In the meantime, we will continue to welcome your advice, based on your very long  experience on how to convince the American
public of the need and opportunity to  transform dirty energy systems to ones that  are cleaner and more efficient.

Communications. To achieve results, we must move the national narrative around clean energy and climate. Stories that show the economic benefits of a clean energy economy and positive, science-based discussions about clean energy, climate, and health are keys to progress. Fresh Energy has expanded our commitment to become a clean energy communications leader, as producers of the regional online news site Midwest  Energy News and in debate-changing strategic communications efforts.

Wind power is a major ingredient in the transition to a clean energy economy. But to make it work, we need transmission lines that
bring electricity from windy areas to urban centers. If we do it right, wind blowing on the Great Plains will keep the lights on in
Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit, creating new jobs, protecting our air and water, and reducing reliance on dirty coal power.  The Midwest’s transmission grid is managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), one of the largest transmission organizations in the world. Fresh Energy has been working with MISO and a network of partners to plan for 17 new multi-value transmission lines in the region, ensuring they are financed fairly and designed in a way that maximizes clean energy use and saves  customers money. A strong, regional transmission backbone reduces dependence on coal plants. Determining how transmission lines are sited and routed—and how  landowners are compensated—is a crucial step. With our technical knowledge and commitment to community livability, Fresh Energy is playing a key role in this process. As Fresh Energy and its partners continue the push for more clean energy in Minnesota and the upper Midwest,
we’re setting the stage for the next set of transmission lines that will make or break our ability to fully harness the potential of the wind.

Q. Okay. All right. And you mentioned EPRI and the EPRI study, and I know that you --- while we’re on the subject, on page 11 of your testimony, your Direct testimony, you’d made a change at line eight. You state that the EPRI study is now expected to be completed by January 6th, 2014; correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you know why it’s been pushed back from December 31st?
A. I received an e-mail this morning from them requesting a little bit more time, because they’ve been meeting with the teams that actually were on site, and after they’ve had a couple of their meetings, they just feel like they’re going to need a little more time.
Q. Now, do you participate in these meetings? A. I have been.
Q. I’m sorry, you have been?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay.
A. Now, I have not been making every single one of them, but ---.
Q. I mean, they’re weekly meetings?
A. That’s right. Recently they had me come daily.
Q. Okay. When did this --- when did the EPRI review begin? I mean, it’s been several months now in the making; correct?
A. Yeah, I believe we signed the statement of work with them in July.
Q. And what are you --- what specifically are you --- are the Companies having EPRI look at? I mean, what is the purpose?
A. What we’re doing is we’re trying to simulate the estimation routine with having lots of good data, and then going through and creating all those scenarios of every other estimate --- every other month estimate, two months in a row estimate, three months in a row estimate, and letting the routine take that data and determining --- I guess we’re trying to figure out where are those checkpoints that we might need. Are we not applying something appropriately that we should be? So we’re more or less --- we’re calling it forensics. That’s basically what they’re doing for us, trying to help us determine, you know, with the data available where we see some issues or breakdown and how can we improve our routine.
Q. And is EPRI going to tell you how it should be improved, assuming it finds breakdowns?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Now, is the Company’s plan to implement whatever correction EPRI recommends?
A. I think it’s a little early for me to say that, because I don’t know all of the expense associated with what they would ask us to implement or recommend we implement.
Q. Okay. So there’s a chance that EPRI may say you need to do these 20 things, for example, and the Company says we don’t have the money or the resources to do any of those; we’re just going to disregard your recommendation? That’s a possibility; correct? A. Anything’s possible.

At this time, West Virginia American Water reported it is prepared to offer a credit of 1,000 gallons of water to its residential customers.

“That’s not a number we just pulled out of the air,” McIntyre said, explaining that the credit should cover about 10 times the water amount necessary for customers to complete a proper flushing of their water tanks.

Frederick County Commissioner Billy Shreve is asking Potomac Edison to donate some land for a park; specifically, the 150-acre Browning Farm, where the utility was planning to build a substation for the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline.

He called it a win-win for First Energy and county citizens.

FirstEnergy is trying to reach new labor agreements with two of its Utility Workers Union of America bargaining units.

They include Local 102, which represents several hundred workers in FirstEnergy’s Potomac Edison territory in Maryland and West Virginia and its West Penn Power territory in Pennsylvania.

The members of Local 102 are working as linemen, substation workers, meter readers and technicians.

Robert Whalen, system president of Local 102, said Thursday that so far, FirstEnergy hasn’t threatened to lock out his Potomac Edison and West Penn members. Local 102 began contract talks with FirstEnergy in March 2013.

About 125 of Local 102’s members work at PE service centers in Williamsport; Frederick, Mount Airy and Thurmont, Md.; Martinsburg and Berkeley Springs, W.Va.; and Waynesboro and McConnellsburg, Pa.

Whalen said many of the company’s offers are unacceptable.

“Every benefit — health care, long-term disability, dental plan, vision plan, 401(k) — that’s in our contract now, they (FirstEnergy) want to make them completely at the discretion of FirstEnergy to modify, terminate or amend,” Whalen said.

Company spokesmen disputed such arguments, and said FirstEnergy’s offers have been fair.

The company is “cautiously optimistic we can come together on something,” spokesman Todd Meyers said about negotiations with Local 102. “I think we have a good offer.”

But as to the lockout in Pennsylvania, FirstEnergy spokesman Scott Surgeoner said the company isn’t backing down.

“We think our last best offer is very, very fair, and we are committed to seeing this lockout through,” Surgeoner said.

The nation’s most abundant wind resources reside in the remote regions of the Upper Midwest and Great Plains. Residents of these areas routinely enjoy the benefits of wind production in the form of lease payments, jobs, economic development, and tax revenue. But these same lightly populated communities demand only a small amount of electricity, making it imperative that a new generation of transmission infrastructure be put in place to move this energy from where it’s produced to where it’s needed most.

Need
Concerns over need are more difficult to address than some other stakeholder issues. The concern over need often relates back to a concern over who will ultimately benefit from the project—is a transmission project needed for this area, or is the area merely a means to connect a generating source to a distant community? Localizing benefits of a transmission line can be a difficult task, especially if the developer is not in need of any materials or services that a community can provide.
Another option to address this is to make clear the benefits of improving the aging transmission infrastructure that runs across the country. Showing how upgraded transmission can affect consumer’s rates and reliability may be a good tact for developers. Although this doesn’t necessarily improve the local economy, it does show stakeholders that they are not taking on a transmission project without any sort of reward.

In order to improve the transmission system in the Midwest and across the country, it is important that developers and advocates confront the concerns of those affected.

Officials said they could be forced to issue a second voltage reduction or brief rolling blackouts if conservation efforts and imports fail to make up any shortfalls this evening.  “We do not expect to take that [load shed] action,” Executive Vice President for Operations Mike Kormos said during a media call today.

PJM and state regulators urged consumers to reduce energy use during the emergency. “Every little bit helps,” Kormos said. “There’s 60 million people in our footprint. If everyone does their part, that could easily add up to one nuclear plant, which is 1,000 MWs.”

“We’re very close [to generation limits],” Kormos added. “The last couple hundred megawatts could allow us to not have to take any forced interruptions.”