2021 Biennial Xmsn Projects Report
November 2nd, 2021
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-7.png)
It’s that time of the year, errrrrr, it’s that time of every other year… time for the Minnesota Transmission Owners:
It’s filed in Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Docket M-21-111.
The Biennial Transmission Projects Report is required by statute, but there are no longer public meetings, and I must admit, I had pushed and promoted a lot initially, but ran out of time and energy for such a … ahem… waste of time. See Minn. Stat. §216B.2425 for how it’s supposed to go.
If history is any guide, it seems Initial Comments are about a month and a half out, mid-January, with Reply Comments another month and a half out, so mid-March. I’ll put it on the calendar and send a reminder around.
There’s nothing really exciting that I see, at first glance, but I did enjoy seeing the NERC Report excerpts. Last time they included the NERC Reliability as a separate filing, this time they included excerpts at the tail end of the report, above.
Here’s the full NERC Report — it comes out every year, and has a great assortment of important info, about reliability margins, load forecasts, and predictions of generation mix for energy and peak demand. I LOVE THE NERC REPORT!! Here’s the most recent ones — they used to come out in October, now it’s December:
NERC 2020 Long-Term Reliability Assessment
This is how reliability was defined in the transmission world decades ago, circa 1999 NERC Long-Term Reliability Assessment:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-10-1024x223.png)
Keep in mind that now transmission is no longer about reliability — it’s about economics, so it’s a very different type of evaluation.
Who cares about the NERC Report? Over the decades, the NERC reports have looked at the various areas of the country, based on the grid’s organization, and it evaluates the system’s ability to provide electricity. What I like about it, though, is that the charts, graphs, circles, and arrows belie the party line, like all the talk about decreasing coal and fossil fuel generation, but look at projections for MISO:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-8.png)
Here’s the chart for MISO — the devil is in the details — look at the predominance of fossil fuel:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-9.png)
Remember how the utilities were blathering about the NEED for transmission, and that the transmission build-out would decrease need and reliance on reserve margin — at that time, MISO reserve margin was 15%.
They got their billions in transmission and we’re paying them way too much for it, and look at the reserve margin, the last line in that chart:
18%
Oh, well… I must have misunderstood… SNORT!
And yeah, the purpose of that big transmission build-out morphed into “IT’S FOR WIND!” yet remember, the CapX 2020 lines start at the coal plants and head east:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2014/06/CapX.jpg)
And the MISO MVP 17 Portfolio of projects supporting coal:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2020/01/MVP-portfolio-map.jpg)
It’s exhausting, dizzying, seeing these scams spinning through, and yet here we go with “Grid North Partners.” Just NO!
Again, there will be opportunity for Initial and Reply Comments, expect Notice in a couple weeks, with Initial Comments probably due in mid-January. So later… in the meantime, look at the NERC report and compare with all the blather you’re hearing, particularly with COP26 in the works.
CO2 Capture Pipeline? Just NO!
November 2nd, 2021
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-1-1024x717.png)
Summit Carbon Solutions, LLC is looking to build billions in pipelines, ostensibly to ship CO2 out of state.
Here’s another map, from the “Presentation-Materials” below — look how far into Minnesota it goes from the south, and even from the west:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-6.png)
Yeah, right. Great idea… NOT! Whether it gets built or not, for sure they’re working to get federal grants and loans! Here’s their plan, the handout and presentation from recent Iowa meetings, and after the Iowa meetings, it’s open season, they can file a project proposal with the Iowa Utilities Board at any time:
I fired off this missive to the Iowa Utilities Board:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-2.png)
To look at the IUB’s Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline docket, go HERE, and in that press release, click on the link for Docket No. HLP-2021-0001 and click on the left side the “FILINGS” and there you’ll find a LOT to read! These two studies are among the filings — issues and risks are not new, but here’s a few new studies, newer than what we had back in the Mesaba Project days:
I cannot believe that anyone would regard this as a feasible concept, but what with the millions being shoveled at toadies like Great Plains Institute to promote CO2 capture and storage (nevermind it just isn’t a thing), it’s no surprise:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-4.png)
I guess they can’t read:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2018/12/Gas-Migration.jpg)
We learned a LOT about CO2 capture and storage during the years of Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba Project. CO2 capture is absurdly expensive to capture even a little CO2, and most cannot be captured. And then what? For the Mesaba project, the “plan” they offered captured a tiny amount and then took it to the plant gate — and then what? Who knows, nothing further was disclosed other than a map showing allegedly suitable sites, but no, there was nothing real. This map:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/11/image-5.png)
Their plan? Read it and guffaw, snort, hoot and holler:
And Excelsior Energy’s press release:
And check this, about CO2 leaks:
Some other info:
Now remember, when we’re talking about Carbon Capture and Sequestration, there are three distinct parts:
1) Capture (this has been focus of industry studies)
2) Transport
– $60k/inch/mile = $1,080,000/mi for 18″ pipe
– Repressurization stations along the way
3) Sequestration ($3-10/ton, per Sally M. Benson)
And this is all old news:
CO2 pipelines? It’s a red herring!
