New FERC Commissioner with xmsn ties
June 14th, 2009
A little birdie told me that John Norris, who was a biggie in “Organization of MISO States” home of UMTDI, was appointed by Obama to FERC.
Here’s the White House press release:
John R. Norris, Nominee for Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Obama names Vilsack aide to serve on energy panel
Norris previously served as chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board from 2005 to 2009.
Gee, I wonder where he’ll stand on transmission… sigh…
Hiawatha Transmission Project Update
June 2nd, 2009
Xcel’s Hiawatha Transmission Project, through the heart of the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, was on the PUC’s agenda last Thursday. I had some deadline or other and couldn’t go, but here’s what happened:
Of course MOES thought everything was just ducky…
Midtown Greenway filed a Comment:
There was no Petition for a Contested Case filed, but a Contested Case was ordered because Xcel has taken the mandatory Contested Case route. There were no Petitions to Intervene… There was only ONE comment filed…
Here’s the PUC’s Order:
Here’s the Dept. of Commerce’s view of Scoping for the full-blown Environmental Impact Statement:
So there we are… Bill Storm of MOES is assuming that it’s an EIS we’re doing, that’s a good thing. Check the DRAFT scope, though, and note how narrow it is.
There’s a public meeting for scoping (hmmmm… I wonder if I got notice… $50 says no — Bill says yes, and where’s the $50, but, “It would be WRONG,” she says, speaking into the lampshade…):
DOE-MOES – Notice of EIS Scoping Meeting
Thursday, June 18, 2009 – 6:oo p.m.
Midtown Global Market
920 East Lake St.
Mpls, MN
Comments accepted until July 10, 2009
Send to:
Bill Storm, Project Manager
MN Dept of Commerce
85 – 7th Place East, Suite 500
St. Paul, MN 55101
or
bill.storm@state.mn.us
OK, folks, get to work!
- Now’s the time to read the application (Xcel’s Hiawatha Project Page HERE) and draft a Comment about what should be included in the EIS.
- Now’s the time to put in your requests to be on the Citizens Advisory Task Force
- Now’s the time to Petition to Intervene! (well, it’s not to late… YET…)
Chisago Transmission Line Comments in thus far
June 2nd, 2009
It’s all about this short section of the Chisago Transmission Project. This is a cropped portion of a map in the DoC’s Environmental Assessment, Map 4 to be precise.
To look at the entire docket, go to:
then to “eDockets” and search for 06-1677
A little light reading:
And the Comment period ends TODAY! ENDED! It’s history… Some Comments received — in alpha order:
My big question, which OAH couldn’t answer, was whether THE Agreement was filed in that OAH docket way back in 2000, was it filed in the EQB docket, filed in any docket???
More Discovery on Susquehanna-Roseland
May 27th, 2009
Dig this:
“Visual simulation” of what towers will look like compared with present strutures
The Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line through Pennsylvania and New Jersey is getting a little hairier, YEAAAAA. Fredon PALS, a group centered around the Fredon School, which is facing transmission lines over its property(school, above), sent their first Discovery over the bow today. It’s good stuff, I love it when this happens.
Until now, we’d been the only Intervenors who’d sent PSE&G any Discovery, Stop the Lines, that is, and with this filing today, Welcome to the Club, Fredon PALS!!!
Taylors Falls asks for Chisago Transmission amendment
May 26th, 2009
Here we go again!
Once more with feeling, Xcel’s Chisago transmission project rears its ugly head. This time, Xcel, f/k/a NSP, has violated the terms of the agreement between itself and the cities of Taylors Falls and St. Croix Falls. It centers on the location of the end of the undergrounding near the St. Croix River. Xcel is coming up quite a bit sooner than their specific agreement says they would, and Taylors Falls is not happy. St. Croix Falls has joined in on their objection. They’ve been going back and forth about this for a while, and now Taylors Falls has asked the PUC to amend the permit.
And they’re soliciting Public Comments! From the Notice:
The permit amendment request is scheduled to be heard at the Commission’s June 11, 2009, Agenda Meeting. The Commission is providing until June 02, 2009, for interested persons to comment on the issue. Please submit comments to be received before 4:30 p.m. on that date to:
David Birkholz, Project Manager
Office of Energy Security
85 7th Place E, Suite 500
St. Paul, MN 55101-2198or by email: <David.Birkholz@state.mn.us>
Attached to the Notice are the rules regarding amendments, and notice is to be provided to the project list. I haven’t received it. Hmmmmmmm… and I’ve even been to the P.O. Box lately!
Something else — on April 14, 2009, Burl Haar at the PUC signed a letter saying that Xcel had filed their Plan and they were in compliance with the permit. That’s April 14, and attached is a memo from David Birkholz, MOES staff, dated April 10, 2009.
It looks to me like they weren’t reading my blog dated April 4, 2009:
“In compliance” my fat ass…
This was an issue in March, with correspondence dating from mid-March, and we know there was a lot of fighting going on before that. So the MOES memo says they’re in compliance with the permit…
Hello – the agreement? That was Exhibit 218, entered by moi into the record, offered and accepted in Transcript Vol. 1B, pages 82-83.
This bru-ha-ha was brewing before Xcel submitted its “compliance filing,” and before Birkholz and Harr signed the “go ahead” approval. So either David Birkholz, MOES and Burl Haar, PUC are sleeping at the switch, or Xcel made a material omission in its filings, or more likely, BOTH! But hey, what’s an agreement between the state’s largest utility and two Minnesota cities?