Legalectric

Just a week ago public comments on the Hollydale transmission line case closed, the week before that was the public hearing, and just before that was the bizarre meeting with the Dept. of Commerce.  And today?

TODAY WE GET THIS:

Hollydale – Petition to Withdraw Pending Certificate of Need and Route Permit Applications

EEEEEEEEE-HA!

It’ll go to the Commission to tie up the loose ends, but YES!!!  Xcel is withdrawing the application and going away… for a while… so they say:

Oh, and by withdrawing, they are not bound by the law because it specifies applications made by a certain date… then it will not apply!  So they’re getting around it, but they say they are not.  Oh well, I don’t think they’ll try the same trick again.

This past year the Hollydale Law, 2013 Minn. Laws Chapter 57 Section 2, which is
applicable to our currently pending applications, was passed. While the law, as
currently written, would not apply to the new applications, we fully intend to comply with the intention of the law by carrying forward in our new Certificate of Need application all the system alternatives, including distribution alternatives, which were developed during this proceeding. We believe this will allow a robust examination of numerous distribution alternatives and will address the concerns implicated by the Hollydale Law.

and:

Once we develop a more widely accepted solution, we intend to seek the appropriate regulatory approvals.

The down side is that by withdrawing, they are not bound by the law that is limited to applications filed by a certain date, so that law might have to be changed to fence them in.  No problem…

Now the down side is they say they’ll be baaaaaaaaack.  I’d guess they’ll be much more cautious and conscious of what they propose, and for Dog’s sake not be using 2006 information.  DOH!