Do we really need to go through this again??
And some more old news:
Economic Modeling of Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology
Hydro & Geological Monitoring of CO2 Sequestration Pilot
Electricity without CO2 – Assessing the Costs of CO2 Capture and Sequestration
Geologic Carbon Dioxide Sequestration – Site Evaluation to Implementaion
Send off for David Stenshoel
October 18th, 2021
NRC FOIA response on dry casks
October 14th, 2021
Quite a while back, when starting to dig into this matter of Xcel Energy’s request for Public Utilities Commission approval for a yet to be identified dry cask for storing and transporting Prairie Island Nuclear Generation Plant’s nuclear waste (PUC Docket E-002/CN-08-510), I filed a Freedom of Information Act Request:
ESTIMATED COST: $3,142.66.
Yeah, right… and I’ve been deemed a “commercial use requester.” HUH?
And I’ve received this response, with this attached spreadsheet of possible responsive publicly accessible documents — for sure it’s worth putting on the waders and searching for juicy titbits:
Greetings Ms. Overland.
Even with the narrowing of your request, there appear to be a significant number of records that that may be responsive. In an effort to minimize the fees that would be chargeable to you, we asked NMSS staff to search ADAMS for the records already publicly available that may be responsive to your request, with the thought of providing you that listing, and with the hope that it would meet your needs. With the listing, you can review the records listed therein, and identify any that were of interest to you. A copy of that spreadsheet is attached.
If, after your review, you determine that you would like for us to continue processing your request, this will necessitate a search through ADAMS’s non-publicly available records to identify which ones, if any, include content that is responsive to your request, and undertake a review of those records to determine whether they may be released to you. To move forward, then, we would need your commitment to pay the estimated fees and if the fees exceed $250, remit payment in advance. So, please see the fee estimate below. For purposes of our fee estimate, although you did not express your preference, we assume that we would provide you our response electronically. Since the NRC does not charge requesters duplication fees when we respond electronically, we have not included in our fee estimate any duplication costs.
Because you are determined to be a “commercial-use” requester, you will be responsible for search and review fees associated with the processing of your request.
We have now received the cost estimate for the search and review time, associated with the processing of the non-publicly available records that may be responsive to your September 14, 2021 FOIA request. It is estimated that a total of 12 hours of search time and 26.5 hours of review time will be necessary to complete your request. Please note that, after completing our search and reviewing potentially responsive records, the NRC may find few, if any, responsive records.
As reflected in the attached Form 509, Statement of Estimated Fees, your search and review cost is estimated to be 38.5 x $81.72/hour, which accounts for the search and review time expended at the professional/managerial level, which amounts to $3146.22.
You may wish to refer back to the “Explanation of Fees” page attachment to the September 14, 2021 acknowledgment letter we sent you, and as required pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 9.37, for additional information about the fees we may charge.
Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 9.40(e), we will not continue processing your request until we receive a response from you of your willingness to pay up to the above-referenced fee estimate. Additionally, because the estimated fee exceeds $250, the NRC will not process your request without advance payment of the estimated fee. We have attached a Form 629, Authorization for Payment by Credit Card, should you choose to remit the estimated fee by credit card. Alternatively, you may remit payment at www.pay.gov by checking the box “Other” and entering the FOIA request’s reference number.
If we have not received a response from you by Thursday, October 28, 2021, we will assume that you are satisfied with the public ADAMS listing we have provided, and administratively close your request. You may also try to further narrow the scope of your request to reduce the estimated fees associated with the processing of your request.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I may be reached by email at Stephan.Ellis@nrc.gov or by telephone at (301) 415-3655.
RULES! PUC’s 7849 & 7850
October 12th, 2021
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2011/12/screamhomer.jpg)
Can it be?!?! The rulemaking based on the 2005 statutory changes was published in the state register today. TODAY… 2005… SIXTEEN YEARS, and NINE YEARS since this 12-1246 docket was opened. Comments are due by November 17, more on that below.
The Public Utilities Commission did one hell of a job delaying until BILLIONS of CapX 2020, a/k/a CapX 2050 and Grid North Partners and MTEP MVP projects were rammed through. Public interest anyone? Naaaaaaah…
Here it is — First the Notice (60 page service list!), then Statement of Need and Reasonableness (SONAR) and then the proposed rules (yeah, 120+ pages):
Comments are due November 17th:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/10/image-13.png)
Here’s the catch — they are planning on putting these through without a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, UNLESS there are at least 25 requests for a hearing — I think that can be arranged. Here are the details, note that they must be “valid” requests, which means explain in short what you want differently in the rules:
![](https://legalectric.org/f/2021/10/image-14.png)
ONWARD! SIXTEEN YEARS… UNREAL!