And now for an Xcel Motion & Replies
September 15th, 2006
OK, back from the airport Post Office, serving every Intervenor and their entire family with piles of papers, and here’s the Mesaba story for today. Xcel files a Motion and we all respond… there’s a hearing on it next week, the 21st at 3 p.m. at the PUC. It really is a bit more exciting than that, maybe you’ve got to be dead tired, but that footnote 9 in Xcel’s Motion is really a hoot… (looks like my file names are way too long, er, Xcel’s file names too, oh well, get over it)
xcel-energys-notice-of-motion-and-memorandum-to-enforce-protective-order-concerning-trade-secret-designation-1.pdf
And here’s everyone’s response, due today:
excelsior_ltr-to-alj-in-response-to-xcels-motion-to-enforce-protective-order.pdf
mp-response-to-enforce-protection-motion.pdf
mcgp-support-of-xcel-motion.pdf
mcgp-support-of-xcel-motion-exhibit-a-osbl-estimate-west-range.pdf
mcgp-support-of-xcel-motion-exhibit-d-tltg-table-1-h-sw-mn-345kv.pdf
mn-chamber-letterxcelmotion91506-1.pdf
Hmmmmm… the Waltons sent one too but I can’t find it… grrrr…
And Xcel has a couple other Motions, one to protect 3rd party secrets, and another to “clarify” what it is that Excelsior is trying to do. OK, here’s the 3rd party one:
Here’s the “clarify” one, they’re so subtle, yeah, this one’s hilarious too:
xcel-energys-motion-memorandum-for-clarification-of-scope-of-contested-case-issues.pdf
So that ought to keep y’all busy for a while! Holler when you’re ready for more.
Excelsior Direct Testimony on Mesaba
September 15th, 2006
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WOW! Amazing how certain posts shoot up to the top 10! It’s a thrill to know that people actually want to read this stuff, that I’m not the only perverted one who enjoys it.
Here’s Excelsior’s Testimony, the first batch I’m labeling as “Initial” and this second batch is “Supplemental” and the Initial was filed when their Direct Testimony was due some time ago, and this “Supplemental” was filed just now, on the Intervenors Direct Testimony deadline.
initialbaxter-jones-testimony.pdf
initialt-osteraas-testimony.pdf
initialosteraas-testimony-exhibits.pdfinitialsass-testimony-public.pdf
initialwadley-testimony.pdf (and remember, Wadley’s history now)
And here’s their recently filed “Supplemental” testimony:
suppr-sass-exhibit-rjs-2-public.pdf
suppr-sass-exhibit-rjs-3-public.pdf
suppr-stone-suppl-testimony-09-05-06.pdf
You’ll note that some is labeled as “public” and that’s because there is a large pile of info deemed by Excelsior as “non-public” and that is what the Memo due today is about, Xcel is challenging Excelsior’s designation, as mncoalgasplant.com did months ago, they’re now running into the same problem we had, and we’re having the problem because the Order and its Protective Order are so restrictive, and contrary to law — typically when an entity wants something to be “non-public” they have the burden of demonstrating the need for that protection, but here? NOOOOOOOOOO, everything they want to call “non-public” is accepted and the burden was shifted to those wanting the information rather than that seeking to restrict access. And that’s just plain contrary to law, it’s contrary to administrative practice, there’s just no excuse. But here we are again. And so I’m not happy about having to spend my time arguing what should be obvious, it’d be obvious to the appellate court, but by the time we get there, well, by that time I’ll sure have a lot more grey hair! In short, we need this now, we need this to build the record for the Commission decision, and there are things that indeed, the public should be aware of, though in this case, we’re mostly fighting so that we have access and we’ve already signed protective agreements. But someone explain to me why the costs of infrastructure are deemed “non-public,” particularly where it is public entities taking it on for Excelsior! So guess I’d better get that Memo done, eh? Again…
Direct testimony in Mesaba PPA case
September 14th, 2006
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There’s a LOT going on. My computer blew up again, has been resurrected, but all this wonderful Intervenor testimony came in during this time, so it took a while to get it all back in the right spot. And so anyway, now, FINALLY, here it is for your reading enjoyment. I particularly recommend Xcel’s transmission testimony, Gonzalez and Shiro, but FYI, all of Xcel’s testimony really gets down! This hearing will be a lot of fun, because I don’t think Excelsior has what it takes to make Xcel cave, though on the other hand I doubt we’ll be in tandem throughout this proceeding (this testimony may end up in a couple of posts because this program needs to be burped sometimes)
Xcel
(Reed is too large, have to alter)
(Tyson is too large too… grrrrr)
Commerce – Garvey’s testimony is without foundation, what a joke, he’s going to have a tough time in cross-examination. Too bad he can’t make his boss, Pawlenty, make these inane arguments for him! But by the time this hearing comes up in late November, maybe he will know the boss is history??!!??!!
