Category:

Merger "economies of scale" in action

6/5/2011

FirstEnergy started laying off former Allegheny Energy employees on Friday. We told you that was going to happen.

Since merger approval was conditioned upon maintaining certain employment levels, FirstEnergy is playing a semantics game. They're calling some of them "temporary assignments" and pretending they're still jobs. Unfortunately, mega-nerd Todd Meyers hasn't been caught in a web of his own double-talk... yet. But there's always hope for next week when more "new assignments" will be distributed!

At least the line workers who actually keep the lights on haven't been affected. Looks like the lights may stay on for another two years before those guys get terminated or "temporarily assigned" to Timbuktu.

So, all you AEP and Entergy employees who are worried about what the upcoming merger between your two companies will mean to you -- take a lesson.

0 Comments

PATH has anxiety crisis and cranks up PR spin

6/3/2011

0 Comments

Here's the evidence that you all are doing a great job of keeping PATH treed during their "suspension." PATH is having an anxiety crisis because the powers that be are starting to get wind of the truth about what a sham this project has been and continues to be.

PATH has reverted to natural instinct and has started to crank out the PR spin through their planning puppet, PJM.

This article, Putting the brakes on build-out, in a publication going under the misnomer "Intelligent Utility," came out of the blue on Wednesday. Is there really a point to this article? Where's the news hook? There isn't one, it's just PR spin.

"However, the outlook for a slower economic recovery in that region has resulted in the line being delayed. The preliminary analysis to put the brakes on the project took into account current economic forecasts, demand response commitments and potential new generation."

Say what? The "suspension" resulted from the Virginia State Corporation Commission's Order for sensitivity studies that reflected Dominion's rebuild of the Mt. Storm-Doubs transmission line and the Warren (Va.) generation coming online. PJM had been ignoring and dismissing these projects as having no affect on the need for PATH. When cornered, PJM was forced to admit that there's no need for PATH in their 15-year planning horizon, which runs through the year 2026. It had nothing to do with the economy at all, but PJM's biased, favor-driven and inaccurate planning process.

At least this part of PJM's spokeswoman's statement was correct, "We do planning studies throughout the year and we come up with recommendations as they come in from our different members.”

DuPont-Kidd admits that planning study "recommendations" are given to them by their members, such as FirstEnergy and AEP, and not independently arrived at through an impartial analysis process. Of course the power companies are going to recommend something that stands to score them a huge profit! Duh.

Today, this wildly spinning top shot out of ClimateWire. This story, The Tale of a Survivor in the Power Line Wars, is the biggest pile of smelly offal that we've seen in a while. Do any of you TrAIL survivors remember this reporter's version of events? Looks like Behr committed one of the cardinal sins of responsible journalism... he took a press release and some canned corporate quotes and ran with it. While he did attempt balance by getting opposing quotes, notice how the industry version of the "suspension" being the product of the economy is right up front and not credited to its source so it reads like fact, while the truth about the "suspension" from PEC's Chris Miller is buried much later in the story as an afterthought? Also take note of how the opposition is painted with the NIMBY brush. ClimateWire, Behr and the copy editor/designer who came up with this headline should all be ashamed of themselves for trundling out this tripe!

Expect more of the same and recognize spin when you see it. This will continue as long as PATH's knees keep a'knocking because the regulatory tide is turning against them. Keep up the good work, folks! :-)

0 Comments

AEP & Entergy Merger Red Herring

5/18/2011

10 Comments

This recent article in Financial Times claims that an AEP and Entergy merger is not going to happen.

"However, social differences between the companies as well as Entergy’s nuclear challenges prevented a merger with AEP from moving forward, claimed the first industry banker. He said he would be surprised if the companies could make a deal work now."

Oh, poppycock! (to use one of Mikey's favorite antique words) We all know how AEP's propaganda posse love to scam the public by jerking the media around with false "rumors."

The article even throws one of AEP's famous red herrings onto the grill. Other companies are named as possible buyers: FirstEnergy, Dominion, Southern Co. and NextEra. You may be able to trust the Gorton's Fisherman, but don't be misled by AEP's squid bait. These other companies are just red herrings to keep you busy while AEP and Entergy get down to serious business, like discussing their "social differences."

