I've been watching AEP pile on the deception about why they abandoned their Mountaineer "clean" coal project, but Mikey went overboard on CNBC the other night.

"IT'S ALL THE EPA'S FAULT!"

"Just last week, AEP had to scrap plans for a new, cleaner coal plant because the company and the EPA couldn’t come to terms on the deal.

But AEP CEO Mike Morris told Cramer that he wants to keep working with the EPA to make the plant happen.

“We’re going to keep working at it,” Morris said, “because they’re trying to do the right thing, we’re trying to do the right thing."

The issue, he said, was all about the timeline. He said the EPA wanted it completed in 12-14 months, but he said it would take 48 months."

I'm not sure who's a bigger moron in this video clip.  Is it Cramer, who talks like he's got a mouthful of manure (or is it a snootful of whiskey?), or is it Mikey who is completely full of manure himself and doing some major geezing?

Cramer is talking about the Mountaineer Plant and Mikey is talking about the clean air rules.  And they just keep talking around each other with the end result being, "IT'S ALL THE EPA'S FAULT THAT MOUNTAINEER'S CCS PROJECT IS BEING SHUT DOWN!"

The EPA has NOTHING to do with the shutdown of Mountaineer.  There is no such thing as "clean" coal.  Mikey's CCS project was only going to "clean up" a small fraction of the emissions at Mountaineer.  The big, bad WV PSC wouldn't let AEP pile the costs of Mountaineer's CCS project on WV's ratepayers.  Why should West Virginians be the only ones paying for this boondoggle, Mikey?

When the reporter doing the interview is coherent, AEP's line is that lack of climate change legislation killed Mountaineer's CCS project.  But AEP has been spending billions fighting climate change legislation, so IT'S AEP'S FAULT!

Gotta wonder... did AEP have the CRA Clown College help them with that Charlie Foxtrot interview?  If so, they gave Mikey too much preposterone before the call.

Interesting hearing at the WV PSC on Friday.  TrAILCo produced several witnesses in their defense... all on the TrAILCo payroll.

Jay Ruberto lived up to his landowner-given nickname of Snidely Whiplash by stating that he was "very proud" of the job TrAILCo did.  He's "very proud" of the way he treated John & Janie Ives, whose lives were turned upside down by TrAILCo's shifty land agents and the deceitful way they were treated?  In that case, I hope some greedy corporation treats his own parents in kind.  Karma is a cruel task master.

When asked what lesson the company had learned from TrAILCo, he said it was to keep the same land agents as a point of contact for landowners throughout the project.  Problems arose because landowners didn't hear land agents correctly and none of the land agent promises were in writing.  "It has to be in writing," said Ruberto.  Take a lesson, landowners -- TrAILCo has admitted how it was that they fleeced people.  A series of different land agents making promises that are never put into writing on the purchase agreement isn't a mistake.  It's done on purpose.  It's no coincidence that a land agent in a Canadian transmission case got busted for doing exactly what was done to landowners during the TrAILCo project.  A series of shifty land agents lying to landowners is an industry-wide transmission siting "Best Practice."  I guess TrAILCo hasn't really learned any lesson at all... yet.  Perhaps the WV PSC will stand up for West Virginians and teach the out-of-state TrAILCo corporation that they can't treat people that way.

TrAILCo also produced a trio of goofy kids from construction contractors and subcontractors who looked guilty as hell while testifying that all the destruction was caused by loggers hired by individual landowners, and the individual landowners themselves.  Next time, TrAILCo needs to hire some mature managers that look like they actually have some experience and not a bunch of kids who look nervous and guilty and treat the whole thing like a big, ol' funny joke.

TrAILCo's expert witness was a botanist, not a forester,  who shared that his contract with TrAILCo to evaluate the destruction in the ROW came after the March hearings and was subject to conflict between himself and TrAILCo.  I wonder what was in that contract?  He also testified that all the damage was done by landowner-hired loggers, but admitted that all his knowledge of these phantom destructive loggers came from TrAILCo (the guilty, smirking kids).  It's no wonder Commissioner Palmer demanded that TrAILCo submit a document stating their proof of independent loggers causing destruction at each contested site along the ROW.

The complainants entered a stack of DEP violation notices of individual incidences of environmental destruction for the TrAILCo project.

