Legalectric

I’m cleaning the office, trying to move into 2021 with less reliance on paper and more on electronics. That could be asking for trouble, but the piles and piles I’ve got here, decades of utility work, it’s going to topple the house. So I’m continuing my practice of scanning or finding on-line many of these reports and posting them here so I can find them, and others can too.

Years ago, circa 1999, maybe 2000, during the Arrowhead transmission contested case in either Minnesota, working out of a garage and staying in a tent, or Wisconsin, a two month long hearing from hell, rooming with Cassidy, one of two German Shepherds where we were staying…

… I received a “brown paper envelope” copy of “The Bonneville Report,” a report that was issued by Bonneville Power Administration and very shortly thereafter, it was disappeared, and it later returned. The copy I received was a later version, circa 1996. I present to you World Organization of Landowner Freedom’s Exhibit A:

And here’s a 1989 version:

And here’s another great one that shouldn’t be forgotten, particularly as Xcel’s Benson, in rate case testimony about transmission, notes rehab of the King-Eau Claire-Arpin transmission line:

Northern MAPP/Northwestern Ontario Disturbance June 25, 1998

And…

And an interesting report, wherein Xcel forecasts peak demand:

And as they start the shift to “economic” need:

And for those ready to shut down Prairie Island Nuclear Generation Plant:

And anyone remember when “Wind on the Wires” was a program of the Izaak Walton League? This was in 2001, the beginning of the machinations and set up for the big transmission build-out, the SW Minn 345kV line was the first out the gate, and gave Xcel/NSP the start it needed. And below, read the minutes, this transmission that we’re all paying big bucks for is the impact of the enviro sell-out.

Note the part about the “settlement agreement,” for that SW Minn 345kV line!

And here, introducing “Wind on the Wires,” an Izaaak Walton grant program, “identifying the highest priority transmission upgrades and working with utilities, state and federal regulators, and local communities for their completion.” Thanks a lot:

And a LOT of old Arrowhead info, contracts, costs, even application!

And from the “Wisconsin Western Interface Alternatives” (still looking for online), this precursor of CapX 2020 and MISO’s MVP Portfolio below – which ones HAVEN’T they built?

Saving and posting for posterity…

NSP/Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant is just 13.4 miles away through our bluffs, and more like 9 as the crow flies. And don’t forget about Monticello, same GE reactor as Fukushima Di’iachi, upriver, also on the Mississippi.

FYI, the NRC’s page for:

Prairie Island Enforcement Actions (it’s been a while, is that a good thing?)

Only two comments were filed by Advisory Committee members (not including utility comment prior to the 12/16/2021 Commission meeting):

The Comments before-hand seem orchestrated, as much as the 97 or so last minute comments in November:

Withdrawal of proposed rules at the last minute? What’s the procedure? What happens now?

Have all these folks not heard of the notion of submitting a Rulemaking Petition if they want something other than what’s in the rules? The excuses mouthed by the Commission at that 12/16 meeting were utterly off point. No mention of the 2005 legislative changes, and attempts to subvert the “prime farmland” rule by weaving it into this? Just no…

Minnesota has many state parks open for winter camping — Frontenac State Park, where we are now, is one:

We’ve not done winter camping, and I’ve been watching videos about tent camping to get the hang of it before we try tenting in earnest. A 3 week trip is planned, but NOT in winter.

EEEEK, I’ll pass on a tent in that weather.

So far, we’ve only taken three cold weather trips, all around Halloween to get away, and both were pretty cold. The worst was in Minneopa, 2017, above, where the temp was 20s to low 30s, but the wind was just awful. We had propane heat, and a little space heater because we had an electric site, and the pup held heat pretty well:

Little Sadie would beg to differ:

Took maiden voyage in the Starcraft hybrid to Wisconsin, Potawatomi State Park and Pt. Beach Forest, and the van kept having severe problems, and it was no fun at all. First it was stalling and dying, took 2 days to figure it out:

… then electrical problems:

But the weather was PERFECT!

This year for Halloween, we went to William O’Brien State Park, and it was chilly, but not bad, because it was SUNNY, which always helps.

I’d looked about a month ago for Minnesota camping, and yes, I know that Halloween is NOT “winter.” Google found a DNR “Winter Camping” page but “404,” so I shot off an email, and now the page is working. Here’s the map with winter camping in Minnesota State Parks:

And the DNR page on “Winter Camping” here.

From the looks of Frontenac today, we’re the only ones here, and I’m thinking reservations in winter aren’t anywhere as difficult to get as in summer, particularly in COVID. On the other hand, Tettegouche does show reserved sites, so book way in advance if you’re wanting a site.

I just can’t see winter camping in a tent, unless it’s a “4 season” tent with an electric heater inside, just no way!

Time to fire up the stove out there, I hear turkey soup calling!