Legalectric

Here are two articles from the St.PPP that needed to be placed closer together, because it seems folks are slow about seeing the connections between the rise of American Transmission Company (ATC), all these PSC decisions unreasonably favorable to utilities, and utility donations to Wisconsin Governor Doyle, who appointed the Commissioners who approved the Arrowhead line. And remember, it was the Democratic leader Chuck Chvala who was nailed for twenty-some counts of campaign donation violations! Do a little research on the utilities role in that!!!

Here’s ATC, simple and short, the “news” is that “Transmission line company hopes to expand.”. Yeah, we’ve known that a while.

The company, jointly owned by five Wisconsin utilities, now has a 10-year plan to spend $3.3 billion. When the company was formed, some in the industry asked officials to provide “cheap transmission.”

“I said, no, what you’ve got now is cheap transmission and it doesn’t work,” Delgado said.

“We’re going to give you adequate transmission and that is going to save money on energy.”

Uh-huh, right… now is that before or after the cost of the Arrowhead transmission line shot up to half a billion ratepayer bucks?

All these transmission and power plant decisions are made by Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission, that, like our PUC, has Commissioners appointed by the Governor.

Investigators seek info from group on donations to Doyle

Wisconsin Gov. James Doyle

McCabe said FBI agents first approached him a year ago asking general questions about corruption in the Capitol but were not focusing on Doyle at the time. He said Department of Justice and the FBI began asking more specific questions about Doyle’s donations in early fall, and the organization complied with requests for information in November.

McCabe said DOJ specifically asked about donations from the Wisconsin Public Service Corp. The group turned that information over to investigators and also used it as part of a report it put out publicly last month detailing the $41,550 that executives of WPS and Alliant Energy Corp. gave to Doyle in the six months after the state Public Service Commission rejected their sale of the Kewaunee nuclear plant to a Virginia company.

The three-member commission, which included two Doyle appointees, reversed its decision on March 17 and allowed the sale to go through.

Can you say Chuck Chvala? Can you remember what Wisconsin’s Senate leader was doing? If not, go here and type in Charles Chvala
2002CF002451 in Dane County – he’s the one born 12/5/54 (careful, there are two) His guilty plea went through last month.

Former WI state Senator, now felon, starting nine months in jail, then 2 years probation

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:

Chvala, 51, pleaded guilty in October to two felony counts for using state workers and resources on at least one political campaign in 1998, and illegally running a third-party group that directed contributions to the re-election campaign of Sen. Mark Meyer (D-La Crosse) in 2000. Seventeen other felony charges, including extortion, were dismissed under the terms of a plea deal.

Today was the MAPP SPG meeting, I guess it’s technically MISO now, but everyone calls it MAPP. This is where it’s decided how to make the wishes of those with the power happen. There is a distinction between the policy promotion of transmission , i.e., whether we’ll have distributed and dispersed generation or central station power, and the technical problems such as overloads, impacts of connecting generation on the system as a whole. This group deals with the technical problems, calling them to the group’s attention and banding together to figure out a fix. In this respect, it is all connected. But because it’s all connected, this is also the venue where the policy doesn’t always agree with the laws of physics, yet engineering brains are trying to make it happen, yielding occasional “OH SHIT!” moments!

For example, today we talked about the “northern loop” problem, which is the 10% or so of the Buffalo Ridge wind energy that is shooting up to Dorsey, Montana, then over to the Forbes substation, and then down to the Chisago sub — by that time, given line losses, there’s probably nothing left! Here’s what the report says:

… it is observed that whatever transmission Option were implemented, approximately 4-5% of the SW Minnesota –> Twin Cities/Milwaukee power delivery flows northward to Manitoba on the Rugby-Glenboro and Letellier-Drayton 230kV lines, and then southward on the Dorsey (Riel) Roseau Co-Forbes-Chisago Co 500kV.

