Legalectric

Sussex County has held off on taking a formal stand on Delmarva Power’s Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, or MAPP, but Delmarva is pushing,  so now’s the time to call them with a simple message:

No, don’t encourage and facilitate coal!

Say NO! to Delmarva Power’s Mid-Atlantic Power Path transmission proposal!

Delmarva Power is going around drumming up support for its Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, or MAPP.  They approached Sussex County to support the line (what do we know about that?  Not much.  Perhaps a FOIA to see what they’ve been doing is in order?) and because there’s a zoning matter before the County, they held off..

Delaware Electric Coop would like to use the MAPP line to bring in electricity from a new Old Dominion coal plant in Virginia.  Oh… great idea… I’ve posted about this before:

Delaware Electric Coop annual meeting

Here’s Alan’s Green Delaware Alert and handout for DEC’s last annual meeting:

Green Delaware – Alert 666

Synapse Report – Fact Sheet – Hampton Road/Cypress Creek

Building a coal plant is a really bad idea, and building transmission for coal is a really bad idea plus… two wrongs do not make a right.

Call all the County Council, thank them for putting on the brakes, and let them know what you think about Delmarva Power’s transmission for coal:

Michael H. Vincent   (302) 629-2396

Samuel R. Wilson   (302) 856-2972

Joan R. Deaver   (302) 645-6657

George B. Cole   (302) 539-1611

Vance C. Phillips   (302) 542-1501

Here’s a report from the Cape Gazette:

Sussex County council delays support of transmission line

Pathway could pump $260 million in county’s economy

By Ron MacArthur

More than a dozen elected bodies and agencies are throwing support behind the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, but Sussex County Council will not join that list – at least not right away.

The 150- to 170-mile high-voltage transmission project, scheduled to be completed in June 2014 at a cost of $1.2 billion, would include 35 miles of lines from Vienna, on Route 50 in Maryland, to the Indian River power plant near Millsboro.

Delmarva Power and Pepco Holdings Inc. were seeking council’s support of the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP) project during the county’s Tuesday, Oct. 27 meeting. But council is handcuffed because a zoning application is pending before county officials. A converter station will need to be built near Millsboro.

“Would we be pre-judging this zoning application with support of this?” Council President Vance Phillips asked county attorney Everett Moore.

Moore responded with an emphatic yes.

Phillips told Delmarva Power representatives the council would discuss the matter with its attorney. “We will see if we can come up with some sort of endorsement broad enough not to get ourselves in trouble,” he said.

“This is one of the most important projects ever undertaken by Delmarva Power and Pepco,” said Jim Smith, Delmarva Power senior public affairs manager.

Demand exceeds generation

Jerry Elliott, a Delmarva Power retiree with 35 years’ experience, has come out of retirement to help with the project. In a presentation to council, he said the Delmarva Peninsula depends on imported power, with demand exceeding generation by 500 megawatts during peak periods. Officials say demand will increase by 20 percent during peak periods over the next 10 years.

Power is transmitted from north to south from a single connection point in New Castle County. As a result, he said, more brownouts and blackouts are projected in the future for residents in southern Delaware.

“Even with the economic downturn, without MAPP there is insufficient transmission and power generation capacity to meet demand by 2014,” Elliott said. “The peninsula is isolated from power sources on the western shore and cannot import enough power in the event of an emergency.” He said the single point of access to the grid also results in higher costs for electricity on the peninsula when lower-cost power is available in the region. “MAPP will lower the cost of power by relieving transmission-line congestion,” he said.

Because no new transmission lines have been built on the peninsula in the past 25 years and the area is susceptible to brownouts and blackouts, the area has been designated a Department of Energy National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor.

Matt Likovich, Delmarva Power community and communications coordinator, said the 51 million customers in the project area will be charged 30 cents a month, a charge that will be offset by a savings in congestion charges.

“The cost of electricity during periods of congestion is much higher than at other times. The MAPP project will help relieve transmission-line congestion on the Delmarva Peninsula, resulting in cost savings to customers,” Likovich said.

He said anticipated savings are about 60 cents per month in charges related to congestion.