garvey-directpdf.pdfamitdirectm-05-1993-public.pdf
MCEA, ME3, Waltons (they didn’t send exhibits electronically, and can’t find all of them on line)
testimony-drake-lange-9-5-06.pdfexhibitasynapsepaper2006-06climate-change-and-power.pdf
exhibitbcarbondioxidecapturestorage.pdf
exhibitdidentificationofsequestrationpcor.pdf
MCGP
Minnesota Power – WAY too large…
Lots of people are downloading this stuff — if anyone wants the large ones that I can’t post, leave a comment with your email (i.e., name[at]blahblah.com) and I’ll fire it off to you.
And someone asked whether the local governments up there knew about this testimony, and that’s a good question, because it sure seems like they haven’t a clue. I sure can’t afford to be sending them hard copies of it all, but maybe we need some goodlooking postcards to let them know it’s available. This is such good stuff, they should not be doing anything whatsoever without knowing what’s going on!
Way to go, Keith!!!
September 12th, 2006
Makes me miss prestigeous E. Phillips! Hope the DFL gets the message that they can’t get away with their party games.
And it looks like Paul Koering will get through too, but that’s with only 51% reporting. Sandy Wollschlager seems to be ahead but there’s very few reporting now, and Draszkowski is way behind Wilson. (Damn, turns out Draszkowski won, eeeeeeeuw)
I’ve got all of 19 (!), but my aim was to challenge the “background checks” by the City of Red Wing, and I’ve put zero effort into this, WHEW! Got word late last week that the investigation is complete, and the Goodhue Co. Sheriff has turned my Complaint over to the County Attorney. We’ll see what happens.
Up in Itasca County, the theme is “vote the bastards out!” And Tom Anzelc won despite massive Chamber of Commerce efforts supporting the Republican running against him in the DFL primary.
Nancy Prehn made it through the primary in Waseca County!
Overall, the theme is change. Now, let’s make sure that carries through!
Mesaba in the Cook County News-Herald
September 12th, 2006
Speaking out because I want the good things to survive me
Column: Dear North
Cook County News-Herald
Matthew Miltich
Contributing columnist
Whitecaps race across the bay ahead of me. Wild wind tears fine spray from curling tops. This big, inland lake is stirred up. Bits of aquatic vegetation, torn loose from their moorings, roll in the blue-green surf.
The season is turned on its ear, too. Against the dark green of summer foliage, the quaking aspens are turning gold, and here and there a sugar maple has given up its summer work, and gone crimson. Ash leaves, curled and brown already, lie in a watery windrow along a windward shore. The air isnâ??t chill, but itâ??s not warm either.
A big weather front approaching from the west is whipping up this wind, and behind it, much cooler air advances. I can feel this in my bones as I bounce across the waves in my fishing boat. Might this be my last fishing campaign of the summer season? Already Iâ??ve touched-up my old bluebill decoys with new paint, and begun training my Labrador retrievers in earnest.
When I begin to troll along a drop-off, I hook and land a stout little bass, unhook and release it. Minutes later, a bigger fish strikes. The line angles up quickly, a sure sign the fish is about to jump. He breaks water, shakes his head wildly, and sends my plug flying, which makes me laugh. Itâ??s fun to feel the strength of such a fish, no shame to lose it thus, and in any case, Iâ??d not keep one so big.
I feel a little different about the trout that strikes as I round the tip of a sharp point. It runs toward the boat just as the full force of the wind hits the bow. Iâ??m alone aboard my craft; the bow is a little light, and the boat is hard to control in this wind. I canâ??t quite keep tension on the line as the big trout porpoises from one wave into the next, its unmistakable shape and color framed for an instant in the space between the rollers, and then the line goes slack.
