If you've been following PATH's activity at FERC, here are links to the Answers, filed at FERC this morning, to PATH's Motion to Dismiss the Formal Challenge and Motions to Compel Filed by Keryn Newman and Alison Haverty.

Joint Answer to Motion to Dismiss the Challenge

Keryn Newman's Answer to Motion to Dismiss the Motion to Compel

Alison Haverty's Answer to Motion to Dismiss the Motion to Compel

Even PATH doesn't take itself seriously anymore, if today's 2012 PTRR "Open Meeting" is any indication.    The meeting was a total farce and they got so busy pushing each other in front of the speeding Interested Party Express Line bus that they didn't even stick to their make-believe "agenda."  They also cut the meeting short by pretending there were no more questions and hanging up real quick.

Scared much, fellas?  I could have sworn that at the beginning of the phone call we were told that there would be some additional presentations, and the agenda had an item called "closing comments," but PATH pushed the PANIC button instead and the operator announced there were no more questions, even though there were more questions in the queue (but somebody kept canceling them).  Comedy at it's finest!

On the call were PATH counsel Randy Palmer and Becky Bruner (well, at least Randy said she was there, but we never heard her say a word -- they should have tossed her under the bus once or twice, just to get something in return for that billable hour), Milo Pokrajac, who is apparently not the one holding PATH's bag any longer, and some new accounting patsy named Dave Griffing.

It started out bad when Patience Wait asked them if the $14.7M return (profit) on the PTRR was reflective of PATH's old 14.3% ROE, or their new, lower 12.4% ROE.  Of course it's based on the old one, because they haven't filed the revised PTRR for the new one yet.  They pretended that they had no idea what the new return amount would be.

Ali Haverty presented them with the dilemma of the amazing, un-depreciating rate base whereby PATH's "suspension" keeps the amount in the rate base stagnant and as a result PATH does nothing but collect a profit year after year.  *crickets*  I think this is where Dave and Milo threw Randy under the bus for a change.  Randy went blathering on about a whole bunch of nothing but basically alluding to the fact that abandonment of the PATH project is just around the corner.  No real shocker, right?  We all saw that coming.

Robin Huyett Thomas quizzed them about CWIP balances bouncing around like a yo-yo in 2012.  They keep trying to blame it on forfeited option payments that are being expensed, but really, they didn't make much sense.  Just another question they couldn't answer.

Continuing the theme, Steve Smith tried to get some detail out of them regarding the amount of depreciation showing in the rate template under "Overhead conductors and devices" (for a line that's not been constructed?).  Milo told him it was just a small amount that didn't really matter, however Steve countered that $8,500 bucks isn't chump change to him.

Debbie Royalty quizzed them about PATH's A&G expenses in 2012.  They're showing $2.4 million in expenses for a project that's sitting on a shelf.  Randy said that the $2.4M consisted of, "this call, the ongoing financial review process and 'those types of things.'"  Considering that Chorus Call cut the meeting off after the allotted, obligatory hour, maybe someone should ask Randy just how much they're paying him to put on his game face and pretend that PATH is following the Formula Rate Protocols, or that they give a crap at all anymore, $2,399,910.05?

In order to get any real answers to their questions, they were instructed to submit discovery questions (pssst... you don't get real answers that way either, but it's good for a giggle).

PATH also verified again that the piddling amount of land they have already purchased, some $30M of the rate base, would have NEVER depreciated.  That $30M only represents a handful of the thousands of properties PATH would have had to pay for, one way or another, if their project had been built.  The un-depreciating land just sits in the rate base, year after year, earning (now) 12.4% return (profit) for the PATH Companies.  This means you would have been stuck paying for PATH... for eternity.  So, thanks, victorious PATH opponents, for kicking this hole in everyone's wallet to the curb. 

Now, can't we just get to the flippin' abandonment already and quit torturing each other?  How about it, PATH?

Pictures from the PATH Breakfast Meeting Party -- more coming later, we're currently experiencing an "abeyance" of technical cohesion:

I hope lots of you will be joining us this morning for the semi-annual PATH Squirmapalooza.

Beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, PATH will be presenting their 2012 Projected Transmission Revenue Requirement and answering questions from interested parties over the telephone.

If you'd like to ask PATH about the $14.7M profit they expect to earn in 2012 while their project is suspended and providing no benefit to you, join the call by dialing 800-860-2442.  No password or secret handshake is required to join the club.

A friend sent me a message today alerting me that our old pal Pinky has won an award for his campaign to sacrifice more West Virginia citizens' land, health and future for out-of-state corporate profits.  Wow!  Congratulations, Pinky, we are so proud of you!  Keep it up and maybe someday someone will create a Pinky fan club on facebook just for you!

See what Pinky won here.  Be sure to congratulate Vice-President Pinky while you're there... and also satisfy your sweet tooth on the over-the-top, cutsie-poo, imbecile fest that is CRA.

The message I received also commented on Pinky's legendary fashion sense.  It was noted that he's still got that ultra-chic look that screams, "a trailer park yard sale threw up on me!" 

Let's hope Pinky milks plenty of cash out of IOGA while the Marcellus gas craze lasts because you just never know who's going to end up holding the bag the next time CRA gets fingered in a major screw-up that makes their client less than pleased.

Bill's got some great posts up on TPL.  One of them analyzes an article headlined "Shocker: Power demand from US homes is falling."

The article says:

"American homes are more cluttered than ever with devices, and they all need power: Cellphones and iPads that have to be charged, DVRs that run all hours, TVs that light up in high definition.

But something shocking is happening to demand for electricity in the Age of the Gadget: It's leveling off.

Over the next decade, experts expect residential power use to fall, reversing an upward trend that has been almost uninterrupted since Thomas Edison invented the modern light bulb.

In part it's because Edison's light bulb is being replaced by more efficient types of lighting, and electric devices of all kinds are getting much more efficient. But there are other factors.

New homes are being built to use less juice, and government subsidies for home energy savings programs are helping older homes use less power. In the short term, the tough economy and a weak housing market are prompting people to cut their usage."

And:

"From 1980 to 2000, residential power demand grew by about 2.5 percent a year. From 2000 to 2010, the growth rate slowed to 2 percent. Over the next 10 years, demand is expected to decline by about 0.5 percent a year, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit group funded by the utility industry.

Overall demand, including from factories and businesses, is still expected to grow, but at only a 0.7 percent annual rate through 2035, the government says. That's well below the average of 2.5 percent a year the past four decades.

Utility executives have been aware that the rate of demand growth is slowing, but a more dramatic shift than they expected may be under way. Executives were particularly surprised by a dip during the first three months of this year, the most recent national quarterly numbers available. Adjusted for the effects of weather, residential power demand fell 1.3 percent nationwide, an unusually sharp drop."

Remember those annoying PATH ads?  How about the one that showed people using electric powered devices (and hit on all your personal "comfort" personal gadgets -- your cell phone, your laptop, your TV) and told us:

"More people, more appliances, more gadgets, more equipment, what do they all need to keep going?  MORE ELECTRICITY!"

The commercial showed all those people's gadgets going dark due to power failure, and then plugged their PATH transmission line.

The news article says they knew this was not true when they designed and played those ads over and over, ad nauseam.

Here's why demand has been dropping:

"Residential power use has fallen even as the number of electronic devices has exploded because the devices themselves have gotten more efficient. In the 1970s, for example, refrigerators used 2,000 kilowatt-hours per year. Today, they use 500.

IPads are everywhere and everyone seems to have a smartphone, but engineers have designed them to sip power because battery life is a major selling point. Also, these devices, as well as ever more powerful laptops, are cutting into the use of less efficient desktop computers.

The first flat screen TVs used twice as much power as their widebodied ancestors, but they have been getting dramatically more efficient in recent years, according to Tom Reddoch, executive director of energy efficiency at EPRI. "The flat panel community heard they were energy hogs and they did something about it," he says.