About those social differences... based on the affected citizens' experiences with AEP during the PATH Transmission project, we've discovered that AEP lies, cheats and steals. So, what's the moral climate like at Entergy that makes them socially different? You know what they say, Entergy, lie down with dogs and get up with fleas.

10 Comments

AEP buys a town to mute bad publicity

5/17/2011

5 Comments

It's been 5 whole days since I last picked on AEP! They might start to think I don't completely despise them! Can't have that, so....

Take a look at the town of Cheshire, Ohio (what's left of it anyhow). When residents started complaining about health effects from AEP's coal-chomping Gavin electric power plant, AEP bought the town. Or bought them off, to be more precise, because a condition of the buy-out was that residents would sign a "health waiver" that prevents them from suing AEP for health problems that develop in the future as a result of AEP slowly poisoning them over the years. AEP, you da man!

Compare the residents of Cheshire with AEP's CEO in waiting:

"On a recent afternoon, the president of American Electric Power Company Inc. gestured around his spacious office high above downtown while talking about being in line for CEO when Mike Morris retires in November."

And ponder the concept of environmental justice.

Just in case you're thinking that $20M was a fair price for AEP to pay the residents of Cheshire, the fact is that AEP didn't pay it. You did. Every penny of AEP's money comes from you through your electric rates. When AEP has to buy out a town to manage a PR crisis, they just filter that expense down to their customers through subsidiary cost allocations.

If you think there is some agency or authority who is double-checking the expenses that AEP and other electric companies are adding to your cost of electricity, don't. Nobody is watching out for your interests. AEP and other corporations can and do add all sorts of outrageous charges to the cost of your electricity and their rate filings are not required to go through any audit or verification process. They can and do charge you for anything they want! Short of learning the complicated methods of how costs are recovered and auditing them yourself, there's not much you can do about it... except get yourself off the grid.

AEP, your greed is vile. What's your number?

5 Comments

AEP's persuasive essay exercise receives grade of "F"

5/4/2011

5 Comments

Be careful when doing a little spring plowing in PATH's Internet back forty. Mouldering corpses come popping out of the ground like a well-fertilized crop! One such corpse I recently caught in my plow is this, which looks like AEP's attempt at a persuasive essay on why coal-by-wire is better than coal-by-rail. AEP's wordsmith needs to go back to school because they obviously missed the unit on how to write a persuasive essay. They must have been absent due to illness; perhaps it was a severe case of hemorrhoids because AEP's essay certainly gives me a pain in the ....

Ahem... AEP, you're getting an "F" on this assignment! Not only am I not convinced that coal-by-wire is a great idea, I am sorely tempted to smack you upside the head with a ruler and make you sit in the corner wearing a dunce cap for the rest of the school year.

I'm not going to go through this thing line by line because I would be here all night. I will pull out some of my favorites though, and demonstrate how AEP failed to
anticipate the readers’ objections and address them in their paper. I strongly urge you to read the essay for yourself. You'll enjoy it in much the same way those Fractured Fairy Tales were always the best part of Saturday morning cartoons when you were a kid... because they were bizarre and funny!

The issue here is transmission grid expansion versus local siting of new generation to meet growing electricity demand. AEP contends that grid expansion is the better option.

But, first, let's get this out of the way:

"On Jan. 31, 2006, American Electric Power became the first electric utility to employ the 2005 Energy Policy Act in attempting to have a major transmission expansion project deemed a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor. AEP proposed a 550-mile 765-kV transmission line that would originate in AEP’s West Virginia service territory and travel toward the Atlantic Coast, offering opportunities for new generation and transmission expansion along the way. The project would increase transmission capacity by 5,000 MW in one of the most heavily congested regions of the United States. Some
opponents of the line – largely those who do not want to look at it in their own communities – have suggested that a more efficient solution would be to build new coal
generation plants in New Jersey and take the coal to those plants via existing rail infrastructure."

American Electric Power also became the first electric utility to have their project employing the 2005 Energy Policy Act FAIL. Woo Hoo for first place, AEP!!! And thank you for spending a whole bunch of time manufacturing this "issue" and inappropriately assigning it to fictional "NIMBYs" as part of your PR spin campaign. And still, you failed at persuading anyone.

