Legalectric

Yes! Progress! Kay Kuhlman brought up tomorrow’s Biennial Transmission Plan meeting at the City Council meeting, and said that it would be covered by City staff! A small thing, but I’ so thrilled that they’re paying attention. I heard from Atina Diffley, Gardens of Eagan, about it today too, and I’ve got my “Buy the Farm” flyers all printed (well, they’re really leftovers, but what the hey…).

Here’s the schedule:

Transmission Plan? What transmission plan? Oh, what seems now a coon’s age ago, the state had a burr under its saddle, planted there by a few folks I know, present company included, and so the legislature got serious about transmission planning, even mandated it. Part of the idea was not to end up with bogus projects like the Arrowhead Project, or Chisago Project, which were utility dreams but not needed for any local service and instead wanted for bulk power transfers, market transactions, unregulated sales for fun and profit. Here’s Minn. Stat. 216B.2425, mandating the “State Transmission Plan.” I was on the rulemaking committee for that, and it was torturous. But the bottom line was that this was to lend some sense of planning to transmission… silly me…

Here we are, with the biggest transmission projects ever, three giant lines crossing the state, 200,000 landowners affected, and they’re not even shown on the notice maps for the Transmission Plan Meetings. I’ve emailed and called Al Mitchell, the “it guy” for the Minnesota Transmission Owners, but he wasn’t around, so I’ve even called poor Bob Cupit, knowing that the state can’t afford the luxury of caller ID. Oh, this is hilarious, look what turns up googling Cupit:

Gotta find one of these, he’s probably gotten over that one-legged strap-on milk stool we got him a decade ago!

So come on down to Rochester, and find out what one-legged milk stools have to do with transmission planning, and ask them what the hell “CapX” means anyway, and why their lines are not on the maps! Maybe you can get a decent answer.

And DON’T forget that Big Stone II, BSII, is tied into the SW Minnesota line coming over to PI, and then shooting out to Wisconsin via Prairie Island, Red Wing, and LaX… heard that was quite the topic out in Granite Falls week before last, let’s keep it that way! DUH, it’s all connected — and don’t pretend that it’s not!