Appliances are expected to get even more efficient over the next two decades. An EPRI analysis predicts refrigeration will get 29 percent more efficient, space heating will get 24 percent more efficient and TVs and computers will get 22 percent more efficient. Energy needed for lighting will decline by half."

Remember those PATH ads featuring 1970s technology?  Those ads skimmed over how the new versions of cell phones, video games, tvs, etc. use just a tiny fraction of the power that those clunky, old dinosaurs used.

So, was PATH's advertising knowingly false?  Wouldn't that move it into the class of propaganda?  What do you think?

The blowhard public relations firms, with their well-worn "playbooks" of how to win transmission line siting battles, just keep on tooting their own horns.  Today I came across this waste o' money trip to Calgary in the fall:  "Effective Public Outreach for Transmission Projects: A Course in Fundamentals" will be a colossal waste of resources, but that's okay, the power company PR hacks will have a good time in Calgary in early October and the ratepayers will end up footing the bill for it.

So, these guys think they wrote the "playbook" on effective public outreach for transmission projects, do they?  That's funny... when I went to the website of the PR firm where both of the "instructors" are partners, I came away with the same tired plan PATH tried to use on all of us.  Open houses.  Idiotic advertising.  Front groups.  Shady land agents.  Payoffs.  Increased project cost because of the payoffs...  I saw nothing new or unique, and certainly nothing that I hadn't seen before.  Here's the head moron's "mantra":  “I elect transmission lines, power plants and pipelines to public office.”  Yes, this guy is a real tool.  Click to watch their little movie about their "successful" project.  See anything new that might be effective?  Nah, me neither... I just saw a bunch of stuff that PATH tried, which failed.

According to the brochure, here's who should attend this fiction-fest:  1)  Utility employees with regulatory, public communications, and local affairs responsibilities; 2) Siting, right of way, and land management professionals;  3)  Transmission project managers; 4)  Regulators and regulatory staff;  5) Utility construction contractors and consultants; and 6)  Environmental and community group representatives.  Wait a minute... they think environmental and community group representatives should spend $1250 on admission, plus travel and expenses to go to Calgary?  Shows how out-of-touch these schmucks are, they think we have money to waste on their tired, old crap when we've been getting a better education for free during the past three years.

So, I hope the utility company guys have a nice vacation in Canada because they're going to be learning a bunch of "technique" that doesn't work anymore.  The opposition has all your stupid tricks; odious buffoonery and underhanded schemes in a little "playbook" of their own, along with tried-and-true methods of neutralization guaranteed to make your project fail and your corporate reputation tank while you run away screaming with your tail between your legs.  And still the opposition presses on... because we have more chapters in our book  :-)

Remember all the bleating about a "train wreck" AEP CEO Michael Morris was doing a couple of months ago about implementation of the EPA's Clean Air rules?  He told the press that the EPA rules would cause a disaster with mass unemployment, sky-high electric rates and huge blackouts.  Guess what?  He was full of hot air, again.  I'm sure you're not surprised about that, are you?

He also told a financial analyst on an earnings call that coal plant retirements would cause a new need for the PATH project.  Well, that didn't happen either.

PJM has released their analysis on Mikey's supposed reliability crisis.  Coal Capacity at Risk for Retirement in PJM:  Potential Impacts of the Finalized EPA Cross State Air Pollution Rule and Proposed National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

And here's the money quote:  Resource Adequacy Does Not Currently Appear at Risk in Spite of Projected Retirements.

"Even with almost 7,000 MW less coal capacity clearing for the 2014/2015 Delivery Year, PJM estimates the RTO will carry a reserve margin of 19.6 percent for the Delivery Year, including the demand and capacity commitments of FRR entities. Even with the potential retirement of coal capacity already announced by FRR entities, there are also announced commitments to replace a portion of that capacity with new gas-fired capacity such that the RTO would still carry a reserve margin at or above of the target 15.3 percent installed reserve margin. Add into the mix the potential for new entry from Demand Resources, as has been the trend in recent years, and resource adequacy does not appear to be threatened."

Chooo-Chooooo!  All Aboard, Mikey!