"While the transmission line – silently traversing the Pennsylvania landscape – is designed to blend into the background as much as possible and will be overhead and out of the way, it also will facilitate construction of additional generation sources, including renewables, all along its route."

"Silently traversing the landscape"? *SNAP* *CRACKLE* *POP* Obviously you don't have one of these monsters in your backyard, do you AEP? "[B]lend[ing] into the background"? What background would that be? The background set for the movie "Giant Erector Sets from Mars Invade Suburbia"? "[O]verhead and out of the way"? The same way a guillotine is "overhead and out of the way," I suppose? And what happens if those renewables don't happen to spring up in close proximity to the route you have chosen for your coal-by-wire transmission line? Is your transmission line portable so it can be moved closer to mythical future renewables?

"And rail shipment of coal from West Virginia to New Jersey to produce an equivalent amount of new
generation there would increase rail traffic by 115,000 coal cars annually along one of two routes, increasing traffic congestion, noise, pollution and safety hazards throughout the state."

Oh no! Increased traffic congestion, noise, pollution and safety hazards! And lions, and tigers and bears, oh my! Let's see, your eventual concept consisted of the PATH project with a length of 275 miles. It affected between 1500 - 2000 property owners who would be subject to eminent domain, noise and congestion from construction, continual noise and safety hazards from operation of your line and the pollution from the additional coal burned at your John Amos plant to create the electricity to be transported by the line. Now, multiply that by two because your original concept was 550 miles long, nearly twice the length of PATH.

"Due to new concerns about the environmental impacts of coal, some would assert that it’s best not to transmit coal at all. And new clean-coal technologies are leading us to a day when coal plants will be emission-free, or
nearly so. And the coal of tomorrow is not the coal of yesterday."

There's no such thing as "clean coal!" There's that word "nearly" again. Power companies do so love that weasel word! But what I really want to know is how the properties of coal, buried for eons, is going to change into "the coal of tomorrow" and come out of the ground in a pristine, toxin-free state in the future.

"In looking at the map above, I-765 would connect the Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey red to the West Virginia blue, levelizing costs in the region..."

See, that's just the problem... the "levelizing" of costs make New Jersey's electric costs cheaper, but on the other side of the scale they make West Virginia's electric costs more expensive.

"Based on PJM’s rate structure in which those consumers who benefit most from a project pay proportionally more than those who benefit less, much of the cost of the I-765 project likely would be borne by consumers in the eastern PJM area – including eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey."

But that's not what happened, is it? PJM applied postage-stamp rates that socialized the cost among ALL customers of PJM. West Virginians got to pay for the privilege of having their electric rates "levelized."

"With a 2014 service date, the I-765 project will be transmitting electricity generated via much cleaner methods than those used today."

I don't know when this persuasive essay was written, but none of that cleaner electricity to be transported by the project ever materialized.

"...this transmission line is urgently needed to ensure the reliability of the nation’s power grid. AEP has stepped to the plate with its proposal..."

He swings, he misses. He swings again, and misses. He swings a third time... and YOU'RE OUT!

"Reliability concerns in one area can impact those in another, as evidenced in the blackout of Aug. 14, 2003, which took out more than 50 million consumers, in some places for many days. A lengthy investigation conducted by the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force determined that inadequate tree-trimming under transmission lines in northern Ohio was the cause of the outage, which might have rolled even farther across the
continent had it not been stopped by PJM and by AEP’s 765-kV transmission grid. "

AEP's version of the 2003 blackout. Oh, thank you, mighty AEP! You da man for stopping the blackout! Can I feel your mighty 765-kV transmission grid? Ooooh! It's making me giddy!

"The Energy Policy Act of 2005 took a giant step toward alleviating congestion problems. Transmission owners now can receive tax incentives for new transmission construction, and permitting processes have been streamlined. AEP’s project was the first proposed
under the new rules and will serve as a milestone for others."

Yup, there it is in the Power Company Playbook, heading up the chapter entitled, "What not to do."