We gave TrAILCo's drama-queen, jack-in-the-box lawyer a new name after watching him pop out of his seat like it was spring-loaded with annoying regularity to object to everything and anything.  Me-me-me-me-me-lick (because it's all about "me") actually whined that TrAILCo's previously supplied map indicating which portions of the ROW were cleared by TrAILCo vs. which portions were cleared by landowners might not be correct because it was "only concerned with the 8 original sites identified in the complaint."  So, did TrAILCo lie when they submitted it, or are they lying now?

The Commission gave TrAILCo 30 days to submit their "proof" that all the instances of destruction in the ROW were caused by these mysterious "others."  The complainants will then have another 20 days to submit their rebuttal (which me-me-me-me-me-lick objected to and lost).  Then the Commission will issue its decision in the case.

Meanwhile, TrAILCo had best get busy repairing all the damage they did to private property while they built their transmission line and quit whining about how much it's going to cost.  Maybe if they hadn't offered all those bribes, like the new "transmission headquarters" and donations to energy assistance programs, in order to get their project approved by the PSC in the first place, they wouldn't be so hideously over budget now.  What do they care anyhow?  The ratepayers are footing the bill for all of it, and TrAILCo makes a pile of profit in yearly returns on the money they have invested in the project.  As a ratepayer, I'd much rather see my money being spent to return the private land to its former state, instead of leaving a trail of destruction and angry landowners as a legacy.  But then again, I must have a different definition of "proud" than the shysters at TrAILCo.

Lucky me!  I keep running into TrAIL in my recent travels.  Once we came across it somewhere in Hampshire County, WV, and once again while traveling Rt. 66 W in Virginia to I-81.  It's huge, it's ugly, it has balls, and it wrecks scenic views from miles away.

The continuation of the TrAILCo WV PSC hearing is scheduled for this Friday.  To see how Allegheny Energy's TrAILCo contractors cleared rights-of-way down to the bare earth in violation of stipulated clearing practices, testimony and evidence filed in the case is available by searching the WV PSC for Case No. 09-1758-E-C.

You can watch the continuation of the hearing live as it happens on the WV PSC's webcast.  The hearing begins at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, July 15, and will probably last most of the day.  If you're unable to watch live but want to know what's happening, I'll be watching it and posting updates in the comments section of this post like I did last time, so keep checking back.

Here's more about the case from a press release:

Public Hearing on Re-vegetation of TrAIL Transmission Line Right-of-Way, July 15th, Charleston

West Virginia Property Owners ask that Allegheny Energy Protect Streams and Rivers along the Powerline Right-of-Way by Restoring Vegetation

Tucker County, West Virginia. July 12, 2011 – Property owners along the length of the new Allegheny Energy (TrAILCo) 500 kV line asked the W.Va. Public Service Commission (PSC) in 2009 to make TrAILCo follow the conditions of their permits for protection of streams and forests along their transmission line through the state. The TrAILCo 500 kV line carries electricity from western Pennsylvania, through northern West Virginia to the Washington D.C area. Although Allegheny Energy is now
a subdivision of FirstEnergy, the case that began in 2009 continues. In the spring of 2011 an initial hearing was held in Charleston and TrAILCo determined that they needed more time to prepare a response to the citizens' complaint. On July 15th a second hearing will be held to allow TrAILCo to address the accusations of illegal cutting and clearing.

Citizen complainants have provided evidence that TrAILCo cleared the right-of-way for their 500 kV line in ways that threaten the health of streams and contrary to PSC orders in 2008. TrAILCo has claimed that the clearing was mostly out of their control.  The hearing on July 15th will allow TrAILCo to explain why the company is not responsible for the clearing that threatens water quality in the streams crossed by the transmission line. The transmission line crosses streams 126 times in West Virginia and the PSC required that trees and shrubs be left in valley bottoms, particularly near streams.  The citizens identified multiple locations, including Prickett's Creek (Marion Co.) and the North River (Hardy Co.), where TrAILCo did not leave trees or shrubs near streams and argue that TrAILCo excessively cleared many valley and stream crossings, contrary to PSC orders.

