPEN HOUSES

Xcel Energy will hold two more open houses today at which south Minneapolis residents and businesses can learn more about its proposal to build a high-voltage power line and two substations in the Lake Street area:

When: Noon to 2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. today

Where: Midtown Exchange (former Lake Street Sears building) Global Market basement level.