Go ahead, click it.
Ha ha ha.
First one to buy the domain and create a parody website wins 3 boxes of old PATH files and other related junk.
StopPATH WV |
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Hey, friends, remember PATHTransmission.com? Key word = remember.
Go ahead, click it. Ha ha ha. First one to buy the domain and create a parody website wins 3 boxes of old PATH files and other related junk.
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Citizens of Illinois and Iowa are joining forces to "Block RICL." "RICL" stands for Rock Island Clean Line, "a 500-mile overhead high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line that will deliver 3,500 megawatts from northwest Iowa and the surrounding region to communities in Illinois and other states to the east, areas that have a strong demand for clean, reliable energy."
RICL is one of four merchant transmission lines intended to feed "clean" energy from the midwest to the east and west coasts. Click on the different projects available here to see maps of each project's intended service area. RICL and the "Grain Belt Express" are intended to serve the mid-Atlantic coastal states who are not only developing their own in-state renewable resources, but working toward harvesting the excellent off-shore wind resources in the Atlantic. Developing off-shore wind and local resources provides local jobs and boosts the economy in these states. RICL and the Grain Belt Express do nothing but suck money and jobs out of east coast states. RICL - what a stupid idea. RICL opponents are blocking RICL's progress in Illinois with a huge, strong, grassroots organization that is using tried and true transmission opposition tactics developed by other transmission opposition groups (you'll see some things that sound quite familiar on BlockRICL's website), as well as developing new and effective tools for successful opposition. There's also a companion opposition blog, Ridiculous RICL, written by one of the Illinois farmers whose land is proposed to be taken by RICL through eminent domain. Blogger Scott Thorsen isn't buying RICL's lies and shines a little sunshine on RICL's propaganda. BlockRICL is also part of a growing, national grassroots transmission opposition network, coming soon to transmission owners' nightmares from coast-to-coast. See BlockRICL's website here. See RiciculousRICL blog here. A coalition of citizen groups has filed an injunction in federal court asking that construction of the unneeded Susquehanna Roseland 500kV transmission line be halted within 20 miles of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
The groups earlier filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service for its issuance of a permit to the power companies to destroy the park in contravention of the NPS's mission to preserve our irreplaceable natural resources. Project owners PSEG and PPL have begun construction of the project in an all-fired big hurry, trying to get it built before legal remedies have been exhausted. Looks like they're very afraid that the lack of need for their project and the underhanded way they went about securing permits will be exposed. And it will, but the companies are hoping the power line will be built before anyone really notices or cares. Too late! The petition asks for an expedited hearing. Will justice finally be done? West Virginia Consumer Advocate Byron Harris was a guest on The State Journal's "Decision Makers" program on Sunday. Here's a link to the video.
While Byron says he opposes FirstEnergy's proposal to sell one of the company's competitive market coal plants to captive West Virginia electric consumers, his main concern seems to be the price of the plant, and not the purchase of the plant. Host Bray Cary gets way off track and Byron doesn't take control of the situation to re-direct back to a coherent argument. Cary is one of those individuals who is so terrified of accounting that he views corporate accountants as "tricky" and "sneaky." He dubs the transaction "corporate hocus pocus" and believes it's "purely bookkeeping." Bookkeeping is a scary concept for people like Bray Cary, who believe bookkeeping doesn't involve real money. However, FirstEnergy's coal plant sale is going to cost you real money. The cost of the plant for West Virginians is a cool $1.102B. This amount represents real cash that will be exchanged between FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and AE Supply, one of the company's unregulated generation subsidiaries. Of that $1.102B in cold, hard cash, 45%, or $529M, will come from an equity capital investment in Mon Power from parent company FirstEnergy. In exchange for their investment, FE will earn 10.5% return on the money. The other 55%, $573M, will be borrowed at a rate of approximately 5% over a 35 year term. According to the testimony of Steven Staub submitted