Legalectric

Ah, the life of a Minnesota DNR camp host! It’s been chilly, in the 30s at night, but it’s workable.

The first year here, in the Wawona 6, a 60 mph wind took out my staked and guyed screen tent, wadded it up, and stuffed it under the car.

So much for that. I put up a tarp and that blew down a couple of times — the weather was INTENSE, wind and rain made for a rough few days!

Given the need for a bathtub floor, not a dirt vestibule, I tried Inflatable #1, but the short sidewalls were a royal back pain. Having a floor in the 2nd room sure made a difference, but those sidewalls… and the tarp was a problem too, blew down 3 times (but I got pretty good at putting it back up):

So this year, I bit the bullet and solved both problems, a tent with high sidewalls and more usable space, and a clam-style kitchen tent.

All the comforts of home, particularly all the cooking paraphernalia one could possibly need — a pretty big fridge that doesn’t use much electricity; a small cooler wrapped in reflectix with ice cubes from yesterday holding up well; Primus, butane, and a Trangia knockoff for stoves; Cobb & Skotti grills; a toaster/convection/air fryer contraption; electric kettle; full set of cooking doo-dads; dishes & silverware (don’t have cups or glasses!); bowls and pans for every occasion; water and dishwashing set up (though we have 2 dish sinks at the showerhouse):

Camp hosting means free camping for a month with very LITE duties, I do really like a shiny bathroom sink. And just yesterday, I was told our pit toilets are the best ever smelled and seen! Seven ticks so far, 5 on me, 1 on my pillow, and 1 at the top of the entrance of the tent. None yet on Maisy, which is good.

Camp host? It’s a little of everything, helped a guy put on his rain fly yesterday. The hardest part is helping folks navigate the DNR Reservations system on their phones — “reservations can be made online or by calling 866-857-2757.” I sure can’t figure it out on a phone!

A few folks stop and stare at the tent, and I invite them to check it out. The only downside I’ve found with this tent set up is that when packed up, they’re bulky and heavy, ~ 45 lbs., and take up as much space as the fridge. A couple with newborn and year old in a backpack trying to figure out camping with babies (!!!); and good to see Min Martin & Dave Oakes. The Himangas were here too yesterday, testing out their new trailer.

The dishwashing sink broke, stuck full on pretty late. Ranger Tanner had to come over and shut it off, and in the midst of that operation, the cover blew off the faucet below the sinks and water spewed out — nope, OOPS, that was NOT the faucet to turn. Then one of the women’s sinks was clogged, and no plunger. Well, now there are two!

No emergencies, no fires… Life is good. Back to work in my office with a view:

Interesting filings today in PUC Docket R-26-172 — how can anyone oppose rulemaking, and how can anyone think it’s reasonable to route transmission and site generation without rules? The Public Utilities Commission is tasked with regulating utilities, and how does one regulate without regulations?

Here’s what has come in today — the deadline is 4:30 but I’ll have to hit the road soon — if others come in I’ll post later. This first one is choice:

The next two, not so much — how convoluted can they get?

And here’s what I had to say, on my behalf, and also clients North Route Group and NO765MN (CN-25-117 and CN-25-121) and the Andersens (CN-25-109), after seeing some of the comments:

Take a good look at what the legislature did to the rules. And those that say “renumbered,” click on those and you’ll see they were moved and repealed as well!

CHAPTER 7850, SITE OR ROUTE PERMIT; POWER PLANT OR LINE

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

Part	Title
7850.0100	[Renumbered 4410.7000]
7850.0200	[Renumbered 4410.7100]
7850.0300	[Renumbered 4410.7200]
7850.0400	[Renumbered 4410.7300]
7850.0500	[Renumbered 4410.7400]
7850.0600	[Renumbered 4410.7500]
7850.0700	[Renumbered 4410.7600]
7850.0800	[Renumbered 4410.7700]
7850.0900	[Renumbered 4410.7800]
7850.1000	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1100	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1200	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1300	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1400	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1500	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1600	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1700	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1800	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.1900	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2000	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2100	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2200	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2300	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2400	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2500	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2600	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2700	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2800	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.2900	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3000	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3100	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3200	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3300	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3400	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3500	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3600	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3700	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3800	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.3900	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.4000	STANDARDS AND CRITERIA.
7850.4100	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.4200	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.4300	PROHIBITED ROUTES.
7850.4400	PROHIBITED SITES.
7850.4500	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.4600	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.4700	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.4800	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.4900	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.5000	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.5100	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.5200	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.5300	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.5400	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.5500	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]
7850.5600	[Repealed, L 2024 c 126 art 7 s 15; L 2024 c 127 art 43 s 15]

Six so far, one roaming around the tent, and five on the back of my neck at hairline. Weird, but at least that makes them easy to find!

Two important filings tossed out, now that’s different… and majorly depressing…

Car still in the shop…

And more transmission open houses — skipped Rochester this morning… on to Zumbrota!

But there’s a lot to be said about an office with a view!

It’s too bizarre to believe. Wabasha Police understood. Time for the DOJ to get serious about its job.

PowerOn Midwest

PUC Docket CN-25-117 (western part of 765kV) — the meetings are wrapping up:

TONIGHT – ZUMBROTA VFW

5 pm – Open House

6 pm – Info & Scoping Meeting

Comments due May 20th:

So many meetings this month, all over Minnesota for FOUR transmission projects “PowerOn Midwest,” and May will start out the same, it’s “Open House” season for “Gopher to Badger” May 4-7th… Both have meetings in Zumbrota — there’s some overlap, and of course, these are connected, it’s all one project.

Zumbrota – tonight Wednesday, April 29 at 5 or 6 pm, and Tuesday, May 5, from 4-6 pm

… and written comments are due May 20 by 4:30 pm. They’re looking for comments on:

We’ve got about three weeks to get comments in.

Yesterday was Albert Lea and then Austin. This evening, Zumbrota (yes, I’ll be missing Kasson, which starts about now).

The map on display shows the overlap between PowerOn Midwest and Gopher to Badger. What do those numbers in grey represent?

These are Public Utilities Commission’s meetings, “information and scoping,” and not hearings like they used to be. Here’s the full notice:

On to Zumbrota! 5 or 6 pm, be there or be square!