It’s 200MW over limits and gets worse as the level of export from North Dakota goes up. What to do? Well, they don’t quite know yet, but here’s what they’re looking at:

* Phase Shifting Transformers — VERY EXPENSIVE – $5-8 million

* Lower impedence of new 345kV line – solves problem by directing more electricity through 345kV line because more here = less there, and also decreases line losses on 345kV (no cost provided)

* Increase 500kV loadability – with capacitors, the rating could be increased over 400 MVA — also $5-8 million

This Manitoba wind problem is a good example of why it’s not very bright to be shipping electricity over long distances — there are so many variables to account for, and where we’re dealing with a generation source with a 41% capacity factor, and assuming at least 30% line losses before it gets to where it’s going, if everything goes right, this is about the least efficient and most wasteful way to supply electricity.

Here’s another example, imagine Mesaba, cranking away producing electricity. They put it on the line, and it goes out into the world toward a “sink” end point, and guess what?

Translation – they’re sunk – they can’t get the power to the sink! To find this glorious sentence, go to the MISO queue and scroll down to project number 38280-01, the Mesaba project, and then scroll way right and click on X2.

Watching paint dry? I think not!

See the part highlighted in green? That’s the Big Stone II transmission project as applied for — see why I call it BS II? It’s a line from the plant to the middle of nowhere (no offense to Granite Falls!). As the industry is so busy explaining to us, the grid is an interconnected system. A line from somewhere to nowhere, a radial line like this one, according to the industry, is a reliability risk, it’s not stable. Yet that’s what they want to do, run a big line to nowhere. Uh-huh, yup, sure…

Oh, but there’s more — as they say in the BS II Application, p. 3:

When operated at 345kV, the Granite Falls line will act as the first phase of a 345kV transmission plan connecting western/southwestern Minnesota to the Twin Cities.

Well, DUH, we know it’s all connected. Here’s what they’re building looks like, in toto:

The red dashed line is the entire project, a system, as the application states. Without the entire project, BS II electricity doesn’t get where they want it to go.

How does MTEP06 describe this segment? Look at section 6.1, point 2:

2. Belfield, North Dakota (site of a new 500 MW coal plant) to Ellendale, South
Dakota to Big Stone area to Granite Falls to Blue Lake, Minnesota

… let me see if I understand the MTEP plan, the Belfield’s connected to the Big Stone, the Big Stone’s connected to the Granite Falls, the Granite Falls’ connected to the Blue Lake… and we’re at the MNEX electrical turnabout to shoot electricity out to the east and south!

… now this BS II Application… let me see if I understand the BSII Application… The Big Stone’s connected to the Granite Falls… CONNECTUS INTERRUPTUS! DUH, something’s missing…

**************************************************************

December 1 is the PUC meeting on the completeness of the Big Stone II transmission line.

Here’s the Staff Briefing Papers, and here’s their summary of my Comments:

Initial Comments of Carol A. Overland

Carol Overland argued that the Application in not complete in at least three major respects:

The entire project is not described. A 345-kV line does not go from a large power plant to the middle of nowhere. The 345-kV line is a part of a much larger project, including the Belfield, North Dakota coal plant and continuation of the line to the Twin Cities area.

There is no explanation of how the power gets to the utilities who are claiming need. There must be a demonstration of how the project, or an expanded project, fulfills the need claimed for electricity.

Any deals that have been made relevant to this project must be included. A South Dakota newspaper alluded to certain deals to benefit wind power. Relevant deals must be filed with the Commission and scrutinized for impacts beyond the parties.

And here’s what BSII has to say about that:

In response to the comments of Carol A. Overland, the Applicants indicated:

There is absolutely no precedent in law–or in how the system operates–for the
Commission to delay action on this proceeding in order to wait for additional facilities
that might be proposed later. While Applicants and other utilities are working toward
proposing other 345-kV facilities, the proposed project remains a stand-alone project.