See AEP's wind resources map on page 8.
"In the eastern U.S., wind energy could be productive along the Great Lakes and Atlantic shorelines, and atop the Smoky, Blue Ridge, Allegheny, Green and White Mountains. These sites could offset the need for additional coal generation, but only if transmission
exists to move the electricity from the mountaintops to the consumers."

What happened to the wind energy along the Great Lakes and Atlantic shorelines? All of a sudden AEP is moving energy from the mountain, like Moses showing up with the Ten Commandments.

"The presence of the line, which will spur upgrades of existing facilities owned by other companies, will create many opportunities for new generation – whether renewable such as wind, IGCC, or more traditional technologies – along the full length of the route."

Oh, fabulous! Not only do we get a transmission line in our backyard, we will now also be a magnet for new power plants to spring up in our backyard! Gee, AEP, you're such an outrageous flirt! ;-)

"They will be made of specially designed steel that is etched on the surface to encourage oxidation. In this process, tower steel starts out a dark, dull gray, eliminating sunlight reflection. The etching then causes
the towers to quickly develop a coat of rust, at which point they fade into the background for onlookers, especially in wooded areas."

Magical, disappearing transmission towers! What will the geniuses at AEP think of next? I hope they tie little flags on them so I don't accidentally run into these invisible towers on the lawn tractor while mowing. That would probably hurt.

"A total of 1,150 100-car trains would be needed to transport coal from West Virginia to New Jersey. That’s 96 a month or just over three additional trains a day to equal the power transmitted overhead."

Wow! Not three extra trains a day?!? Say it's not so! A $2.1 billion dollar transmission line that will take property from 2,000 families is so much less intrusive than 3 trains a day!

"The DOT reports, "coupled with expected increases in
auto and truck traffic, highway delay is likely to increase significantly at highway-rail grade crossings. The
delay to motorists and pedestrians could reach unacceptable levels in many communities, blocking
emergency vehicles, disrupting local commerce, inconveniencing residents and creating societal divisions."

Oh! The horrors, the horrors! Those three extra trains a day are going to be much too inconvenient, causing urban disaster! It's preferable for thousands of people to be inconvenienced by your transmission line instead, of course! We understand... we'll just stay on the proper side of the societal divide... with our EMF-toasted, three-eyed babies.

"Unlike the PJM transmission line projects in which the project benefactors pay the additional costs incurred, when added rail traffic increases wear and tear on crossings, taxpayers all share the bill."

Taxpayers or PJM ratepayers? They're one and the same, you moron! Which costs more? A transmission line or three additional trains a day? It's not who pays, but how much.

Oh look, the AEP wordsmith has anticipated my argument and countered it with...

"While the addition of three trains a day through any given area would likely make an insignificant blip on numbers of this magnitude, the added stress on drivers in those areas as well as the lost productivity for employees who can’t get to work also must be considered."

...added stress for drivers? Really? I hope you never tempt fate by using a crosswalk in my route, buddy... I'll show you what driver stress is all about!

Gosh, AEP, we're so going to miss you now that PATH is dead! Maybe you can start a railroad company subsidiary now, since your adventures in transmission line siting haven't quite worked out. You could start by running three additional coal trains to New Jersey every day!

5 Comments

Like fingernails on a chalkboard...

4/28/2011

6 Comments

Oh, the stupid stuff they've said... over and over again!

6 Comments

AEP CEO Morris lies to analysts during earnings call

4/24/2011

2 Comments

Corporate earnings calls have always been a source of great entertainment, and AEP's earnings call last Thursday was no exception. During the call, CEO Michael Morris insults PJM, threatens to dump PATH project partners, disparages FERC and demand side management, and tells a HUGE LIE... all in the answer to one simple question about the status of PATH!

However, the entire transcript of the earnings call from Seeking Alpha is worth reading to get a handle on some of AEP's financial scheming and future plans.

I keep hearing rumors that Morris is going to retire but he keeps hanging around. Pssst... hey, AEP... you really need to get rid of this guy like now, he really sounded mad as a hatter when Paul Ridzon of KeyBanc Capital Markets asked that PATH question. Was that some sort of accident that it was allowed to slip in?

Here's a quote of the PATH question:

Paul Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc.

And then just what's the latest thinking on PATH?

Michael Morris

The latest thinking on PATH?

