Legalectric

I’ve been saying this for so many years, that electric demand is down, down, down, and instead, Xcel Energy (and all the others) have been saying it’s going UP, UP, UP (even though Mikey Bull said years ago that they wouldn’t need power for a while), and they’re applying for and getting Certificates of Need for all these permits for utility infrastructure that are obviously designed to market and sell the surplus, and the Public Utilities pretends to be oblivious (I say “pretends” because I cannot believe they’re that unaware and uninformed.).

This is a must read:

Xcel Compliance Filing_CN-13-606_20149-103251-02

Here’s the short version from Xcel:

2024 is expected to be about what it was back in 2007, the industry peak year.  DOH!  But note this — there’s a “small capacity surplus in 2016.”  DOH!

And given the surplus which we’ve known has been present and looming larger, that’s why they then ask for withdrawal of the Certificate of Need for the Prairie Island uprate because it isn’t needed (and really, that was just what, 80 MW or so?  Or 80 MW x 2 reactors, 160 MW?).  If they don’t need that small uprate, why on earth would they need so much more?

But what do I know…

Hollydale Transmission Line was clearly not needed, and they withdrew that application…

CapX 2020 transmission was based on a 2.49% annual increase in demand, and for Hampton-La Crosse in part supposedly based on Rochester and La Crosse demand numbers, yeah right, we know better, but that was their party line.  Again, DOH, it didn’t add up to needing a big honkin’ 345 kV transmission line stretching from the coal plants in the Dakotas to Madison and further east, but who cares, let’s just build it…

ITC MN/IA 345 kV line — the state said the 161 kV should be sufficient to address transmission deficiencies in the area, but noooooo, DOH, that wouldn’t address the “need” for bulk power transfer (the real desire for the line).

Here’s a bigger picture of the bottom line (I’m accepting this as a more accurate depiction, not necessarily the TRUTH, but close enough for electricity), keeping in mind that these are PROJECTIONS, and that they’re adding a “Coincident Peak adjustment” which should be included in the “peak” calculations):

Notice the only slight reduction in coal capacity, just 19 MW, nuclear stays the same, a 320 MW decrease in gas, a 128 MW reduction in Wind, Hydro, Biomass, which I hope includes garbage burners and the Benson turkey shit plant , slight increase in solar of 18 MW, and Load Management also a slight increase of only 80 MW.  This is Xcel Energy with its business as usual plan, which has to go.  We can do it different, and now is the time.

Will someone explain why we paid so much to uprate Monticello, and paid to rebuild Sherco 3?

From the archives:

500+ give LS Power a piece of their mind

My friends at Xcel are miscalculating my schedule, sending the guys with the boom trucks over on a Friday without a deadline!!!  HA HA HA HA HA HA and not only that,

Yeah, give ’em the raspberries…

Today they’re taking out the poles across the street so they can start on the mother of all retaining walls.  We do now have a distribution line in the front yard.  Where’s that gauss meter?

Did you know that they saw down utility poles?  Odd, I figured they’d take them out and resuse them.  Here they’ve sawed the support pole in half, then took it down and are sawing it up into little chunks.  So small that I’ll bet they haul them over to their garbage burner here in Red Wing, or down to La Crosse where I know they burn railroad ties.  Railroad ties, penta poles, what’s the difference!

We’ve told the city that we LOVE the quiet at night, what a difference, and they were tickled that we thought they’d done something right (guess Alan and I are known around city offices).  There are deer back in da ‘hood again, one strolling down the middle of the dirt street, and somebody’s been eating the day lily buds.  We need to move some of the construction hazard lights closer.

Life goes on with construction… but work?  No way!

As ALJ Kathleen Sheehy said, “Oh, ENOUGH about the TREES!”

But soon, we’re losing another boulevard tree, this one a red maple, not too old, but it’s about 35 feet high.  ANOTHER ONE~  Last spring, we lost a large one in the May blizzard, and now, any day now, this one is coming down.  What’s adding insult to injury is that they’re taking it down FOR A TEMPORARY REROUTE OF THE XCEL DISTRIBUTION LINE ACROSS THE STREET!