The Application is ripe with data and information on how the proposed project meets the
Applicants’ needs and is consistent with state energy policy. Her comments seem directed
at the merits of the project rather than completeness of the Application.

Applicants are unaware of any current “deal”; the issue is irrelevant to Application
completeness in any case.

Hmmmmmmmm… it’s billed in the CapX2020 Sept. 6, 2005, announcement of the Phase I transmission projects as a unit, a system, several smaller projects that are all connected… yet they call it a “stand alone project.” BSII

They want this project to meet certain needs of certain utilities, but do not explain how a line to Granite Falls will do anything for any of those utilities. That’s BSII

Deals to allow the coal plant and transmission to proceed are irrelevant to Application completeness? That’s BSII !!

Here’s what PUC staff says:

Second, staff agrees with the Organizations and the Applicants that the concerns raised by Carol A Overland are not completeness issues. This does not mean, however, that the concerns she raised are inappropriate for the hearing process.

Hearing process? That assumes an ability to participate in a Contested Case hearing — that’s a BIG deal — who’s paying for that? Where are the resources that enable a reasonably thorough level of participation? Essentially, what this says is that if I do not Intervene, these issues will not be addressed.

But… but… I thought it was all connected!?!?!

The Commission finds that settlement between Douglas County and the applicants allowing the necessary easements resolves all of the issues in the reopened docket, since the docket was reopened for the limited purpose of considering alternate routes in Douglas County. In addition, whether this private agreement is equitable and in the interest of the intervenors and the public is not within the scope of this docket.

HUH? Last I checked it was the Public Service Commission!

Here’s the Order of the PSC in the Arrowhead case closing the docket. Download file Really, that’s what it says.

To look at the filings in the tail end of the Arrowhead Transmission Docket go to the PSC home page, and where it says “Quck Links for Utility Information” look below “Link Directly to a Case” and enter 05-CE-113 and you’ll get the last few hundred of the documents.

Here’s that Douglas County Agreement. Download file

Comments on the Completeness of the Application for the Big Stone II transmission project were due Friday — I’m a day late and more than a few dollars short — but for a project that opens the door for coal, a Comment is an imperative! Here’s my Comment. Download file

An important aspect of this project is the deal reported Friday:

Deal ‘opens the door’ to wind power

Here’s the route they propose for the project, it’s the barely visible dotted red line on the left side below middle, going south from Big Stone and sort of paralleling south of the blue line east to Granite Falls:

What’s wrong with this picture? It’s a 345kV going nowhere! “It’s all connected,” but this one isn’t. Why? Because they want to sneak this through in pieces — but they admit what we already know:

When operated at 345kV, the Granite Falls line will act as the first phase of a 345kV transmission plan connecting western/southwestern Minnesota to the Twin Cities.

Here’s the map of the real project, from CapX2020’s Sept. 6 announcement of “Phase I” (which has me wondering about other Phases) but the North Dakota origin at the new Belfield 500MW coal plant isn’t shown:

To see what’s going on in the Big Stone II transmission docket click here for PUC site’s “e-Dockets” page, and in the “year” box, type in “05” and in the “number” box, type in “619” and then hit enter and you get the list. You may first have to click on the Java cup and end up with the Java advertising, but close that screen and you’ll get there.

What has to be in an Application? Lots, under the rules at Minn.R. 7849.0010 – 7849.0400, and the procedural rules are in Ch. 7829.

As an aside, if you ever wonder what would happen to the electric power supply if zombies take over, I found this while roaming, as Carter Bishop would say, that’s one answer! Methinks we’re already there…

What happens next in Big Stone? The application is either accepted or they’re told to supplement the application and then it’s accepted, and after it’s accepted, it’s time to Intervene and it moves forward to a Contested Case hearing. That’s when the fun starts because we can submit Information Requests and get all sorts of good stuff!

Here’s the corridor map that has highways and cities and such so you can get your bearings — the corridor in Minnesota is the horizontal dotted part. For a better view, get the Application at the Big Stone II site.