supports policies that will modernize the nation’s electric power network and unlock clean energy and economic opportunities across the country. Smart state and federal policies that improve the way the grid is developed, planned, and paid for will help it become a more robust, reliable, and secure network that supports expansion of renewable energy, competitive power markets, energy efficiency, and lower costs for consumers. The backbone of a clean electricity system and a strong economy is a resilient and reliable transmission grid.

I will this night,
In several hands, in at his windows throw,
As if they came from several citizens,
Writings all tending to the great opinion       
That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely  
Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at:    
 And after this let Caesar seat him sure;    
 For we will shake him, or worse days endure.

Ad hoc settlements win political plaudits, but because companies usually neither admit nor deny wrongdoing, the settlements set no meaningful or coherent legal precedents.

Common Pleas Judge Jane M. Davis on Wednesday granted the request by Akron-based FirstEnergy against the Utility Workers Union of America, System Local 102 and its union members.

On Saturday, according to the complaint, about 25 to 30 pickets showed up at the Green home of FirstEnergy Chief Executive Officer Tony Alexander at 9 a.m. By 10:30 a.m., more than 65 protesters on the sidewalk and along the street in the residential neighborhood were holding signs reading: “Bonus for bosses, cuts for labor” and “Tony is a Rat.”
The pickets also used air horns, with the majority of the pickets staying until 12:15 p.m. A few remained until 2:45 p.m.
A neighbor complained to the pickets about the traffic and nuisance, according to the complaint.
The complaint also says there have been at least eight protests at Alexander’s house since April, usually involving eight to 12 people.

An affidavit said First­Energy officials learned there were sign-up sheets for protests planned for the next two Saturdays at the Bath Township home of Charles Jones, FirstEnergy executive vice president and president of FirstEnegy Utilities, and the Richfield home of Lynnette Cavalier, senior vice president of human resources.

The request for the restraining order asked that the protests be limited to no more than five people and that they prohibited from using bullhorns or air horns and screaming, yelling or changing “in a manner intended to disturb.”  [typo alert!  I think the reporter meant "chanting," not "changing."]
FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider said the company’s actions were in response to the large, “inappropriate” demonstration in a residential area.
“Protesting in front of our corporate headquarters is one thing. Protesting in a residential neighborhood is a different thing,” he said. “It was truly disruptive on a Saturday morning for them to be using a bullhorns and air horns.”
Alexander was not home at the time of last week’s protests, Schneider said, but has been home during some of the eight other protests there.
He confirmed that an off-duty local officer has been patrolling the area near Alexander’s home since the protests began in April. At times, the protesters have approached the home and neighbors’ homes, Schneider said.
He declined to say whether Alexander had hired security at other times of the day.
FirstEnergy is not trying to shut down future protests at homes, Schneider said, but requested they be limited to five people or fewer.
In granting the restraining order, however, Davis — or someone in her court — wrote “0” on a line next to the number of pickets allowed. She also set a hearing date of Sept. 29.

Bob Whalen, president of the Utility Workers of America System Local 102, said he would send word to his members to comply with the retraining order but questioned whether it violates the workers’ rights.
“We certainly will not be there. There won’t be anything sanctioned by the union. I don’t want to put my people in harm’s way [legally], and we’re not that kind of organization,” Whalen said. “We are looking at the constitutionality of that judge’s order right now.”
Whalen said he was not present at the protest in front of Alexander’s home and was not sure whether there were protests planned for the next two Saturdays, but said he has a retired worker who organizes protests.
“They have a calendar full of plans, and I really don’t micromanage it,” he said.
A call to Davis’ court chambers asking about the legality of the restraining order was not returned.
ACLU spokesman Gary Daniels said that without knowing the specifics of this case, he would comment only in acknowledging that a 1998 Supreme Court ruling allows the government to limit pickets at a single residence.
Meanwhile, 680 workers of West Penn Power, Potomac Edison and a small power plant called AE345 continue to work without a contract.

"Generic statements that transmission reinforcement is desirable do not amount to establishment of need."

They can contact the IG hotline at:
[email protected]
D.C. Metro Area: (202) 586-4073
Toll free: (800) 541-1625
FAX: (202) 586-4902

Construction of major new transmission facilities, in particular, raises unique issues because transmission facilities have long lives – typically 40 years or more. Evaluating the merits of a proposed new facility is  challenging, because common practices take into account only those expected costs and benefits from a project that can be quantified with a high degree of perceived certainty. This has two effects:
First, it leads to a focus on the subset of cost and benefits that can be readily quantified. Not taking into account the costs and benefits that are hard to quantify has the effect of setting their value to zero in a comparison of costs and benefits.
Second, it leads to projections of costs and benefits that are generally on extrapolations drawn from recent experiences. Projections based only on recent experiences will not value the costs and benefits a transmission project will have under very different assumptions or scenarios regarding the future because they ignore or discount the likelihood of these possibilities. Such a narrow view of the range of costs and benefits that could occur provides a false sense of precision.

As will be discussed later in this chapter, many states adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards with requirements or goals to use more  renewable‐sourced electricity.
Because much of the best utility‐scale renewable resource potential is relatively remote from the load centers, the states then had to authorize new transmission construction to enable the desired renewable‐based electricity to reach the grid.

Many points of transmission congestion today result from the need to deliver electricity from
changing sources of generation. For example, generation sources are changing because of
state‐mandated RPSs. The best renewable resources (i.e., those with the highest potential capacity factors) tend to be located far from load and sometimes in areas with less transmission than desired for effective resource development. Existing transmission constraints may deter development of these resources. While this is not a challenge in all parts of the Eastern Interconnect, it is a principal cause of evolving congestion concerns in the Midwest.

Designation of an area as a National Corridor is one of several preconditions required for
possible exercise by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of “backstop” authority to approve the siting of transmission facilities in that area.

The company and the union have been negotiating for a new contract since March 2013. Federal mediators have been involved during the past several months.
Whalen said union members are upset at FirstEnergy demands such as that they use their own "vehicles on their own time" to reach construction and maintenance worksites, and, because the utility is at "an all-time low staffing level," each worker is being forced to respond to emergency calls far more often than was normal a few years ago.

...the utility has plans to continue providing electrical power to its 382,000 customers in Potomac Edison’s Maryland and West Virginia territory “no matter what happens,” company spokesman Todd Meyers said.

“We’ll keep the lights on for our customers,” he said.