In pre-hearing filings the complainants have asked that the PSC make TrAILCo restore vegetation to the stream banks and to valley bottoms where TrAILCo removed
stream-side trees and brush. The complainants are also asking that the PSC require any future transmission line construction provide better protection to streams and rivers.  The hearing to resolve the complaint concerning TrAILCo's clearing of the right-of-way for their transmission line will be held in the PSC Howard Cunningham Hearing Room, 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia starting at 8:30am.

Remember this line from AEP in response to the EPA's Clean Air rules?

About 600 AEP power plant jobs will be lost as a result. -- Pat Hemlepp, AEP spokesman, July 7, 2011

Today, a mere 4 days after stating that 600 power plant jobs will be lost due to EPA rules, AEP made this announcement:

"AEP today announced its participation in a pilot effort to link veterans leaving military service to job openings in the energy industry. The new pilot program, called Troops to Energy Jobs, will last approximately two years and will be carried out by AEP and four other U.S. electric utility companies in conjunction with the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD)."

Okay, so maybe they're not power plant jobs?

Robert P. Powers, president of AEP utilities and chairman of CEWD. "This pilot program will provide veterans with a pathway to job opportunities in our industry and allow AEP to continue its commitment to hiring those who have served our country for skilled positions such as power plant operators, chemical and maintenance technicians, and line mechanics."

Oh, look!  AEP is recruiting power plant operators... the same power plant operators that are going to be laid off due to plant retirements under the EPA rules.

Stars and Stripes says:

With nearly 40 percent of the America’s electric, natural gas and nuclear power workers expected to be eligible to retire by 2016 -- and with the unemployment rate for young veterans higher than for the their civilian peers -- the industry joined with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on Monday to announce a new program to recruit military veterans to the energy field.

“While veterans are looking for jobs, the energy industry is looking for new workers,” Chu said. That includes line workers and engineers in traditional energy industries, plus new jobs in wind, solar and other renewable energy fields.

In the near-term, the industry will need thousands of new engineers, technicians, line workers, plant operators and pipefitters.

See the project's Power Plant Operator web page.

Yup.  AEP really is recruiting new power plant operators at the same time they are laying off 600 power plant operators.

See the project's "Careers for Women" page:

As if implying that women cannot perform the other "male" jobs listed on the site, such as power plant operator, isn't bad enough, the opportunities offered for women are: "Get Into Energy: Careers for Women Coming soon!"

What sort of careers do you think they'll develop for women?  Making coffee?  Ironing uniforms?  Making lunches for the male employees?

Ladies... I've got a better "job" for you -- How about telling AEP that they're a bunch of liars who continue to contradict themselves over and over?  It doesn't pay much, but at least you're not going to end up barefoot, pregnant and chained to the stove...

I came across an article in the Charleston Gazette this morning and got a great big laugh out of it!  It's not that the subject is funny, it's the reactions of AEP and FirstEnergy to the petition as shown by the statements of their PR guys.

AEP spokesman Pat Hemlepp said Friday the utility is reviewing the petition. FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Meyers said "We will review the petition and respond appropriately."

Hmm... where have I seen those exact comments before?  I know!  It was in the power companies' press responses to the Formal Challenge Ali Haverty and I filed in January.  We filed it on a day when they weren't expecting it, and it was much worse for them than they had ever imagined.

Here's one of the many examples from Todd:

The formal complaint asks FERC to begin a broader investigation. Todd Meyers, spokesman for Allegheny Energy, said Tuesday by e-mail that the company would review the filing and respond appropriately.

Funny how the exact same words get used, isn't it?  Todd must have them printed out and taped up inside the footwell of his desk so that they're handy when he crawls under there to primal scream and sob uncontrollably about a PR "crisis" created when someone surprises FirstEnergy with a hard punch to the gut.

Here's a translation of "we will review the insert legal term for what they got clobbered with out of the blue and respond appropriately.": 

"OUCH!  That really hurt!  We didn't expect that and we have no idea how we're going to try to spin it yet!"

Surpriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise, Todd!  Hahahahahahaaaa.

And now for something completely different... it's time to pick on Pepco Holdings for their amazing capacity to feed propaganda to the public about their MAPP project!

This editorial from Delmarva Now says that "PJM and Pepco suggest that the cost of the new line will not cause an increase in rates consumers pay for electricity, because production costs will go down and the $1.2 billion price tag will be shared by all consumers in its thirteen-state region."

