Legalectric

Xcel’s latest rate case, raising rates AGAIN. PUC Dockets 24-320 and 24-321.

What are we paying for? Focus on what it IS, and not what it may well be next time around! Cutting future renewable develop and a big push for energy for AI is NOT happening yet, it is not affecting rates yet.

A large part of it:

• We get to pay $1.14 billion, or more, for Xcel’s private first-of-its-kind radial line to “preserve its valuable interconnection rights” at its Sherco substation:

• We get to pay for MISO Tranche 1 transmission:

Gee, thanks, Xcel Energy! And MISO too!

Next up, MISO Tranche 2’s #20, Public Utilities Commission Docket CN-25-116, adding a second circuit between “Bison” and Alexandria. The PUC is seeking comments on their Notice Plan, as with the previous MISO #21, CN-25-111, Iron Range – Arrowhead docket. (catch up on MISO Tranche 2 HERE – 24 projects at $2.1 BILLION)

Here’s their Notice Plan — now’s the time to pick it apart. Because it’s “just” adding a double circuit to the CapX 2020 Fargo line, there’s not much to say:

And here’s the PUC’s full request for Comments:

And the short version:

I quickly slapped together No CapX 2020 Comments based on the ones I’d filed the day before on the first MISO Tranche 2 project, further below. Again, this is “just” adding a 2nd circuit, but the “need” question remains — why is this needed — justify it, it has to be more than MISO/MISO’s utility & transmission members want it. MISO’s “approval” does not mean it meets Minnesota’s need criteria in Minn. Stat. 216B.243:

And for that other project, MISO’s #21, PUC Docket CN-25-111, the only Comments filed last week — ONLY THREE COMMENTS. This is a new greenfield project — what does it take to wake people up?

Expect to OD on MISO over the next few years:

• CN-25-109 MISO 20 – Maple River – Cuyuna 345 kV
• CN-25-111 MISO 21 – Iron Range – Arrowhead 345 kV
• TL-25-112 ” “
• CN-25-116 MISO 19 – Bison-Alexandria 345kv
• CN-25-117 MISO 22 – Brookings – Lakefield 765 kV
• CN-25-118 MISO 23 – Lakefield – East Adair 765 kV
• CN-25-119 MISO 24 – Lakefield-Pleasant Valley – N Roch 765 kV
• CN-25-120 MISO 25 – Pleasant Valley – N Roch – Hampton 345 kV
• CN-25-121 MISO 26 – N Roch – Columbia 765 kV Dairyland
• CN-25-122 ” ” Xcel

Did you know that the DNR has a Karst Features Inventory? Suffice it to say that this is an issue in southeast Minnesota! Wish this had been around during Nuclear Waste Daze, and it would have been useful for CapX 2020 transmission too!

DNR Karst Feature Inventory Points

I learned about this from a Public Utilities Commission meeting notice and the linked DNR Comments:

• MN DNR Comments 5-13-25
• MN DNR Comments Att 5-13-25

From the Comments:

Hydrology: Karst
A portion of the project is within a region prone to karst surface feature development and sinkholes have
been documented within and in close proximity to the Project. The Applicant should inspect the project
area for karst features before conducting any construction activities, and report any new karst features
to the DNR Karst Features Inventory. Excavation and the placement of footings have the potential to
encounter unstable conditions. We strongly recommend conducting a geotechnical evaluation prior to
construction activities given the substantial size of the pole structures. Please refer to the Karst Page
within the Minnesota Stormwater Manual for Best Management Practices when working in these areas
as well as further information on karst topography. Given the sensitive nature of working in an area with
karst features, the DNR recommends including a special permit condition requiring a Karst Survey Plan
prior to construction. At the first sign of any spill within or near a karst feature, the Applicant must
contact the Minnesota Duty Officer at 800-422-0798 or 651-649-5451.

Supreme Court allows Trump to cut $783 million in NIH research grants he targeted for DEI

It is SO wrong, yet, it’s real… Based on several of Trump’s Executive Orders, “going forward, the agency will not fund research related to DEI objectives, gender identity, or COVID–19. Nor will it continue the practice of awarding grants to researchers based on race.”

$783 million in National Institute of Health grants funding research is/was at stake.

Those Executive Orders are bizarre — just the headings reveal the absurdity:

• Exec. Order No. 14151 Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing, 90 Fed. Reg. 8339 (2025);
• Exec. Order No. 14168, DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM AND RESTORING BIOLOGICAL TRUTH TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 90 Fed. Reg. 8615 (2025); and
• Exec. Order No. 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, 90 Fed. Reg. 8633 (2025)

Millions in grants were cut. The Supreme Court left those cuts in place, and the cases are going to continue winding their way through the legal system.

The first is the Supreme Court Opinion, followed by a mish-mash of concurrences and dissents. I strongly recommend reading Judge Katanji Jackson’s Dissent.

The language and “reasoning” of the Executive Orders reveals the Project 2025 focus of this administration, and that the Supreme Court regards actions based on those Executive Orders, agency “guidance” based on those Executive Orders, and the resulting withholding of grants is … I run out of words… “Wrong” will do…

There are so many crucial court decisions coming down, it’s hard to keep up, but I try to put them up here for reference.

Yesterday, an extremely detailed Memorandum Opinion written by The Honorable Matthew W. Brann, Chief United States District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (a known Republican) was issued on whether Alina Habba “is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.” Bottom line? NO, SHE WAS NOT.

The challenge that raised the issue was one challenge, then joined by a second, to actions taken by Habba while acting as Interim United States Attorney, and though Habba’s actions taken were illegal, the charges against defendants Giruads and Pina, were not dismissed.

This is worth reading to get a feel for the contortions the Trump administration went through to put Habba in place, and to keep her in place. It’s a complicated web, and Judge Brann saw through it and explained in technicolor.