Legalectric

Huh??? What’s going on here? It’s unprecedented — at yesterday’s Prehearing Conference, we reached a (reluctant on my part) “global agreement” that the evidentiary hearing on the Excelsior Mesaba coal gasification project isn’t happening. We’re going forward on the basis of the prefiled testimony and exhibits, and given that those of us who don’t have resources, budgets, staff, etc., get our evidence in on cross-examination, we’ll be introducing all the Exhibits we can find, that is those “in the public domain.” For our exhibits thus far, go here www.mncoalgasplant.com/ppa.html and scroll way down to MCGP Exhibits. The most popular ones for download right now are the Excelsior Scherner Presentations to NM-SPG!

There will be public hearings in December:

December 18, 2006
1 p.m. & 6 p.m.
PUC Lg. Hearing Room
121 – 7th Place East, 3rd Floor
St. Paul, MN

December 19, 2006
1 p.m. & 5 p.m.
Hoyt Lakes Areana
Hoyt Lakes, MN

December 20, 2006
1 p.m. & 5 p.m.
Taconite Community Center
Taconite, MN

Noteworthy too is that the crucial cost information on CO2 capture and sequestration will remain “Trade Secret.” What a load of crap — it’s just a way of delaying the societal recognition that carbon capture and sequestration ain’t a happenin’ thang… and so I’m digging and digging on the internet to find that same info. Why? Well, for example, look at all that Joyce Foundation pro-coal gasification money going into the new enviro mantra, “IGCC is good with CO2 capture and sequestration” and coal gasification junkets to Europe. And of course the Joyce Foundation’s CCX — they didn’t corner the market on CO2 trading, they MADE it! Carbon capture and sequestration in Minnesota is an utterly delusional pipedream, everyone working on this case knows it’s an utterly delusional pipedream, including MCEA, Fresh Energy, Waltons — we all have this info and know it. So fair warning — I’d better not hear any of these groups singing that IGCC mantra!

And for everyone who’s dying to know what generation is proposed, here’s a spreadsheet of the MISO Queue in sortable Xcel. Why? Because then you can ask “How much wind is proposed for Illinois?” and find out that it’s 8,682.4, so when anyone tells you they’ll be building wind in South Dakota and shipping it to Illinois, you can confidently say, “I don’t think so!” Here’s the Excel MISO Generation Spreadsheet!

miso-queue-with-coal-separated-out-sheet-2.xls

Have fun and pay attention!!!