What a bunch of crap!

Remember how AEP told us that their transmission project would "levelize" the price differential between eastern and western PJM?  PJM's recent RPM Auction resulted in a price decrease in eastern PJM with a corresponding price increase in western PJM.

"In PJM's MAAC area the price of capacity will be $136.50 MW-day, a decrease of about $100 from last year.  (The MAAC price applies to the transmission zones of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, Metropolitan Edison Company, Pennsylvania Electric Company, and PPL Electric Utilities, Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power, Jersey Central Power and Light Company, PECO, Public Service Electric and Gas Company, and Rockland Electric Company.) The non-MAAC region, will pay the RTO price of $125.99, an increase of about $100. This region includes western Pennsylvania, western Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Virginia."

Thanks, Pepco, you're a pal!  Not only do the citizens of western PJM get to bear the burden of having their mountains blasted, their miners subjected to dangerous working conditions, their air, water and land poisoned by coal-fired power plants producing electricity to be shipped out of state, now they also get to pay more for the privilege!  Pepco, you're heinous!

Apparently the opponents of MAPP have the ability to smell the odor of power company propaganda as well and are calling Pepco out on their lies.  Bravo!

Ut-oh, AEP, looks like your latest spin campaign (let's call it Plan "Petulant Child," after a 5-year old who threatens to hold his breath until he dies unless he gets his way) has been exposed!  The New York Times published an editorial on Sunday comparing AEP's recent threats of whopping unemployment, sky-high electric bills and massive blackouts to Mikey's recent comments to investors about how the plant closings are "the way to go!"  And they haven't even found all Mikey's comments to analysts during AEP Earnings Calls... yet.

AEP continues to insult the intelligence of the general public with these stupid spin campaigns.  Guess what, AEP?  You've been caught in your silly deception and exposed once again, and this time it's on the world stage!  I bet your mommas are very proud of all of you!  Lying is a nasty habit that always catches up with you eventually.

Rolling Stone gets into the act... and they are allowed to use one of my favorite words in their editorial.  This one word is really all you need to describe Plan Petulant Child.  Hint:  It begins with a "b" and ends with a "t" and you've been saying it over and over again about the "need" for PATH over the past three years.

In other AEP news, the Supreme Court ruled today that states cannot attempt to limit emissions of greenhouse gases under federal common law.  The news stories on this are all over the place.  Here's the most balanced story I could find in a quick search -- and coincidentally it's also from the NY Times.

"We hold that the Clean Air Act and the EPA actions it authorizes displace any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel fired power plants," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in the majority opinion."

My, oh my, isn't this getting interesting?  How will AEP attempt to spin this to utilize it as part of Plan Petulant Child?

Remember the Chamber of Commerce's Project/No Project "study" that was trotted out a few months ago?

StopPATH WV blog link
The Power Line link

Here's a presentation based on the "study" that they developed and presented at the Eastern Coal Council Conference & Exposition on May 23.  It's funny because it begins by crediting "NIMBYs" with an increasing power to kill projects.  Oh no!  The NIMBYs are winning!

But there's a lot more at work here than meets the eye.  This thing is chock full of all the common propaganda techniques.  How many can you find?

This presentation gives away the impetus behind the "study" -- energy corporations are getting their clocks cleaned by an increasingly informed and motivated public when they propose costly, gratuitous projects intended only to score huge corporate profits.  Therefore, the corporations funded the "study" and credited it to the Chamber of Commerce to make it appear as if it was an independent work from a disinterested, credible source.  The Chamber of Commerce has a long history of being a willing stooge for big business, and they are well-funded by corporations for playing this third-party role. 

Before we get started, let's review the seven common propaganda techniques we've discussed before.

1. Name-calling
2. Glittering generalities
3. Transfer
4. Testimonial
5. Plain folks
6. Card stacking
7. Bandwagon

This presentation jumps right into name-calling, transfer and plain folks in order to create a villain -- the dreaded NIMBY!  They do a great job of building the monster.  NIMBYs are portrayed as unreasonable, animalistic, litigious, malicious manipulators intent on destroying everything in their path just for the sheer fun of it.  In fact, the NIMBY vampires actually feast on the BLOOD of corporations on page 7!  And, the NIMBYs are wildly successful!  Just for good measure, they throw in a bit of "tree-hugging."  You know, those weird greeniacs who eat fungus and don't shave their legs.  They're not like you at all!  If we listen to them we're all going to be living in caves and freezing in the dark.

