Invenergy seems to have overestimated its power over Missouri in the wake of the complete capitulation of the legislature earlier this year. It seems like Invenergy thought it could do anything it liked to Missouri and nobody would say "boo."
What other explanation could there be for GBE's filing of a "Notice of Amendment" to amend its current GBE permit to:
What other explanation could there be for GBE's filing of a "Notice of Amendment" to amend its current GBE permit to:
- Increase the capacity of the transmission line from 4,000 MW to 5,000 MW.
- Increase the available capacity for delivery to Missouri from 500 MW to 2500 MW.
- Relocation of the line’s mid-point converter station from Ralls County to Monroe County.
- The addition of an approximately 40-mile transmission delivery line through parts of Monroe, Audrain and Callaway Counties.
Just minor technical changes? No these are material, major changes that landowner groups tried to warn the PSC were coming in a complaint case filed in 2020, which the Commission dismissed. In the meantime, GBE has been filing condemnation lawsuits to take property from private landowners to use for its for-profit project. All the while, it knew it was going to change the project and be subject to new approvals. What happens if the PSC does not approve all these changes? Will GBE have to give back the land it has condemned for its speculative project that has now been re-routed?
In addition, GBE contemplates taking 40 miles of new rights of way from previously unaffected landowners. And it plans to do that in a big ol' hurry, using its previously granted eminent domain authority to take land that was never contemplated to be taken when the PSC awarded it. The PSC must decide whether Invenergy's sudden "need" for this new transmission is in the public interest.
Since GBE's capacity increase announcement is nothing more than a marketing exercise to try to attract customers who have heretofore been uninterested in buying capacity, I can't find any public interest here. It's all private interest for Invenergy to use the people of Missouri as mere pawns in its attempt to make money building transmission that nobody wants.
In addition, GBE contemplates taking 40 miles of new rights of way from previously unaffected landowners. And it plans to do that in a big ol' hurry, using its previously granted eminent domain authority to take land that was never contemplated to be taken when the PSC awarded it. The PSC must decide whether Invenergy's sudden "need" for this new transmission is in the public interest.
Since GBE's capacity increase announcement is nothing more than a marketing exercise to try to attract customers who have heretofore been uninterested in buying capacity, I can't find any public interest here. It's all private interest for Invenergy to use the people of Missouri as mere pawns in its attempt to make money building transmission that nobody wants.
Missouri law requires that the filing of utility applications be subject to a 60-day notice requirement. This means that the utility must file a notice that it intends to file at least 60 days prior to filing. Invenergy thinks it should receive a waiver of this requirement because,
Good cause exists for the waiver, if necessary, as notice was provided as soon as practical after finalization and the public announcement of the proposed modifications.
So Invenergy's media scheme is reason to ignore the law? And, after harassing Missouri for more than 10 years and not exercising its Missouri permit for a number of years, suddenly there's an emergency to get started as soon as possible without legally required public notice? This is a garbage excuse. The PSC did not grant any waiver, but told GBE to ask again in the correct docket.
The PSC slapped down Invenergy's silly Amendment yesterday and told them they needed to file a complete application to amend the permit in a new docket. This isn't going to be quick or easy for Invenergy, as it shouldn't. These are real people, real lives, real businesses that Invenergy is asking to toss under the bus because its plans for its SPECULATIVE transmission project have changed. That's nobody's fault but Invenergy's... and the MO PSC that thought it was a good idea to grant a permit and eminent domain authority to a merchant transmission project without a confirmed interconnection point, confirmed customers, confirmed financing, and a confirmed route. This new "Tiger Connection" did not need to happen if the PSC had required Grain Belt Express to come with a certain plan, not a speculative wish list.
Hopefully the PSC won't be fooled again. Who's to say that this "amendment" will be the last one? Until Invenergy has signed interconnection agreements and signed customers, it's all subject to "amendment." Landowners should not have to bear the brunt of corporate uncertainty. That's not in the public interest.
The PSC slapped down Invenergy's silly Amendment yesterday and told them they needed to file a complete application to amend the permit in a new docket. This isn't going to be quick or easy for Invenergy, as it shouldn't. These are real people, real lives, real businesses that Invenergy is asking to toss under the bus because its plans for its SPECULATIVE transmission project have changed. That's nobody's fault but Invenergy's... and the MO PSC that thought it was a good idea to grant a permit and eminent domain authority to a merchant transmission project without a confirmed interconnection point, confirmed customers, confirmed financing, and a confirmed route. This new "Tiger Connection" did not need to happen if the PSC had required Grain Belt Express to come with a certain plan, not a speculative wish list.
Hopefully the PSC won't be fooled again. Who's to say that this "amendment" will be the last one? Until Invenergy has signed interconnection agreements and signed customers, it's all subject to "amendment." Landowners should not have to bear the brunt of corporate uncertainty. That's not in the public interest.
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