For a moment, I feel the pang of its loss. Had I landed it, would I have released the trout, or kept it for my supper? I confess, I donâ??t know, but even in the few seconds between the strike and the fish breaking free, I feel tension in the choice.
I do know that as I grow older, my desire to conserve our precious wild resources grows stronger, though my family and I eat much fish and wild game, and I love to fish and hunt as much as ever. For some unfathomable reason, I want the good things I myself have enjoyed in my native land, to survive me, to endure for my children and grandchildren, and for all those who live after me.
This impulse finds its way into my writing, into my conversations, into the experiences I share with others in the outdoors. Recently, it led me to speak at a public meeting about a proposed, coal-powered electricity generating plant, to be sited, if approved, on the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota, in either the Lake Superior watershed or the upper Mississippi.
Understand, Iâ??d rather never speak in public. I shy away from public gatherings for the same reason that Iâ??m alone on the lake this day: I love solitude (shared sometimes with friends), prefer the country to any town or city, and desire peace.
Even so, as a conservationist, and as a matter of conscience, I attended the public meeting and spoke against the Mesaba Energy Project because I think the project puts northern Minnesota at risk. The proposed plant would be a giant â?? one of the largest power facilities in the world â?? requiring an endless succession of trains loaded with dirty coal. Excelsior Energy, Inc. would condemn private land and homes, both for its site and for new transmission lines to the Twin Cities. The electricity produced would not be used in northern Minnesota; the proposers have been exempted even from showing any need for the power. Presently, the Twin Cities has no such need.
Sold as a â??clean coal initiative,â? the coal gasification process they proffer creates many poisons. The plantâ??s proposers intend to bury toxic waste in landfills in our good country, underlain everywhere by the cleanest water in the world, and contribute deadly mercury, which persists forever, to northern Minnesota lakes, poisoning our fish, our wildlife, and us. Also, of course, though weâ??re awakening this very moment to the actual onset of global warming, the proposed giant would produce huge volumes of carbon dioxide, and no way to sequester it.
The proposers are not backers or entrepreneurs in the traditional sense. They expect to fund their private enterprise with monies collected from taxpayers: $55.5 million awarded to them, so far, in public funds, including $10 million Minnesota dollars earmarked for solar, wind, and renewable energy; $800 million promised to them in guaranteed federal loans; $12 million borrowed by the state for public infrastructure to support Excelsiorâ??s private, for-profit venture.
They sell their project as a boon to northern Minnesotaâ??s economy and the rural poor, but itâ??s clear that the few new long-term jobs it creates will go to outsiders, that the real beneficiaries will be the already wealthy proposers, while the poor will remain poor, and be worse off than before because their very homeland will be despoiled.
How could this come to pass? Imagine that, instead of being shaped by forward-thinking conservationists, federal policy for migratory waterfowl had been written by market hunters. Just so, todayâ??s energy policies were fashioned by lobbyists from coal and power companies.
My solitude on the lake is disturbed by thoughts about this. Iâ??d rather not think about it, not speak up, just keep on fishing, but for me and others like me, the price of keeping the peace may be the loss of our country.
I anchor the boat in calm water, sheltered from the fierce wind by steep shore, and switch to minnows, hoping to take some walleyes for supper. I catch a couple of keepers and put them on ice, but next cast I tie into a fish that bends my rod in half. After a long battle I bring it alongside the boat. Itâ??s a smallmouth, six pounds if itâ??s an once, bronze and beautiful. Itâ??s not only the biggest smallmouth Iâ??ve ever caught, itâ??s the biggest Iâ??ve ever seen.
Itâ??s the easiest decision to release it and watch it disappear unharmed into the depths, but what does such a gesture amount to in the face of threats like the proposed power plant? Why should I, or anyone, act responsibly in the outdoors if a company like Excelsior Energy is given the go-ahead to kill our land and poison our water? Is conservation itself now irrelevant?
Am I myself, like Don Quixote, merely a madman tilting at windmills?
And how are we to power our civilization if we disallow developments such as the Mesaba Energy Project? I look to the treetops, the wind tearing through the leaves, the rollers on the lake. The answer, it appears to me, is in the wind.