#notmyPresident – Keystone XL pipeline is baaaaaaaaack
March 10th, 2017
Here it is, TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline is baaaaaaaaaaack. From the Federal Register Notice:
On February 5, 2014, the Department invited members of the public to comment on any factor they deem relevant to the national interest determination that will be made for the Keystone XL project application (79 FR 6984) and it is not inviting further public comment at this time.
Really…
A cut and paste from the State Department site:
On January 26, 2017 TransCanada submitted a Presidential permit application to the Department of State. The application and other project documents can be found here.
Documents relating to TransCanada’s 2012 application can be found here.
Two days… they resubmitted the application two days later… and no comment period. WHAT?!?!
Here’s the Federal Register Notice for TransCanada Keystone Pipeline (it did take about two weeks for that to come out, and it’s just after the Enbridge Line 67 Expansion Federal Register Notice!).
Xcel Energy’s Peak Demand – nowhere’s near 2007
February 27th, 2017
Xcel Energy has released its 2016 SEC 10-K, and here is the number I care most about, the peak demand, incorporated into the chart above:
“Peak Demand” is the number they use to attempt to justify “need” for all sorts of abhorrent and expensive infrastructure, particularly infrastructure of the transmission variety. Here are the specifics in megawatts (MW):
As Xcel Energy’s Ben Fowkes says, this is the “new normal.” From the Seeking Alpha transcript of the XEL Earnings Call, January 31, 2013.
Hence, they’re looking for other ways to make money, which they found in transmission, specifically CapX 2020 transmission, which was justified with this chart from MN Dept. of Commerce’s Steve Rakow, in his bar napkin depiction of the ups and down of peak demand:
Compare this drunken-dream drawing with the actual peak demand above — doesn’t look at all similar, does it. Nevertheless, we’ve been stuck with over $2 billion in transmission infrastructure build-out which we’re just starting to pay for, and just starting to see show up in rate cases. People are just now starting to get a feel for the economic impact, as if the environmental and quality-of-life impact isn’t bad enough…
Meanwhile, after going through years and years over CapX 2020, followed by the MISO MVP 17 project portfolio, now under construction, MISO wants to spring another bunch of projects on us. Their “Transmission Overlay.” Yeah, right…
Here’s the list, in a spreadsheet:
This is the MN, WI, SD, ND and some IA wish list weeded out from that spreadsheet (click for a larger version):
They want to add all of this, nevermind that Xcel is whining in its e21_Initiative that only 55% of the grid is not utilized:
(N) Identify and develop opportunities to reduce customer costs by improving overall grid efficiency. In Minnesota, the total electric system utilization is approximately 55 percent (average demand divided by peak demand), thus providing an opportunity to reduce system costs by better utilizing existing system assets (e.g., generation, wires, etc.). (e21_Initiative_Phase_I_Report, p. 11).
And they want to build more? MORE?!?!
And they want to ram it through even though it’s not needed, just like CapX 2020 transmission? As if Obama’s RRTT wasn’t enough, pushing CapX 2020 Hampton-La Crosse transmission line:
Obama “fast tracks” CapX Hampton-LaCrosse?!?!?!
… check out tRump’s Executive Order 13766:
Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects
GRRRRRRRRRRRR! As if there’s not enough work to do these days… but you know, the work never ends for us “paid protesters.” And a woman’s work is never done either.
Oroville dam has been under scrutiny forever!
February 18th, 2017
That’s the mess that stopped Amtrak’s Coastal Starlight train, and we had to take a bus around it, from Redding down to Sacramento (that leg is up and running again, but now Costal Starlight between San Luis Obispo and LA is down). Climate change and extreme weather is the theme of the month, particularly during this “vacation” which is turning into a “Climate Change Tour.”
Yesterday’s storm fortunately was focused on southern California, so the Oroville dam area didn’t get hit as hard as was thought earlier:
Deadly storm slams Southern California – CNN.com
But this Oroville dam safety issue is nothing new:
Releasing water at Oroville Dam a lingering problem
How Did the Oroville Dam Crisis Get So Dire? – The Atlantic
Oroville Dam Disaster Is a Wake-Up Call for Infrastructure Investment
Sacramento Bee –Check out this interactive 3D model of Oroville Dam
For years there has been ongoing safety analysis and scrutiny, yet here we are now. ??? In crisis… many people evacuated, over 180,000 in many cities and surrounding areas:
Look up FERC Docket P-2100 for more info, much is about Thermalito, but much is about Oroville. It’s about 50/50. The “good stuff” is CEII, which means that regular folks can’t look.
I’d heard there was a 2005 safety report in the relicensing docket, but can’t find a public copy. Here’s an example of what I found most interesting in the Oroville docket… BUT WAIT… it’s CEII, so we have no way of knowing what’s at issue:
Category/ Accession |
Doc Date/ Filed Date |
Docket Number |
Description | Class/ Type |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submittal 20141216-5278 Document Components |
12/16/2014 12/16/2014 |
P-2100-000 | Department of Water Resources under P-2100 submits Ninth Part 12D Independent Consultant’s Safety Inspection Report and Supporting Technical Information Document for Oroville Dam. Availability: CEII |
Report/Form / Part 12 Consultant Safety Inspection Reports |
|
INFO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submittal 20141210-5070 Document Components |
12/10/2014 12/10/2014 |
P-2100-000 | Department of Water Resources submits CEII Potential Failure Mode Analysis Report for Oroville Dam under P-2100. Availability: Public |
Report/Form / Other Dam Safety Report |
|
INFO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submittal 20141210-5071 Document Components |
12/10/2014 12/10/2014 |
P-2100-000 | Department of Water Resources submits CEII Potential Failure Mode Analysis Report for Oroville Dam under P-2100. Availability: CEII |
Report/Form / Other Dam Safety Report |
|
INFO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submittal 20141205-5099 |
12/05/2014 12/05/2014 |
P-2100-000 | Update to Service List for Pierce Atwood LLP Under P-2100. Availability: Public |
Pleading/Motion / Procedural Motion |
|
INFO |
Gangs of America – good reading these days
February 9th, 2017
Looking forward to catching up with Ted Nace soon in San Francisco. He’s author of Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy — get your copy HERE.
Alan Muller and I had the good fortune of meeting him through our “no coal” work and the “No New Coal Plants” list that was instrumental in stopping so many coal gasification plants across the U.S., including Minnesota’s Excelsior Energy Mesaba Project (see also www.camp-site.info)and the NRG coal gasification plant proposed for Delaware. He wrote this Orion article about that coal gasification fight (a couple things are off — hey, Ted, it’s an ORANGE crate!!):
And from that, he also also wrote:
Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal
Check these out, you can find them reasonably priced at www.abebooks.com. Support your independent bookseller!
#No DAPL – Army Corps primary documents
February 8th, 2017
UPDATE: Corps grants easement to Dakota Access LLC
You may have read tRump’s Memorandum pushing the Army Corps of Engineers to ram through the Dakota Access pipeline:
From the Stanley Gazette:
Breaking News: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ready to Grant Easement for DAPL
And from the DC District Federal Court, here are the filings:
Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline – Memorandum – Document No. 207-02032
The Army rolled, and here are the documents stating intent to issue the DAPL easement across Lake Oahe, and the Notice of Termination of the Environmental Impact Statement:
ACoE_Notice Regarding Recently Issued Documents
How is this anything but “arbitrary and capricious” action on the part of the Army Corps of Engineers?