Big Stone II is zu ende???
September 11th, 2009
Otter Tail Power has withdrawn from Big Stone II. Odd way to put it because Big Stone II IS Otter Tail Power. OTP was the big one left in the game and now they’re gone.
Otter Tail Power has withdrawn from the Big Stone II coal plant. Really?!?!?
Pinch me, I must be dreaming…
Here’s their post about it on their BSII site – love the euphemisims:
Big Stone II announces participant changes
Otter Tail Power Company withdraws; Project pursues new participants
In the first blurb to come over the wire, below, there’s one phrase that stands out:
I knew that financing was not happening and dependent on a big cash infusion from Bill Gates. Financing anything now is pert near impossible, hence the big cost allocation dust up for CapX lately, and Big Stone II was no exception. Who on earth, who in their right mind, would invest in a coal plant today? That falls squarely in the “HOW STUPID CAN WE BE” category, no doubt about it.
I‘ll post more as it turns up. From Marketwatch:
Otter Tail Power Company Announces Withdrawal From Big Stone II
Maryland rejects PATH transmission line
September 10th, 2009
Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline
The Washington Post says:
Allen Staggers — Ja, I’ll bet he sure does now!!!
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Yes, “transmission from hell” is everywhere… here are some sites for opponents of the PATH line:
Pennsylvania Land Trust Association
The Applicants who just got slapped up by Maryland:
And here’s the TOADIES for PATH – dig the logo, compare with PATH:
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Maryland’s Public Service Commission seems, indeed, to be dedicated to the public! It has rejected the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline, PATH, transmission project application.
The Baltimore Sun gets it:
PSC right to reject power line
In the Frederick News-Post:
Maryland Commission Rejects PATH Transmission Application
Posted Thursday, September 10, 2009
“We see it as a procedural decision based on interpretation of Maryland law,” Colafella said.
Allegheny and AEP will continue to pursue the line in Virginia and West Virginia, he said.
New Jersey’s BPU delays Susquehanna-Roseland hearing
September 10th, 2009
Just in, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has delayed the Evidentiary Hearings for PSE&G’s (and PJM’s!) Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line, from the week of October 19 to the week of November 16!
Even better, the Discovery that was due right now is now not due for two more weeks! Two more weeks of figuring out how to torture those poor witnesses for PSE&G!!
For more info, see STOP THE LINES!
And that fits well with the CapX 2020 Brookings hearings, that were supposed to begin November 23 but now probably starting the week after.
UMTDI – “Survey” looking for …
August 28th, 2009
I think it’s one of those things where they’re working toward a pre-ordained result.
Here’s the “Survey” and “Legal Analysis: that arrived a couple weeks ago:
“Legal Analysis” my ass… how lame… do they think we’re that stupid?
Note the date, it’s the same date that this great 7th Circuit decision came out on cost allocation:
And then there’s all that cost allocation “problem” with Otter Tail Power and WOW/AWEA:
AWEA and WOW’s FERC filing to protest MISO cost allocation proposal
Methinks they doth protest too much… again… what they’re doing is so transparent, conflating collection, transmission, delivery, looking for a way to justify treatment as the same…
I DON’T THINK SO!
Big win for Stop the Poles!
August 17th, 2009
Today a big win for Stop the Poles! The New Jersey Dept. of Transportation said a big resounding “NO!” to Atlantic City Electric’s request to use DOT Right-of-Way to stick it to the community!
Atlantic City Electric is part of PEPCO Holdings Inc, a big electric conglomerate in the Mid-Atlantic. They (the big boys, not ACE, I’m sure) decided they wanted to build a 230kV loop around the area to reinforce the system, in expectation of massive power transfers up from Salem, right ACE?
So they just up and decided to build it. Above are the transmission lines built on Bridgeton Road, one of those “elevator” construction jobs, where there’s no poles, and one day, someone “pushes the button” and there they are in all their ugliness. No notice, no consultation, no fanfare, no nothing,one day they saw them being pounded into the ground, going over fields, roads, right across Bridgeton Road from homes that are up against the road on the other side, so close it’s disgusting and downright dangerous … there’s zero clear zone from the road, EMF right there and nowhere to go … and then there’s the substation.
The substation is lit up like an inter-gallactic space station and hums so loudly that the neighbors are losing sleep. It’s been a community point of contention with Atlantic City Electric ever since they appeared.
And Atlantic City Electric wanted to double the mess by doing the same thing along Highway 77. Highway 77 already has some smaller wood poles, and along Bridgeton Road and along Highway 77, cars are regularly careening off the road and there’s wreck after wreck there. Newer and bigger poles is not a good idea.
So the DOT told ACE where NOT to stick their poles! Looks like it’s time for the Atlantic City Electric folks to head back to PEPCO for a little training in application procedures and public relations! Not that PEPCO knows…