Dodge County Wind info presentation
July 29th, 2018
Dodge County Concerned Citizens asked me to do an information presentation on NextEra’s Dodge County Wind project, which was recently applied for at the Public Utilities Commission. Here’s my presentation:
Turbine and Transmission Neighbors?
Completeness comments are due August 10, 2018, with reply comments due August 17, 2018.
20187-144854-01_PUC Notice_Completeness Comments_ALL dockets
How to file?
Here’s a form you could use for guidance — yes, its a test, and an essay test at that. Your original words are what count, because you know your community best, what impacts on the ground might be. You can best identify the material issues.
It was interesting that Beth Soholt, is concerned enough to show up on a Saturday morning! She’s the ED of wind industry association Wind on the Wires (f/k/a program of Izaak Walton League Midwest until Bill Grant was appointed Deputy Commissioner – Energy – Dept. of Commerce) But her being there was not much of a surprise, because NextEra’s Julie Voeck is Chair of the WOW Board. And don’t forget that PUC Commissioner Matt Schuerger’s “Energy Systems Consulting Services” was a primary recipient of Waltons/WOW consulting funds. As we say in transmission, “It’s all connected.”
Can’t find a Dodge County Wind, LLC website (it is a Delaware LLC registered with Minnesota Secretary of State), and NextEra has nothing on its website about the LLC, nor about the Dodge County project, that I can find, ALL Press Releases are about MONEY, not a one about “Dodge County.” There is a separate transmission page with “project info” but no project specific info there either.
This project was really difficult to dig through, because there are THREE dockets: Certificate of Need (17-306); Wind Siting (17-307); and Transmission Routing (17-308). WHEW! This would be overwhelming to anyone, and to try to explain what’s proposed, the process (UGH!), and issues, that’s a couple of books… whether fiction or non-fiction remains to be determined.
Post Bulletin – Proposed Dodge County wind farm raises questions
KTTC – Dodge County Concerned Citizens holds informational meeting on proposed wind turbine project
KIMT – Wind project proposed in Dodge County
This project has been brewing for a while, because there’s a Certificate of Need requirement of a Notice Plan before anything is applied for, and then notice goes out as laid out in the Notice Plan.
I’m on the general service list for all projects, pretty much everything, so I have an idea what’s new and exciting at the PUC, but it’s pretty hard to track it all. For this project, the initial “notice” filings for 17-306 (Certificate of Need) & 17-308 (345kV transmission line) were in April, 2017, and the transmission route app and wind site permit app were not filed until 6/29. The wind site permit is most significant in terms of cost and geographic spread, and nothing was filed until June 29, 2018, less than a month ago. The wind site permit filings contain an affidavit of mailing of notice but NO ADDRESSES, and the transmission affidavit of mailing of notice DOES have addresses. Why are no addresses included?
Three dockets, all those filings, at least 1,000 pages, and I confess haven’t read all of it! What jumps out at me is that this is another scattered site project, with a large footprint. It’s a 170MW project, not unusual in that way, but the turbines proposed are 2.5 MW turbines. That’s BIG! The reported hub height is 291 feet, and from ground to tip of blade, 485.5 feet. That’s BIG!
How to look at the dockets:
So now, quick because Completeness Comments are due, it’s time for people to take a look at this project, what’s proposed for the wind project, the big honkin’ transmission line, and whether all this is needed.
Oh, and about that big honkin’ transmission line, here’s a cut and paste from their application:
Characterizing this bundled 345kV line as “generation inter-tie?” Oh, please…
Bill Clinton toadying for transmission
December 13th, 2012
In Chicago, Bill Clinton calls for national grid to boost renewable energy.
Yes, it’s all connected…There goes Clinton promoting transmission that enables coal.
We all know Bill Clinton has his warts:
But did you know that yesterday Clinton exhibited a major outbreak of warts as a transmission toady for Obama?
And we all know Obama loves transmission and declared seven transmission projects for “accelerated permitting and construction” including two of “my” projects, the PSEG Susquehanna-Roseland line and Xcel’s CapX 2020 Hampton-Rochester-LaCrosse line. I’ve posted a few times about this:
Obama “fast tracks” transmission?!?!?!
Obama’s Transmission BS in the News
What does Obama’s Xmsn push mean?
Here’s the plan in the Midwest — check out the blue solid lines and dashed lines:
… and it gets worse:
These JCSP lines are in the MTEP 11 Appendices, 765kV lines across the Midwest:
But do you know the level of toadyism and sell-out of so called “environmental” groups that made this transmission build-out possible? Transmission is just one of the legacies of the Izaak Walton League (and its program “Wind on the Wires”), Fresh Energy, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and North American Water Office. There’s also coal gasification, burning turkey shit, and rolling for nuclear power in a deal to stick nuclear waste in Florence Township and taking the money for compensation of the Prairie Island Indian Community and shift that into the Renewable Energy Development Fund, Community Based Energy Development (C-BED) legislation that gave House Speaker Steve Sviggum a turbine and substation on his land in the first C-BED project applied for (and thankfully failed). Gee, thanks for all of this and more from Minnesota’s “environmental” organizations over the years… the 1994 Prairie Island deal, the 2002 Transmission deal, the 2003 Prairie Island deal… it makes me ill. Who do they think they are to make these deals, who are they representing? Not the people! Not the public interest!
Here’s some primary documentation:
$8.1 Million to Wind on Wires – grant from McKnight/Energy Foundation
$4.5 Million to Wind on Wires – grant from McKnight/Energy Foundation
2005 Session Laws Chapter 97 Transmission Omnibus Bill from Hell
Bill Grant – Sawmill Presentation – Promotion of Coal Gasification
Presentations at IEDC (Legalectric – posted February 16th, 2007)
IEDC gets carried away (Legalectric – posted February 15th, 2007)
You might think this is old news, but it’s not, it’s got an impact right now, an impact felt by the thousands of landowners whose land is being condemned right now for CapX 2020 transmission routed over their land. Why? Well, just after Mark Dayton won the election in 2010, the Waltons and Wind on the Wires did a spin off (note their numbers don’t match), separating the two, that’s just after the election, and just before Gov. Mark Dayton announced the Walton’s Bill Grant would be the new Deputy Commissioner of Dept. of Commerce in charge of Energy Facilities Permitting.
And “Wind on the Wires” IRS 990s:
Wind on the Wires 2009 IRS Form 990 (signed 11-12-10, a week after the election)
Wind on the Wires 2010 IRS Form 990 (signed 11-14-2011)
How could anyone be more unsuitable for a position heading the state Energy Facilities Permitting department at Commerce?
Here’s the article in its entirety for posterity — from Midwest Energy News, brought to us by (buy) RE-AMP!
In Chicago, Bill Clinton calls for national grid to boost renewable energy
“Look what happened to civilizations that had their day in the sun and then declined,” he said. “Progress is a long road, a lot of rolling big rocks up steep hills.” Read the rest of this entry »