They must have looked on a map, with input from Xcel found our house, and picked it.  They’re redoing West Avenue, replacing the VERY tall retaining wall across the street (20 feet??), narrowing the street to slow traffic, and putting in a sidewalk across the street so kids can walk to school.  We’ve been dealing with the City about this for a while, went to a meeting, checked the city’s packet on it, talked to them there, and had a conference or two in the yard this week.   And as Alan says, giving them full credit, “they’ve been responsive.”  Yeah, but they’re still taking our tree down.  And taking another one down when they redo the other street.  And they still haven’t replaced the one we lost last year in the blizzard, or the large one that came out some time before we bought the house. Four out of four…

When I spoke with the City and Xcel guys checking it out, I objected, I don’t want to lose this tree, and suggested undergrounding since they’re digging up the street, and they said this street wouldn’t work for that (oh, please…), and I again said I didn’t want to lose that tree, particularly for a TEMPORARY XCEL DISTRIBUTION REROUTE.  The Xcel whippersnapper looks down his snout and says, “You like power, don’t you.”  Folks, y’all would have been proud… I did not bring Kady out to address his attitude (the City guy sorta snorted at his comment, and the Xcel guy had clearly not encountered moi previously).

This tree is more than just a tree, it’s a safety infrastructure installation:

Our tree has been hit a few times, it’s at a curve near the crest of the hill, and people often race up the hill.   As you can see from the map, that tree keeps the cars out of our yard and out of Mary’s porch.  We need that tree!!!  SCREEEECH, CRASH… doesn’t happen often?  Well, just last year, someone coming the other way crested the hill too fast and on the way down didn’t make the turn, and they careened into the house on the other side of the street and took out their front steps!

And look:

And they’re starting in on it, the big “Utility Work Ahead” signs are out on West, and they’re climbing the pole across the street.  See that big honkin’ sucker there?  That one is coming out when they redo Sturdevant, which they said, “could be next year, could be a few years,” but that will mean we have NO trees left.

I can hear air tools all the way on the other side…

AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!  My tree…

Xcel’s request for withdrawal of its Hollydale Transmission Project Certificate of Need and Route Permit Application is before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission tomorrow.  We’re 4th on the agenda.  Come on down, or watch it live!

Live Webcast

Agenda

And look how a decision came down in Chino, California!  There was a transmission line through the community for a long, long time, and it was “inactive” for a long, long time.  Then one day, the utility started taking down the towers that weren’t being used, and stuck new bigger ones in their place.  Thankfully, the story didn’t end there — they had to take the poles down and underground that transmission line:

Chino Hills wins battle against So Cal Edison

Here’s the Chino Hills group’s website:

Hope for the Hills

What’s new?  Well, Xcel Energy has announced its 3Q results and the 2013 demand just keeps going down!

From Seeking Alpha, the 3Q call transcript (emphasis added):

Kit Konolige – BGC Partners, Inc., Research Division

On the — your sales growth outlook, I believe you said that you are expecting 0% to 0.5% in 2013. Can you discuss the breakdown by states on that and maybe any color about commercial versus industrial versus residential? And also give us a view of the longer term sales outlook that you’re seeing at this point?

Teresa S. Madden – Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President

Well, sure, Kit. Let’s start with the 2013 by the states. Minnesota, we’re still projecting a decline of about 1.2%. In NSP-Wisconsin, just a slight decline. And then the other 2 jurisdiction, PSCo slightly up and SPS at about 1.2% range. But all of it netting to within the — up to 0.5%. When we look to the future, we’re looking at about, as we indicated in our guidance up to 0.5%, those are narrowing, not such a great degree in terms of the decline in NSP-Minnesota. In terms of the various classes of customers, it does vary by jurisdiction. I will say that C&I, we see the most growth in Texas with the oil and gas industry boom.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TRANSCRIPT.

Let me repeat that tidbit:

Minnesota, we’re still projecting a decline of about 1.2%. In NSP-Wisconsin, just a slight decline.

And as we know too well, the CapX 2020 transmission project taking over Minnesota is based on their wishful-thinking projections of a 2.49% annual increase.

From Xcel Energy’s own investor page (click to enlarge):

Here’s the full 10-Q (above from p. 50):

XCEL 9.30.13 10-Q

Someone remind me — why are we paying to build this CapX 2020 transmission project?