Ah, the old "repeating the question to give yourself more time to think up a good lie" ruse! Or, do you think he looked more like a deer in the headlights? He couldn't really have been surprised to get a question about PATH, could he?

Paul Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc.

Yes.

Paul's not helping him out here... bravo!

Michael Morris

We're ready, willing and able to go forward whenever the PJM wakes up and makes a decision that makes sense.

What he's really referring to is a future point in time when PJM quits fretting over being scrutinized by FERC and gets back to carrying out its duties as Mikey's personal transmission-ordering henchmen. That's the only thing that PJM does that "makes sense" to Mikey.

Paul Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc.

Kind of, what's your outlook as to when PJM could do that or what's your timeline?

Michael Morris

Well as -- well, let's go back to one of the earlier questions, why do you need to replace 5,500 megawatts with about 1,000 megawatts combined cycle gas? The PATH project would allow for rationalization of facilities being built throughout the PJM to handle the impact of the potential premature offline reality that will come from the EPA rules. So clearly, things are lining up to that project being done. It has always made sense, and we believe that it will always make sense. We aren't spending a penny on it right now, however, because it's crystal clear that the way PJM sees it, they don't think they need it until 2020. We think time will demonstrate that it needs to be a little bit earlier than that. And we stand ready to move forward on that project, with or without our current partners.

Brief explanation of Mikey's "rationalization of facilities" that will create a new need for PATH -- what AEP is banking on is the retirement of old, dirty generators that can't meet new EPA rules creating a huge, new demand for Mikey's filthy, pollution spewing Igor, the John Amos facility in St. Albans, WV. It really makes no sense at all, but I guess they forgot to give him his happy pills last Thursday.

"We aren't spending a penny on it right now..."? Mikey, Mikey, Mikey... that was an outright lie! If that's the case, what the heck is PATH doing before FERC arguing that they need to continue to utilize PATH's Formula Rate for expenditures "necessary to maintain the project in its current state?" Your two PATH companies have submitted FERC filings stating an expected $9M of capital expenditures in 2011, and that is exclusive of continuing non-capital expenditures.

I'd also like to point out that PJM actually said PATH won't be needed until sometime after 2026, not 2020 or before.

Threatening to cut FirstEnergy out of the deal if they don't go along with your plan is a nice touch, but I'd really like to see you pull that off, what with the jointly owned shell companies, service territories and your current FERC incentives package. Sometimes you just can't be an autocrat, no matter how much you might wish to be.

Paul Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc.

Do you think PJM has thought hard enough about upcoming retirements?

Michael Morris

Well I'll tell you, we had a very interesting meeting with them a week or so ago with their leadership team. And I think they got an eye opener. And there's no question that there will be retirements from these activities. And you also see the arguments in front of the FERC that, please don't make the demand response players actually respond to demand reductions. I mean, how silly can that possibly be? If you're going to manage your demand by people saying, we'll drop offline when peaks are tough, and then they argue that they don't want to be dropped offline. You can't run a farm like that, that's PJM's shortcoming.

Oh, so now Mikey's a farmer! Well, he certainly is "fertilizing his field," isn't he? So, "we" admit to having meetings with PJM leadership where they got their eyes (blackened?) opened, do "we"? Was that meeting on the public list of meetings that FERC has been attending? Would it be possible to get a transcript of that meeting, since PJM's planning process is so "open and transparent"? Love the whining about DSM and FERC -- I'm sure Mikey has plenty of "fertilizer" for PJM's farm too!

Paul Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc.

Can't make that up in volume, ha?

Michael Morris

Not a chance, not a chance.

Paul Ridzon - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc.

Okay. Thanks a lot, Mike.

Michael Morris

You bet.

Maybe next time they should replace him with a cardboard cutout or someone else that doesn't sound so much like a querulous kid whose lollipop has been taken away...

2 Comments

Noooooo! Don't do it! Bad idea!

4/20/2011

9 Comments

Honestly, corporations and their spin campaigns...

Here's an article about "coalition building" and how to deceive the public to get your corporate money-making scheme approved by regulators.

This PR twit gives the game away with her self-promotional bragging... isn't that always how the arrogant defeat themselves?

