Legalectric

A few days ago, Xcel filed an Electric Service Agreement for Google’s Echo Zone data center in Pine Island. there are TWO dockets, but the document filed in M-26-170 and labeled same is also filed in M-26-171, also with M-26-170 on the first page, so… I’ve not gone page by page to compare.

Here’s the Electric Service Agreement from the M-26-170 — I’ll post both just because:

And here’s the one from M-26-171 that is labeled M-26-170, put here until I have time to compare:

I’ve been hearing from a couple of sources lately that the 2024 Omnibus (Ominous) Bill took away local control over energy projects. See Section 3 [216I.03 SITING AUTHORITY] HERE!

NOT TRUE!!! That’s how it’s been since 1973, started as 116C, and in 2005 changed to 216E:

2023 – what it was before 2024 changes – https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2023/cite/216E.05 

1973 – 51 years prior to 2024: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1973/0/Session+Law/Chapter/591/pdf/#laws.0.3.0

First, the definition of what’s covered:

Then, statement of the siting authority — originally it was the EQB and that was changed in 2005 to the Public Utilities Commission.

Here’s the change of jurisdiction from EQB to Public Utilities Commission:

Note that “questions of need, including size, type, and timing; alternative system configurations, and voltage must not be included in the scope of environmental review conducted under this chapter.” This is why it’s important to participate in the Certificate of Need docket.

Local review IS allowed for “small” projects: 

Where APPLICANT requests of local gov’t and local gov’t agrees, beginning in 2001 — this also is nothing new:

2001 – https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2023/cite/216E.05 

2024 – https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/216I.08

Adding to hearing about it, just yesterday, I was told, emphatically, several times, that “our” State Senator Steve Drazkowski is saying that the 2024 Energy Omnibus Bill took authority away from local governments. Nope, nope, nope, that didn’t happen!

DID YOU REALLY SAY THAT, STEVE?

IT’S NOT TRUE!!!!

If anyone tries to tell you that the 2024 Energy Omnibus (Ominous) Bill took away local control over energy projects, be sure to correct them — it’s a problem having false information flying around!

I was also told that Drazkowski had authored a bill to “return” jurisdiction to local governments, but I cannot find it, will continue looking.

So… once more with feeling… SINCE 1973 – PUC jurisdiction over energy project is NOT new:

www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1973/0/Session+Law/Chapter/591/pdf/#laws.0.3.0

Parking this here so I can find it later!! It’s one of those days…

In the StarTribune today:

Soaring CWD numbers in southeastern Minnesota prompt DNR to stop culling deer

Here’s the STrib’s map below — this map might be from just this year’s testing?

I’ve been tracking chronic wasting disease in deer for a while, right up there with bovine spungiform encephalophy (BSE, “mad cow”) sheep scrapie, even in pigs, and of course Creutzfeld-Jakob in humans (ages ago, it was also Jakob-Creutzfeld). This came to my attention in the late 1990s, when a swimming coach at Northfield high school died of Jakob-Creutzfeld.

• Of mad cows and pissy deer… September 15, 2005
• Downer cows = Mad Cow disease? February 11th, 2008
• Mad Cow Beef & MN Dept of Education February 11th, 2008
• They’re actually saying “MAD COW” February 19th, 2008
• Creutzfeld-Jakob variant – 4th declared case June 6th, 2014
• More CWD (chronically wasted deer) in MN December 30th, 2016

And then there’s all the elk at Elk Run:

Sharpshooters begin destroying elk herd

What does CWD mean to Elk Run development?

From CWD-INFO.org, a detailed source of info which seems up to date:

Preliminary Test Identifies CWD-Positive Wild Deer in Southeast Minnesota

MN – News release: CWD confirmed in a wild deer near Wheaton in western Minnesota

Here’s the CWD-INFO.org map:

And reason for concern among hunters:

2 hunters may have died of prion disease from eating contaminated deer meat, researchers say

Deaths of three men prompt Wisconsin to look for connection to fatal brain disease in deer

Recent alert came over the wire about a transmission project on BLM land, this one in Wyoming, and yes, that map is fuzzy, no details, and it’s direct from the application on the BLM site, awful!

Here’s the BLM page for the project — a rather short line in the cosmic realm of things — and there’s little info to go on. There’s a 15-day public scoping period prior to preparing an environmental assessment (EA), and comments are open until 4 p.m. on January 7, 2025:

BLM Lucky Star Transmission Page

Per the press release:

For more information, contact the Rawlins Field Office, 307-328-4224. Submit written comments to the Rawlins Field Office, P.O. Box 2407, Rawlins, WY 82301-2407, Attn: Lucky Star Wind Transmission Line Project.

And there are these emails listed on their page, I’d send to these plus snail mail (this is 2024/2025 — comments by snail mail?):

It’s a pretty small project, 24.8 miles:

And the full application, PRELIMINARY application:

And as usual, the maps suck. How can one effectively submit a scoping comment “prior to preparing an environmental assessment (EA)” when there’s this timeline that shows the “Draft EA done 1/6/2024, and the EA was STARTED five days after it was DONE. From TIMELINE PAGE:

And they acknowledge the error and fixed it!!!

GOOD!