Line will go under the bay

Elliott said 500-kilovolt and 640-kilovolt lines will tie into power plants starting in southern Maryland at Possum Point to Calvert Cliffs with 11 miles taken under the Chesapeake Bay through Dorchester County to a plant in Vienna and then to the Indian River plant.

Almost all of the project will take place on existing rights of way, except in Dorchester County. “Dorchester County does not support this yet,” Elliott said. That is why the exact mileage of the project is not yet known. The final figure depends on what officials in that county decide.

While most of the new lines will be built in place of existing lines, the Dorchester County portion will add new lines to the landscape, which county officials say would harm tourism and agriculture. Dorchester County Council would like the MAPP lines to be placed underground or underwater, both of which would add to the cost of the project.

Replacing existing lines with new lines would pump an estimated $260 million into the Sussex County economy during construction, Elliott said. The 27-mile Sussex County line would be built on existing Delmarva Power rights of way and would start in Delmar and pass through Dagsboro en route to the Indian River plant.

Two new poles, made of steel, and foundations will be placed in the same location as the existing poles.

The new poles will range in height from 155 to 165 feet and be about 16 feet apart. The line will terminate at a new AC/DC converter station near the power plant. Construction is expected to begin in 2012 in Sussex County.

Elliott said MAPP would create a bigger pipeline for delivering new, clean energy solutions for an increase in wind, solar and even nuclear energy opportunities.

“MAPP is the most effective way to secure reliable, diverse and low-cost energy for all residents on the peninsula,” Elliott said.

The original project contained another 100 miles of lines north from the Indian River plant to the Salem, N.J., nuclear power plant. Elliott said because of economic reasons that portion of the project was removed. “It was found there was no need to spend the additional money,” he said.

Before we get started, a note about need.  As usual, this transmission line is not needed.  PEPCO’s Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, or MAPP line, not to be confused with Mid-Continent Area Power Pool (MAPP), is the red line on the map above.  PJM, the private utility transmission promotion entity, has admitted that the Indian River to Salem part of the line is not justified, and have taken it off their wish list.  Now, about the rest of it…

And where did MAPP come from?  It’s part of Project Mountaineer, which is planned to bring cheap coal generation from the Amos plant and others, like the coal plant planned by Delaware Electric Co-op.  Without this transmission line, the coal generation would not be used in the Mid-Atlantic or parts further NE, i.e., New York.

The MAPP transmission line had a day of scrutiny last week when MAPP opposition groups hosted a tour and luncheon featuring former Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes speaking against the line.  State Senators and staff from both Maryland U.S. Senators were present, and it looks like they got an earful and eyeful!  They used balloons to show the height of the lines, as we did in Susquehanna-Roseland last month, and Chisago years ago.

Here’s the full story:

Tour focuses on MAPP problems

By DUSTIN HOLT Special from The Star Democrat

Published: Friday, September 25, 2009 9:56 AM CDT

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and the Dorchester Citizens for Safe Energy along with the Dorchester County Tourism Department organized a tour through Dorchester County last week to show the impact the proposed Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway project would have on the county’s heritage, agriculture and wildlife.

Pepco Holdings is proposing a 27-mile high-voltage electrici transmission line crossing Dorchester County as part of the MAPP project, from Taylor’s Island to Vienna.

The ESLC suggests the towers would be 150 feet tall, though Pepco puts them between 110 and 130 feet. According to the ESLC, the towers would consume 650 acres of county agriculture, forest and rural lands.

The Sept. 16 tour included lunch at the E.A. Murphy Community Center in Vienna, with former Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes as a guest speaker.

“Many of us are opposed to it (the MAPP Project) because insufficient studies have been done for this line,” said Hughes, an advisory committee member of the ESLC. “Have they looked at alternatives?”

Hughes said one alternative is to improve the Vienna Power Plant, which is not operating at full power. He said another alternative is to introduce energy conservation standards to reduce the need for the power lines.

“This is a massive project that will disrupt the landscape,” Hughes said.. “There are too many unknowns with no alternatives considered. As far as I can see, there is no need to rush into this.”

Vienna Mayor Russell Brinsfield, one of the founders of ESLC, said MAPP would permanently and negatively impact Vienna. He said alternatives should include the state promoting energy conversation and renewable resources.