What I found completely ridiculous is that she never mentions who is supposed to pay for her services. According to her article, the coalition just springs out of thin air with a "leader" and a "coordinator," pretending that her company just did this out of the goodness of their hearts. Of course, we know that the corporation with the financial interest in the project pays the PR company, the "leader," and all the coalition expenses. And if the corporation is really stupid, they do it with ratepayer or public funds, like PATH did.

"Credibility can often be elusive for a company trying to build a valuable yet controversial infrastructure project. In spite of best intentions and costly efforts, the public’s perception is often centered on corporate self-interest rather than a larger public benefit."

All corporate actions are self-interested and based on making a profit. There is no consideration of "public benefit" taking place in boardrooms, it's all about making money for their shareholders. Credibility is even more elusive for a company trying to deceive the public with a fake "coalition" front group that is publicly exposed as a lie. Rather than building front groups to attempt to influence public opinion and regulatory approval, corporations could try to earn respect the honest way. However, because corporations are inherently dishonest and oh so arrogant, they persist in the same old game. The public is catching on! Front groups only end up causing even more credibility problems for the corporation and result in dead projects. Isn't that right, PATH?

9 Comments

Is this an RTO or The Jerry Springer Show?

4/14/2011

0 Comments

Dysfunctional family squabbles -- the stuff of Springer's dreams! I think Jerry needs to drop in at PJM and stir the soup!

You've got your complaining children:

PPL EnergyPlus, LLC
AEP
PJM Power Providers Group

The inconsistencies about the state of the economy:

"The outlook for a slower economic recovery has led the Board of PJM Interconnection to direct transmission owners to suspend efforts on the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH)."

"Electricity prices rose, reflecting the high load and the increase in economic activity, stemming from the start of economic recovery from the recession."

Nanny FERC dropping in to try to figure out why this family is so dysfunctional and administer some discipline.

PJM's mumbly, ineffectual "answers" used to avoid the issues.

And now they want to take sole responsibility for enforcing individual state RPS mandates entirely through the building of new long distance transmission projects. Even though they cannot seem to manage their own house, they want to dictate how individual states manage their houses.

Read more about PJM's deal with the devil on TPL.

Scary, Jerry!

0 Comments

PJM prevarication

4/14/2011

4 Comments

Remember last year's letter from eight Consumer Advocates/Peoples' Councils accusing PJM of bias and conflict of interest?

PJM's answer, dated December 24, 2010, has finally been pried out into the open only through an epic feat of persistence.

PJM completely avoided the issue of the conflict of interest presented by their choice of contractor for the Liberty study. PJM claimed that because the conflicted contractor determined that Liberty could not be completed before the 2015 PATH in-service date, there was no need to prepare a similar cost analysis for PATH. Cost is not important when there's such a reliability crisis, so therefore, PATH is the only solution, no matter how much it really ends up costing. Conflict of interest? Bias? Hello?

Regarding the CAD/OPC concerns about PJM's failure to consider the Mt. Storm - Doubs rebuild's increased capacity in their planning, PJM responded with this gem.

"PJM staff explained that the analysis showed the Mt. Storm-Doubs rebuild -- by itself -- would resolve only the overload on the Mt. Storm-Doubs line, and would not solve the other expected reliability violations in the region."

This is particularly ridiculous in retrospect, now that MSD has finally been acknowledged as one of the major factors responsible for PATH falling off the end of PJM's 15 year planning horizon and subsequent removal from the 2011 RTEP.

Lying is a terrible habit that can be quite embarrassing!

4 Comments

<<Previous

Forward>>

Merger "economies of scale" in action

PATH has anxiety crisis and cranks up PR spin

AEP & Entergy Merger Red Herring

AEP buys a town to mute bad publicity

AEP's persuasive essay exercise receives grade of "F"

Like fingernails on a chalkboard...

AEP CEO Morris lies to analysts during earnings call

Noooooo! Don't do it! Bad idea!

Is this an RTO or The Jerry Springer Show?

PJM prevarication

About the Author

About
StopPATH Blog

Need help opposing unneeded transmission?
Email me

Archives

Categories

About the Author

AboutStopPATH Blog

Archives

Categories

About
StopPATH Blog