But... here comes the Chamber of Commerce to save the day with their glittering generalities, testimonial, transfer, bandwagon and card stacking!  According to the CoC, we must go along with corporate money-making schemes if we want to get our economy back on track and solve unemployment, or else we're all going to be poor and unemployed and the United States will be destroyed!!  This may be one of my favorite lines in the whole thing: 

"We focused on energy, but just as easily could have used cell towers, big-box stores, highways, etc. The NIMBYs don’t discriminate."

They "could have" focused on other infrastructure, but there wasn't any money in that!  The CoC focused on energy because that's who was paying for their "study" and participation as a corporate shill.  Us NIMBYs don't discriminate, but the CoC always discriminates against those who don't have a checkbook in their hand.

Pretty funny, but also a bit frightening because it is so slick.  There's a PR firm executing this, one of the big boys, and they don't come cheap.  This must have cost millions.  Unfortunately, because the funding is coming from energy corporations, it's undoubtedly being passed along to consumers in their utility bills.

Let's make this into one of those "find the missing object" puzzles.  Go brush up on the 7 common propaganda techniques, and then take a look at the presentation and identify how and where the techniques were used.  Not only is it fun, it's also great mental exercise -- the ability to quickly and expertly identify propaganda will serve you well in life.

It's the death cry of a dirty dinosaur.

Or maybe it's just the sound of a dying, dirty dinosaur talking out of it's behind, isn't that right, AEP?

Be sure to also click in the Grist article to read the Center for American Progress report.

Also check out this post on the Coalition for Reliable Power blog for some great AEP double-talk that the rest of the press is missing...

It's getting harder and harder to run an indecent spin campaign these days without getting caught, isn't it?  Nevermind what's your number -- we've got your number!  :-)

AEP, you're despicable!

Greene Township continues to play coy with fat cat energy executives from FirstEnergy.  FE has now "sweetened the pot" by upping the ante to over a half million dollars a year if the Beaver County, PA, town agrees to be poisoned by a new coal waste sludge pond.

Goodies now on the table for the town:

1. $250,000 per year for the useful life of the sludge pond (but the effects of the toxins will live on forever).  The $250,000 is supposed to reduce or eliminate property taxes in the town and will begin when the town rolls over and issues FE's permit.
2. $250,000 for "municipal improvements" to begin when the poisoning starts with actual dumping.
3. $25,000 a year for 4 years, beginning in 2011, to non-profit organizations.
4. $10,000 annually "to help the township pay for technical services needed for the permitting process and inspections of the facility."
5. However, the public water deal is off the table now.  FE's flack says that they had nothing to do with that "offer."  I guess the water company just saw a great opportunity to own a monopoly on water in the town by requiring all residents to hook up to their system, generating lots of new revenue.  Although, FE shouldn't be so hasty to poo-poo the idea... just think of all the opportunities FE would have to add a little of their special koolaid to the system to keep the town quiet and happy to be poisoned.  Ut-oh, FE, you missed the boat!!
   

Wow!  What a deal!!!!  Who needs Billy Mays when FE can make being poisoned sound so good!  Let's all move to Greene Township where we won't have to pay any property taxes, our streets will be lined with gold, there's plenty of charitable hand-outs (let's hope they're going to offer free health care!), and a "special" inspector keeping poisoning levels to the max!

In fact, let's go check it out tomorrow!  FE is having an "Open House!"  Oh how us PATH opponents love a good power company Open House Charlie Foxtrot!!  Do you suppose they'll be serving free Jim Jones Koolaid and Propaganda Pastry to go along with their hired police protection, just in case someone "raises their voice?" 

What: FirstEnergy Open House about proposed waste disposal facility for coal combustion byproducts

When: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Hookstown Volunteer Fire Department, 102 Silver Slipper Road, Hookstown

Don't forget to bring your camera!  Lots of great photo ops in the making!  Who's in for another fun road trip?