State Sen. Richard Colburn, R-37-Mid-Shore; Del. Addie Eckardt, R-37B-Dorchester; and Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, R-37B-Talbot, were in attendance at the lunch in Vienna.

Eckardt said it is important to preserve the heritage and agriculture in the county, “Our biggest asset is our land, fisheries and agriculture.”

If MAPP project must move forward, Eckardt said, the state needs to look where the project will not be environmentally sensitive nor impair the landscape of the county.

The tour headed from Vienna, through Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and back to Cambridge.

Dorchester Citizens for Safe Energy Chairman Libby Nagel said the power line would require about a 200-foot right-of-way.

To demonstrate the height of the towers, balloons were deployed to a height of about 150 feet.

Local farmer Lin Spicer said spraying crops would be ineffective with the power lines because planes would not be able to get below the lines. “We would be forced to spray from above the towers and the wind would blow the spray all around before it reached the crops,” he said.

Blackwater Manager Susan Baird said the MAPP towers would have a great impact on wildlife and wetlands. She said bald eagles need a living area of at least five miles. “They won’t fly over the towers, so you can’t tell me they or other birds will not move on to different locations outside of Dorchester County if the power lines are put here,” Baird said.

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I was a big Posner fan in law school, mostly because he was so much fun to pick on, I so hate the “Chicago school.”  But here’s another Posner, doing good!  It’s a hilarious opinion, all the better because it so clearly tells FERC and PJM what to do with their rate shifting cost apportionment.  GO POSNER!

Here’s the decision:

Illinois Commerce Commission, et al. v. FERC

LISTEN TO THE ORAL ARGUMENT HERE!!!

Two issues in this case:

1) PJM/FERC pricing based on marginal cost v. pricing including sunk costs.  That one went for PJM/FERC, and American Electric and others lost in just a few paragraphs.

2) Where the action is — Ohio and Illinois Commissions objected to the 500+kV cost allocation on a pro rata basis, that “their rats should be raised by a uniform amount sufficient to defray the facilities’ costs.”

What’s particularly interesting to me is that this is all about “Project Mountaineer,” which PJM doesn’t even want to acknowledge exists!  the Susquehanna-Roseland line that I’m working against is the NE part of line 1, and the MAPP line through now “just” a part of Delaware is the NE part of the southern line, line 4.  Here’s the magnitude of Project Mountaineer – the Susquehanna-Roseland line is QUAD 500kV plus double circuiting the existing 230kV line, that’s one big project:

FYI, in the Cudahy dissent, he did some digging, and there is a Project Mountaineer tootnote quoting PJM stating that Project Mountaineer “would bring about substantial congestion relief and reliability improvements increasing Midwest-to-east transfers by 5,000 MW.”  See Ventyx, Major Transmission Constraints in PJM (2007).

A quick sidebar… FYI, from Delaware Electric Cooperative 2009 Energy Plan – “CONFIDENTIAL”, arguing for the MAPP transmission project…

… and they report that transmission congestion is down 75% to 275 hours ANNUALLY!  Really… so for that 275 hours we should build the $1.2 MAPP project?  HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK WE ARE?

OK, back to Posners 7th Circuit decision.  It was PJM’s idea, approved by FERC, to hit up all the utilities, and Illinois, a BIG example of the problem, would have had to pay out some $480 million while not receiving one dime of benefit.  PJM used the theory that, well, PJM used to do it this way all the time before in massive infrastructure buildouts, but as Posner reminded them, that was then and this is now, PJM is a lot different now, Illinois wasn’t even part of the picture.

Posner was pissed off that there was no data at all to support their desired allocation, no data, no specifics about difficulties in assessing benefits, no lawsuits about inequities, no particulars, “[n]ot even the roughest estimate of likely benefits to the objecting utilities… oh yes, he let them have it… for page after page… and notes that FERC “brief devotes only five pages to the 500kV pricing issue.”  FERC seems to presume a similar brainwashing in the courts that they and utilities presume of Commissions and legislatures, one that I see to often, that frantic claim of URGENT need, ‘WE’RE GOING TO FREEZE IN THE DARK IN AN INCUBATOR WITHOUT A JOB” theory, presented despite documented long term decrease in demand across the country.  Once more with feeling, HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK WE ARE?

