Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, grew up in Hannibal, Missouri. He once said, "We have the best government that money can buy."
And it must have been in that spirit that "top brass" (subtract consonants at your own pleasure) from Texas-based Clean Line Energy Partners descended on Hannibal this week.
And it must have been in that spirit that "top brass" (subtract consonants at your own pleasure) from Texas-based Clean Line Energy Partners descended on Hannibal this week.
Skelly said that Clean Line is prepared to make a power proposal that would represent a “fantastic deal for the city of Hannibal.”
Insert carnival sideshow music here.
For a visual depiction of the action, go here to get your poster of Michael Skelly scowling in his Dad jeans, arms crossed in defiance.
Of course, nothing is written in stone, or legally binding.
What's the pitch?
Of course, nothing is written in stone, or legally binding.
What's the pitch?
Lawlor suggested that the Grain Belt Express could potentially offer power to Hannibal for as little as 2 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh).
...the possibility that Hannibal could buy “capacity rights,” which the BPW could utilize or sell on the open market.
Lawlor said a $12.5 million investment in Grain Belt could equate to a 25 megawatt stake in the Ralls County converter station and a portion of the project's capacity, noting the utility could buy as much or as little as it wanted.
So, Mark, Clean Line is selling power now? And at two cents per kWh? Where's your generator? And how is that power going to get to Hannibal? How much would that possibly cost? FOB Kansas, right?
And how about that mind blowing opportunity to invest $12.5 million dollars in the Grain Belt Express project? What's the guaranteed return on that? And what happens if Grain Belt is never built? The entire $12.5 million dollars of Hannibal's ratepayers hard earned cash disappears forever. You'd think Hannibal has learned their lesson about investing in energy market revenue schemes, after their recent investment in Prairie State, right?
And how about that mind blowing opportunity to invest $12.5 million dollars in the Grain Belt Express project? What's the guaranteed return on that? And what happens if Grain Belt is never built? The entire $12.5 million dollars of Hannibal's ratepayers hard earned cash disappears forever. You'd think Hannibal has learned their lesson about investing in energy market revenue schemes, after their recent investment in Prairie State, right?
Critics of the investment need only look at the audit’s bottom line regarding Prairie State to find areas where revenues from the sale of power generated at the plant continued to not equal the BPW’s expenses associated with the facility.
I can't imagine what the good citizens of Hannibal must be paying for power, what with all this energy market investment going on. How much will rates go up to fund a $12.5M "investment" in Grain Belt Express for which the ratepayers may never see any benefit?
And it wouldn't even supply half of Hannibal's energy needs, "The 25 megawatt chuck of power the city is interested in would represent approximately 40 percent of the city’s current needs."
What's a "chuck" of power? Maybe it's this.
Is this deal really about cheaper power for Hannibal, or is it about:
And it wouldn't even supply half of Hannibal's energy needs, "The 25 megawatt chuck of power the city is interested in would represent approximately 40 percent of the city’s current needs."
What's a "chuck" of power? Maybe it's this.
Is this deal really about cheaper power for Hannibal, or is it about:
What Clean Line will be seeking initially from the city is a letter of participation that the company would include in its next application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Missouri Public Service Commission. The PSC denied Clean Line such a certificate in July 2015.
In a renewed effort to illustrate Grain Belt's merits to the PSC, Clean Line has approached municipal utilities about participating in the project.
Don't be a cheap date, Hannibal. That "letter of participation" is worth a lot to Grain Belt Express. Think of it as Clean Line's precious...
You could probably get Clean Line to pay YOU $12.5M for the letter, if you hold out for a better deal. Now that's an energy market play with a real return!
But, will the Missouri Public Service Commission really be swayed by Clean Line investors and their non-binding "letters of participation?" Probably not. The MO PSC has already rejected this project once, and nothing has changed (except Clean Line's traveling carnival side show barker act at municipal power authorities across the state). It would be foolish to underestimate the state-wide opposition to this project.
Samuel Clemens had a lot of wise things to say. He also said...
But, will the Missouri Public Service Commission really be swayed by Clean Line investors and their non-binding "letters of participation?" Probably not. The MO PSC has already rejected this project once, and nothing has changed (except Clean Line's traveling carnival side show barker act at municipal power authorities across the state). It would be foolish to underestimate the state-wide opposition to this project.
Samuel Clemens had a lot of wise things to say. He also said...
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
My money's on the Grain Belt Express opposition.
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