I’d requested information on the Lab USA project from MPCA and City of Red Wing, and got some info last week:

Hey Red Wing — MPCA’s Lab USA documents here!

And they granted an extension for Comments due to the delay in providing primary documentation for review (DOH!) — Comments are now due January 19, 2017:

Lab USA’s Ash Processing Facility – Red Wing – EAW – Comment period extension (p-ear2-119c)

Hiding in the MPCA’s EAW, Appendix B, is this map, above.  The map shows the Water Tanks Burial Mounds, and the western end of the area is about 1/2 of the Red Wing Laydown Yard and Crusher site.  Oh my!  I’d noticed that factoid and included in my comments for the Tyler Hills Neighbors (p. 14):

Comments -_Tyler Hills Neighbors & Exhibits

Note the Red Wing Laydown Yard and Crusher site, on the right hand side of that clearing:

They also want to run a drainage ditch through and put ponds in that area — note they did NOT include the ponds in this depiction of drainage plans!

Here’s one with the “ponds” (no real plan yet, City of Red Wing is supposed to file that before they build it!) and note that the scenic easement as depicted here is further south than it is in another map, where the scenic easement overlaps the southern edge of the clearing (all of these maps are from the EAW, fyi):

Turns out I’m not the only one that noticed that encroachment of the Red Wing project (click for document or larger view):

Comment Letter – Dept of Administration

Look at that, “direct consultation with the Office of the State Archaeologist and the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council…”  Do ya think Prairie Island Indian Community might be interested, have an interest?!?!

Here’s the Comment from the Indian Affairs Council (click for document or larger view):

Comment Letter – Indian Affairs Council

From the Minnesota Office of Energy Security:

… the Minnesota Resource Assessment … sigh…

Get out your waders… from the solicited Comments at the end, from “stakeholders,” (did I miss some notice and comment period here???  Did any of YOU get notice???) the problems raised are nearly universally complaints.

OK, now open it up and look … and in it on page 6 is that MOE’S napkin calulation that they finagled into the CapX 2020 record after we got extracted some damning testimony about decreased demand, this is such utter bullshit, look at this and see for yourself:

And you may ask, what that in the X axis?  Good question, there’s no identification.  And the Y?  Same.

WTF?

This is the report we’ve been waiting so long for?

This is the report that, at the Legislative Energy Commission I testified at, Chair Solon-Prettner was asking for, demanding, because it was way late?

This report was presented in all seriousness to the Legislative Energy Commission?  I would hope that I could hear them laughing all the way down here in Red Wing…

Here’s “Capital Costs” from page 19:

And further back, the Preliminary Capital Costs:

Oh, please… Commerce was part of the Mesaba Project, and Elion Amit did the economic analysis.  From that 2005 data, this is way way off, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS WHATSOEVER.

IGCC in 2005 dollars was $3,595/kW and now it’s more.

IGCC w/ sequestration is, first, NOT POSSIBLE, and second, price would double just for capture, and the storage can’t be done.

Coal is more expensive that that and you know it.

Wake me up when you can deliver some meaningful numbers.

Look at “Generation by fuel source under selected scenarios” starting on p. 87.  In only one scenario does coal go down at all, and that’s for a “National RES” scenario, and it only goes down a teeny teeny bit.  Give me a break…

DOH!

If you have questions or comments on this Minnesota Resource Assessment contact:

Marya White, Reliability Administrator

Minnesota Department of Commerce

85 7th Place East. Suite 500

St. Paul, MN 55101

651-297-1773

marya.white [at] state.mn.us

If you want to tell Steve Rakow what you think of his “Forecast Comparison” and analysis:

Steve Rakow

Minnesota Department of Commerce

85 7th Place East. Suite 500

St. Paul, MN 55101

steve.rakow [at] state.mn.us

Once more with feeling…

DOH!