Xmsn at House Climate & Energy Committee
February 10th, 2022
Just WOW! Yeah, that WOW too… Today was the meeting of House Climate and Energy Policy and Finance, and check out the presentations:
Attachments:
- HF XXX/BE133 (Stephenson) Permitting Reform – 2/2/2022
- Electric Transmission System Report – 2/3/2022
- Agenda – 2/9/2022
- Minutes for 2-3-22 – 2/9/2022
- Minutes for 2-8-22 – 2/9/2022
- Presentation-Engelking – 2/9/2022
- Presentation-MISO – 2/9/2022
- Presentation-Soholt – 2/9/2022
- Letter-MP – 2/9/2022
- Letter-MRES – 2/9/2022
- Letter-Overland – 2/9/2022
- Presentation-PUC-Updated.pdf – 2/10/2022
The good news is that MRES did have challenges to the proposed language in HF XXX/BE133 (Stephenson) Permitting Reform, but aside from MRES, what a bunch of transmission toadies.
Commerce’s Electric Transmission System Report and a PUC Commissioner ADVOCATING for more transmission Presentation-PUC-Updated.pdf, good grief, there’s just no excuse.
More of this?
No thanks…
Needless to say, I should have pushed to get on the list to testify, a letter isn’t enough.
AFCL’s MERA suit dismissed
November 29th, 2020
The judge’s Order arrived, and it’s disappointing, to put it mildly.
The judge’s decision focused on the belief that these matters had been litigated in another forum, so we couldn’t do it again. Litigated? Intervention is not necessarily litigation, though certainly AFCL intervened in the Freeborn Wind docket, and certainly did not in the Plum Creek, Three Waters or Buffalo Ridge dockets. And in this District Court proceeding, Lisa Agrimonti let me know that another attorney would be lead in this case, that their firm was putting a “litigator” on it. Hmmmm, Agrimonti’s not a litigator, and put Alethea Huyser on the job, so the firm admits that what we, Freeborn Wind and AFCL, were doing in those dockets was not litigation, right, I get it… uh-huh… sigh…
How do we deal with these systemic problems in wind siting? 25 years and still no rules? Setbacks aren’t sufficient to prevent noise standard violations and people need to leave their homes to be able to sleep, so far two families reached settlements and buyouts to get away from noisy turbines. Wind projects pay out for blinds so people can sit in the dark, or suggest going to Florida, to avoid shadow flicker inflicted on them. At the PPSA Annual Hearing last week, the DOT said it wants the 250 foot setback from roads reevaluated. The Public Utilities Commission has actual and constructive notice of these problems for years, yet nothing happens…
Let’s see… rulemaking Petitions denied over and over. The only time we’ve had a contested case, the judge recommended denial because developer had not demonstrated compliance with noise standard, and recommended a lower number of hours as “acceptable” for shadow flicker.
Once more with feeling — the ONLY time, the FIRST time, in Minnesota history where there was a contested case on a wind siting permit, the only time it could arguably be said the issues were “litigated,” the ALJ recommended that the permit be denied!
WE WON!!! ALJ Recommend Freeborn Permit be DENIED, or…
May 14th, 2018
The PUC turned that around in a private settlement with the developer, excluding intervenors.
Freeborn? PUC upends ALJ’s Freeborn Wind Recommendation
September 21st, 2018
Now what… How many more complaints, how many more landowner settlements, before they fix this mess?
What’s the point of intervening, becoming a party? What’s the point of raising issues at the Power Plant Siting Act Annual Hearing (for 23 years)? What’s the point of over and over raising the systemic problems in the PUC’s wind siting? How do we work “within the system” when the system is broken?
Freeborn EAW – more time!
January 23rd, 2020
The PUC has asked for additional time, noting that our Petition for EAW for the Freeborn Wind project is expected to come before the Commission on February 6, 2020. PUC asked and PUC received:
Old news on Legalectric:
EQB forwards EAW Petition to PUC
January 3rd, 2020
Petition for EAW – Freeborn Wind
January 2nd, 2020
EQB forwards EAW Petition to PUC
January 3rd, 2020
The Environmental Quality Board has forwarded Association of Freeborn Landowners’ Petition for Environmental Assessment Worksheet to the Public Utilities Commission. YES!
They zipped it, listed as “FreebornWind.zip” on the ftp site (ftp://files.pca.state.mn.us/pub/tmp).
Next step – the PUC needs to determine whether an EAW is necessary, the transmittal letter lays out the process. In the meantime:
Onward. Potential for Environental review of a wind project in Minnesota — what a concept!
Petition for EAW – Freeborn Wind
January 2nd, 2020
Association of Freeborn County Landowners has filed a Petition for Environmental Assessment Worksheet on Freeborn County Wind. Minn. R. 4410.1100. It’s HUGE, my server was over quota, so it’s been going out just one piece (of 10) an hour, should be done in about half an hour. Times like these it sure would be good to have minions. AFCL did a tremendous job, getting over 380 signatures for the Petition over just 3 days. WOW!
Here it is:
And the Exhibits – here’s the Table of Contents to make it easier to find them:
Whew – emailing one per hour takes WAY too long, but even zipped, Exhibit E was still over 100 mb, no way to send that. Posting this took all of 20 minutes with interruptions. Technology…