Oh, these guys irritate me.  Anyway, check out this decision and consider the impact on all the 500kV and above projects applied for or waiting in the wings.

And that’s a good thing, because their SEC filings show that demand is down from 2007-2007, as it is everywhere.  It’s looking like utilities are unable to sustain their drive for long distance market dispatch, and if this trend is the reality, and their stock continues to be in the toilet, they can’t build their transmission dream — this is good news!  Chalk up one for the economic depression!

All of us participating in the Delmarva Power IRP have to make sure the PSC knows about the tanked market, after all, they’re addressing how Delmarva Power will fulfill its demand, and for sure we don’t need new generation (need different generation, to be sure) or any transmission.  As to needing different generation, it’s particularly important at this time to attach a requirement to SHUT DOWN FOSSIL FUEL to any RES.  Without that, they’ll just sell it elsewhere, and we won’t gain anything.

Here’s one example of how the economy can have an impact on electric infrastructure and market. Hot off the press — PEPCO may not be selling stock to finance projects, and the biggest project they’re looking at is the much-detested Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, electric transmission known as the MAPP line.

And remember, not that long ago, PJM cancelled the part from Indian River to Salem, NJ, at the Salem & Hope Creek nuclear plants.  Here’s what it looks like now, supposedly:

HA!  THEIR MAPS DON’T EVEN REFLECT THAT CHANGE!!

MAPP – PEPCO-PJM Press Release May 19, 2009

The Press Release says:

According to Gausman, PJM has also reviewed the need for the section of the line that would run from Delmarva Power’s Indian River substation near Millsboro, Del., to Salem, N.J., and has decided to move this portion of the line into its “continuing study” category. This means that the reconfigured MAPP line will now extend approximately 150 miles from northern Virginia, across southern Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay, and terminate at Indian River. The change would likely reduce the total project cost from $1.4 billion to $1.2 billion.

(Emphasis added).  Hee hee hee hee hee — “… terminate at Indian River.”  No Indian River to Salem, NJ section.  Cutting a section out is just one more step to tanking the project.  What’s the point of a radial line to Indian River?  Some would say that “hey, there’s transmission there, it’s not a radial line,” but there’s NOT transmission there to facilitate the bulk power transfers coming in on a 500kV line.  The system there is comparatively VERY low voltage.  Others would note that the Indian River plant has two units shutting down, but folks, they’re the smallest units, totalling about 150MW or so, that will not make a big electrical difference, though it has a significant impact on our ability to breathe the air in southern Delaware!  Taking the small Indian River units most probably means that Bluewater Wind should have no problem interconnecting — lets see the interconnection studies with Indian River units off line!

Anyway, here’s the poop — and look at the PEPCO price: $13.39, about half of what it was a year ago ($26.25) (for month, YTD, year and 5 year, go HERE) If you look at the 5 year trend, it’s the same reflected in Xcel’s demand — everything goes south in 2007.  THIS IS NOT A “BLIP” FROM LAST FALL’S CRASH, this is a 2 year, nearly 3 year trend. (For Xcel month, YTD, year and 5 year, go HERE).

From PEPCO’s 2008 SEC 10-K, here’s their 2007-2008 energy delivery numbers (DOWN), regulated and default:

Here’s PEPCO 2007-7008 SEC 10-K info, 2006-6007, regulated and default – these numbers should be the same for the same years, and they’re not, what does that mean:

Here’s the PEPCO 2006 SEC 10-K info, their 2005-2006 energy delivery numbers (DOWN), first regulated sales:

CLICK HERE – PEPCO’s SEC 10-K filings for lots of years to do your own looking!

From Bloomberg:

Pepco CFO May Postpone Investment to Avoid Share Sale

By Katarzyna Klimasinska

June 26 (Bloomberg) — Pepco Holdings Inc.’s new chief financial officer, Anthony Kamerick, is considering postponing some investments beyond 2010 to prevent selling shares below book value.

