Debate About Grain Belt Express Is Alive and Well

The Missouri PSC issued an order granting a CCN to Grain Belt Express yesterday.  What does that mean for the viability of the project?  In the grand scheme of things... not much.  Grain Belt Express, as presented to the MO PSC as a 780-mile transmission line from southwestern Kansas to Indiana, is still never going to happen, IMO.  The reasons are myriad, and hopefully I'll get to most of them over time.  More garbage has been generated than fits in one trash truck, ya know.

Let's start here.  Permitting whack-a-mole.  This is an old one, but still very much appropriate.  Grain Belt Express just can't whack all the moles and win this game.  The biggest, baddest mole standing in its currently proposed way is Illinois.  Based on prior court decisions in that state, GBE just can't be permitted.  Pretending it can is unrealistic.  Is GBE lying to us, or is it lying to itself?

And then there's the ridiculous garbage the PSC generated yesterday.  We'll get to the actual Order later.  First, let's look at the press release the PSC issued.

The PSC is a regulator, not a politician, not a public relations agency.  It's supposed to deal in facts.  Its decisions are legal opinions.  It should not have to "sell" them to the public.

Mission Statement
We will:

• ensure that Missourians receive safe and reliable utility services at just, reasonable and affordable rates;
• support economic development through either traditional rate of return regulation or competition, as required by law;
• establish standards so that competition will maintain or improve the quality of services provided to Missourians;
• provide the public the information they need to make educated utility choices;
• provide an efficient regulatory process that is responsive to all parties, and perform our duties ethically and professionally.

You failed, MO PSC.  Any respect I used to have for the MO PSC is now gone.  No, it's not that they issued a decision I don't agree with.  That happens a lot from all kinds of regulators.  It's the way they went about it.  Even a regulatory decision you don't agree with contains facts and logic, sometimes a bit of opinion, but there's usually a sufficient amount of legal reasoning that forms a platform upon which the decision was made.  You may not agree with the decision, but you can clearly see how it was created.  The MO PSC's decision happened inside a black box.  And it reeks of politics.

First thing to come out of the box is the press release.

The Commission granted a CCN to Grain Belt determining: 1) there is a need for the service; 2) Grain Belt is qualified to provide the proposed service; 3) Grain Belt has the financial ability to provide the proposed service; 4) Grain Belt’s proposal is economically feasible; and 5) the service promotes the public interest.

The Commission says it issued a CCN to Grain Belt, but it really issued one to Invenergy.  Invenergy has the financial ability and is qualified to provide the service -- Grain Belt has no employees and no money.  Neither Grain Belt nor Invenergy has a proposal that is economically feasible.  There's only 2 customers, one of which was documented to be paying below cost rates.  These customers cannot financially support the proposal.  There are no other customers.  Potential customers don't pay the bills.  Supplying below cost service to one customer is Missouri does not promote the interests of the entire public.

The Commission stated the evidence in the case demonstrated that the Grain Belt project will create both short-term and long-term benefits to ratepayers and citizens of the state. In addition, the project would have a substantial and favorable effect on the reliability of electric service in Missouri.

Benefits to citizens?  Where?  What citizens?  What benefits?  This statement is created out of thin air.  As far as "reliability" goes... a transmission line contracted to serve only select customers with unreliable wind power is not "reliable."  Wind cannot be called to produce when needed.  It's not an open access transmission line that will serve all customers equally, and Missouri may only receive 500 MW, although contracted amounts are much, much less.  This is not a "reliability" transmission asset.  It's a private driveway for select customers to receive special, supplemental wind power so they can pretend to be clean and green and all sorts of peripheral things.  As if electrons can be segregated by color.

There can be no debate that our energy future will require more diversity in energy resources, particularly renewable resources,” said the Commission. “We are witnessing a worldwide, long-term and comprehensive movement towards renewable energy in general and wind energy specifically. Wind energy provides great promise as a source for affordable, reliable, safe and environmentally-friendly energy. The Grain Belt Project will facilitate this movement in Missouri, will thereby benefit Missouri citizens, and is, therefore, in the public interest.”

Whaddya mean there can be no debate?  Of course there's debate.  There's a HUGE debate going on in this country and around the globe.  Wind energy is not the solution to our energy woes.  It's just a gluttonous industry that has been greenwashing America for years, and stuffing its pockets with our tax dollars.  It's not affordable, it's not sustainable.  It's not safe for the people who have to live around its generation plants.  And it's certainly not reliable.  Wind is not a baseload source of power.  It cannot be controlled to ramp up and down to meet need.  Wind does what it wants, and those who depend upon it for a source of electricity are the ones whose electric use ramps up and down to follow the wind.  Who wrote this garbage?  Was it the wind industry?

The Commission noted that any negative impacts of the project on the land and landowners will be mitigated by: 1) a landowner protocol to protect landowners; 2) superior compensation payments; 3) a binding arbitration option for easement negotiations; 4) a decommissioning fund-a fund for this type of project would be the first of its kind in the country; and 5) an agricultural impact mitigation protocol to avoid or minimize negative agricultural impacts. Agricultural impacts will also be reduced because no more than nine acres of land in Missouri will be taken out of agricultural production as a result of project structures, and the proposed route does not directly impact the operation of any existing center pivot irrigation systems.

“Many of the landowners’ concerns will be addressed through carefully considered conditions placed on the CCN,” said the Commission.

Landowner concerns have NOT been addressed.  Landowners are still extremely concerned.  The PSC's conditions did nothing to ameliorate them.  The "landowner protocol" and "agricultural impact mitigation protocol" were created by Grain Belt, not the landowners, therefore landowners concerns are not addressed.  These documents address only the company's concerns.  Landowners were not consulted in the creation of these documents.  It's nothing more than the fox designing a security system for the hen house.  It's worthless and does nothing to satisfy landowners.  The decommissioning fund is also so much nonsense.  It has no substance, no rules, and is completely unworkable.  It's just more glittering make believe.

Superior compensation payments?  Superior to what?  Receiving nothing?  Since the PSC's land is not subject to eminent domain, and the PSC has never been subject to condemnation and eminent domain taking, it's opinion that the compensation payments are "superior" is just so much hubris.  In fact, it's completely insulting to landowners.  It's disrespectful.

And speaking of disrespectful, here's the pinnacle of propaganda:  only 9 acres of land will be taken out of agricultural production.  Just 9 acres!  Across 206 miles of 200-foot wide linear right of way.  The PSC has deemed every square inch of the proposed right of way to be agriculturally workable right up to the base of the tower.  I guess none of these folks have ever tried to drive a huge piece of farm equipment right up to a transmission line pole.  And they've never had to fly around a transmission pole to apply pesticide or fertilizer.  And they've never had to try to grow something along a strip of land that no longer has top soil.  And they're certainly not going to accept liability for any farmer who tries to farm right up to the base of the transmission tower and has an accident.  This is absolutely absurd.  And, ya know, it's something Hans Detweiler used to tell farmers in Illinois... that only 12 acres of land would be taken out of use for the entire Rock Island Clean Line project.

Gotta wonder, who wrote that stunningly bad press release?  I hope that person's food and farm goods will be supplied solely by that compromised 9 acres in the future.

We're only getting warmed up here... more to come...