Legalectric

Just wow… It’s the sort of thing that makes my head burst!

Association of Freeborn County Landowners has been challenging the invasion of Freeborn Wind, a/k/a Xcel Energy a/k/a Northern States Power into this existing community.

Hundreds of meetings, filings, over the last FOUR YEARS, and we got the first contested case hearing ever for a wind project in Minnesota… the first in 20+ years of siting wind projects, and the first time a projects comes to the test, the ALJ recommends the permit be denied!

The Recommendation of the Administrative Law Judge:

The Public Utilities Commission does a perverse and contorted 180 and lets Freeborn have their way, and the public, residents be damned.

Freeborn? PUC upends ALJ’s Freeborn Wind Recommendation

Then 17 turbines left for Iowa, but 24 remain.

… we get tossed out by the appellate court, which affirmed the Commission’s decisions and Orders.

Freeborn Wind appeal – we lose…

And earlier this week, they serve this:

Let’s see… they have open access to ratepayer pocketbooks, they’re reimbursed for their costs! BY US! We ratepayers have to pay! Meanwhile, for the public to show up, and to challenge for FOUR YEARS on this project, or any project, like the Mesaba project, or CapX 2020!, people hold garage sales, put grain in at the elevator, a silent auction in a tornado, and plain old arm-twisting to cover our comparatively nominal costs.

Our objection just filed:

NOW THEY THINK WE SHOULD PAY THEM $3,312.75?

Meanwhile, don’t cha wonder how’s Xcel Energy doing these days? Their 1Q report just out… More customers, decreased sales, and stock soars:

Hmmmmmmm, remember that Texas storm? Here’s the impacts:

Xcel easily tops earnings estimates

Ain’t capitalism grand…

Joys of Capitalism… that people continue to conflate democracy and capitalism is beyond me, how stupid can we be?

This is a large report, but take a few minutes to at least read the conclusions, found on pps.  xv  – xxviii, yes, read all of those pages, not just the headnotes below:

FCIC Report

Very short nutshell version of a thorough and credible report, the headings of their conclusions, but again, read the meat of it, the details are important, and google “FCIC report” to get the spin the capitalists offer:

• We conclude this financial crisis was avoidable.

• We conclude widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision proved devastating to the stability of the nation’s financial markets.

• We conclude dramatic failures of corporate governance and risk management at many systemically important financial institutions were a key cause of this crisis.

• We conclude a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency put the financial system on a collision course with crisis.

• We conclude the government was ill prepared for the crisis, and its inconsistent response added to the uncertainty and panic in the financial markets.

• We conclude there was a systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics.

• We conclude collapsing mortgage-lending standards and the mortgage securitization pipeline lit and spread the flame of contagion and crisis.

• We conclude over-the-counter derivatives contributed significantly to this crisis.

• We conclude the failures of credit rating agencies were essential cogs in the wheel of financial destruction.