as part of the company's filing with the WV Public Service Commission: "Power plants are capital intensive assets with long useful lives. The tenor of a debt financing associated with a power plant should complement the useful life of the asset. The financing plan is expected to include new notes that will mature no more than thirty-five years from their dates of issuance. Based on a review of treasury yields and corporate credit spreads for comparably rated issuers over the past year, the newly issued long term debt would be expected to be issued with a coupon of approximately 5%. Rates will fluctuate in the future; thus, the actual cost of debt for the Transaction will be determined when the new long term debt is issued." So, Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers will repay $1.102 BILLION to both parent company FirstEnergy and Mon Power's creditors at an approximate average interest rate of 7.75% for the next 35 years. In the video, Byron states that the cost to the "average residential consumer" will be about $90 per year. That's $90 of cold, hard cash out of your pocket and into FirstEnergy's every year for the next 35 years, for a total of $3,150 per household. That's real debt, real money. Just say no to FirstEnergy's "corporate hocus-pocus" and tell the WV PSC that you do not support FirstEnergy's proposal and do not wish to pay higher rates to subsidize an out of state corporation's financial success by purchasing their unwanted, cast-off, uncompetitive coal plant liability. Click here to submit your comment to the PSC online. The case number is 12-1571-E-PC. In its Order on PATH's abandonment filing last week, FERC tossed thousands of opponents of the Project Mountaineer transmission line projects a bone. It won't reimburse you for all the time and money you've invested fighting transmission projects that were never needed in the first place, and it won't unbuild the TrAIL Project or make affected landowners and consumers whole, and it won't stop the unneeded Susquehanna-Roseland Project from continuing to proceed with stunning haste. But if a little validation and personal satisfaction makes a tasty snack for you, here's your bone:
"The PATH Project concept was originally introduced by PJM in May 2005 at a Commission technical conference as Project Mountaineer- a major east-to-west transmission corridor. In early 2006, AEP and Allegheny separately filed petitions for declaratory order with the Commission requesting transmission incentives to build this multi-corridor concept in their respective zones in Docket Nos. EL06-50-000 and EL06-54-000, respectively. The Commission affirmed abandoned plant recovery for the proposals subject to approval in the PJM Regional Transmission Expansion Plan (RTEP) and requiring a future section 205 filing, among other things. On June 27, 2007, PJM’s Board of Directors approved the projects for inclusion in PJM’s RTEP, changing the route and scope from those originally conceived, combining portions of both AEP and Allegheny’s projects into a single project (the PATH Project) with a requested completion date of June 2012." That's right... FERC says that the PATH Project (and TrAIL, MAPP and Susquehanna-Roseland) originated as a concept in 2005. The Commission technical conference referred to is what we've been calling "The Coal Love Fest." Its goal was to increase the use of coal-fired resources. It wasn't about increased demand, congested transmission lines or reliability. It wasn't until 2007 that PJM created the reliability violations that caused a "need" for the PATH Project under the guise of reliability and "ordered" AEP & Allegheny (now FirstEnergy) to build PATH. 1. Project Mountaineer. 2. Creation of PATH Project concept. 3. Creation of "need" for PATH Project. Nibble slowly, PATH opponents. It's all you're going to get. Of course, this isn't news to any of you. We've been telling you this for the past 4 years. But now FERC agrees with us. The PATH Project is a bit of ugly and expensive history now. However, the lesson could live on. PJM, FERC and the midwest wind industry are busy concocting a new Project Mountaineer right now but instead of coal, this time it's about moving "midwest wind" to both coasts via $300B of new transmission lines. We don't need that anymore than we needed Project Mountaineer in 2005. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Consumers can't afford another expensive mistake. |
About the Author Keryn Newman blogs here at StopPATH WV about energy issues, transmission policy, misguided regulation, our greedy energy companies and their corporate spin.
In 2008, AEP & Allegheny Energy's PATH joint venture used their transmission line routing etch-a-sketch to draw a 765kV line across the street from her house. Oooops! And the rest is history. About
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