Pepco, the owner of Washington’s electric utility, currently plans about $1 billion in total capital projects for 2010, mainly on the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway transmission line and smart grid, Kamerick said. The completion of the transmission line, also known as MAPP, has already been delayed by a year.

“We have to balance, obviously, the need to make sure our system is safe and reliable for the customers,” Kamerick said in a telephone interview yesterday from Washington, where the company is based. “It’s a delicate balance.”

MAPP is scheduled to start service in June 2014 and will run from northern Virginia, across southern Maryland and Chesapeake Bay, to Indian River, Delaware.

Smart grids will be able to detect power failures and automatically isolate them, increasing the reliability of the power system, according to Pepco.

Pepco sold shares at $16.50 each in November and has had a 25 percent decline so far this year. The current price represents 72 percent of book value, or assets minus liabilities, per share, according to a Bloomberg calculation from company data.

Pepco fell 3 cents to $13.39 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Kamerick replaced Paul Barry, who resigned, on June 12. He has worked for Pepco and its predecessor, Potomac Electric Power Co., since 1970, most recently as chief regulatory officer.

PJM, Delmarva Power, PEPCO, PHI, whatever, admit that demand is down and that the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, the transmission line through Maryland and Delaware to New Jersey, should be delayed

The Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, or MAPP, is part of PJM’s “Project Mountaineer,” a web of lines expressly designed to move coal generation from the Amos plant in West Virginia and gather other coal and nuclear generation and send it in a northeasterly direction:

See the MAPP line there in the NE section of Project Mountaineer line 4?

PJM has recommended delay of the inservice date for a portion of the MAPP line by a year, the portion from Indian River to Salem nuclear plant.  What remains, however, is a problem, because electrically, it makes no sense to build a 500kV radial line to nowhere.  If part of the line should be delayed, the ENTIRE line should be delayed.

Here’s the corporate Press Release and two “articles” which should be compared!

Press Release from Delmarva site

MAPP: Controversial High Voltage Electric Transmission Line Delayed for One Year

PJM Reinforces MAPP Need: Adds Year to Schedule (states “contributed by Delmarva Power”)

This demonstration of lack of need is something that should be raised in the Delmarva Power IRP docket, that demand is down so significantly that PJM thinks infrastructure construction should be delayed.  And yes, PJM demand is way, way down.

PJM Annual Report Link

So, since demand is so far down, this is a good time to let the PSC know, in the Delmarva Power IRP docket, that we know that demand is down, so far down that they can’t cover anymore and they have to postpone some of their infrastructure construction.  The Hearing Officer is taking public comments on the Delmarva Power IRP until some time in July, I think the 25th.

Send IRP Public Comments to the Hearing Eximaner Ruth Price:

ruth.price@state.de.us

What’s an IRP Comment?  The Integrated Resource Planning process is supposed to be the way a utility plans ahead to cover their demand, and it’s essentially the intersection of energy policy and those #(%&*)#*( utilities.  This is the arena where it’s determined whether they should meet their demand through conservation (the cheapest and environmentally the smallest footprint), efficiency steps like load shifting and SmartGrid,  offshore wind paired with natural gas for backup, and whether external costs of various generation options are taken into account.  SOOOOO, does that give you an idea of what’s up?

See Delmarva Power’s IRP docket at the PSC, scroll down beyond that rulemaking on the top:

PSC’s Delmarva IRP page

And note this sly trick — they couldn’t get their IRP right from last cycle and were told by PSC staff to take it home and try again, and the last revision of that last IRP is the one they submitted:

December 1, 2008 IRP (from last cycle)

And they said in their accompanying letter that this one should be for THIS cycle!   AAAAAAARGH!

So, it’s time to review this joke of an IRP, take a look at PJM load forecasting, look at PJM and PEPCO SEC filings like their 2008 10-K and 2009 1st Quarter 10-Q:

PJM 2008 Load and Forecast Report

Dig up some good conservation reports and sent them in as examples of what can be done.  Let them know that with PJM demand down, we expect some changes, that this is a good opportunity to take a sustainable fork in the road, when demand is down we can make conscious choices.

Once more with feeling, check out the Delmarva Power IRP and send comments to ruth.price@state.de.us.