Lots of serious news to write about today... but first, we're going to have a little fun  :-)  Too much seriousness always sends me off to the snarky land of satire and parody.  I just can't help it, it's a natural reaction.  I also spend way too much time with Patience, and the two of us together usually results in very evil ideas. 

While checking out the press from last night's Real Solutions to Rising Electric Rates forum in the Journal this morning, we spotted a story about the earthquake put together by our beloved Journal reporters, who put a great deal of effort into trying to scrounge up a local earthquake-related story.  Perhaps the 'quake destroyed power plants, or maybe transmission/distribution lines, resulting in power outages?  Nope.  But while they had FirstEnergy PR dork Todd Meyers on the phone, they got to hear his dramatic account of the earthquake as it was felt in Greensburg, PA.  Perhaps what Todd felt wasn't an earthquake at all, but just a few portentous rumbles caused by what his former PATH opponents were doing at the time, cooking up more fun surprises for Todd in the near future :-)

From Todd's description, it appears that the earthquake's effects were much the same as the effects of Todd's complete and utter public relations failure in Frederick County, Maryland, last fall.  Todd tried desperately to drum up some support, any support, for PATH's proposed gigantic substation in the middle of a cluster of 1350 homes.  However, Todd was thwarted at every turn, teased incessantly by a big, scary hillbilly, and laughed at while doing the "walk of shame" out of Winchester Hall time after time when PATH lost every battle.  PATH's lawyers recently whined in their appeal in Circuit Court about how they got their butts kicked on the public relations front by the citizen opposition groups in Frederick last fall.

And, therefore, here's what happens when Todd's little world rocks, whether it's caused by an earthquake or being set upon by organized citizen opposition:

Potomac Edison spokesman Todd Meyers said he felt the earthquake in his office at the company's Greensburg, Pa., headquarters...  it's an experience he won't soon forget.

"I'd say it shook my office for about 10 seconds and it was definitely a weird sensation, sort of rocking back and forth but also more like a wave and then a rippling," Meyers said.

Todd should stay out of our local newspaper and not call attention to himself.  It's safer for him that way.

This just in...  PATH's Memorandum in Support of the Potomac Edison Company's Petition for Judicial Review of the December 20, 2010 Findings and Decision of the Board of Appeals for Frederick County.  Before reading though, click here to set the proper tone and mood for your perusal because it's a sad, sad story.  I just couldn't hold back the tears... of laughter!

It's another PATHetic pity party starring poor, persecuted PATH, and winds up with a rather long-winded legal argument citing a bunch of precedent.  I'm not going to get into that aspect of it.  I'm not a lawyer and I refuse to waste my time looking up all those cases.  The Maryland opposition groups have lawyers for just that purpose.  You should consider slipping them a donation to help with their legal costs.  Visit CAKES or Sugarloaf Conservancy to show your support!

Regarding the pity party though, I simply can't resist having some fun at PATH's expense.  Here are a few quotes starring MISINFORMATION that I know you'll enjoy:

• The Substation is permitted as a special exception in an A zoning district and is part of a larger project to be constructed in Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia that will ultimately improve the reliability of the electric transmission grid in Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region.

Nowhere in this document does PATH mention that the substation, as well as the entire PATH project, is now a moot point because PJM has determined that it is not needed.  They also fail to mention that they have withdrawn their application to construct the project and the substation in the State of Maryland.  PATH will NOT "improve the reliability of the electric transmission grid."  PATH has provided misinformation to the Circuit Court for Frederick County.

• ...opponents, including nearby residents, environmental groups, and activists from  Maryland and out of state, offered subjective,
  emotional, and anecdotal arguments against the Substation and the motives of the Petitioner, and generally in support of a NIMBY position.  "NIMBY" refers to "Not In My Back Yard," a common position taken by certain opponents whereby the opponents do not necessarily protest the specific proposal but, rather, protest the location of the specific proposal as being too close to their own property.

PATH provides no proof that all arguments against its substation were subjective or any of those other things.  This is simply PATH's sweeping characterization of the citizens and provides MISINFORMATION.  (See, we're embarking upon a theme here, you'll see why.)  PATH is motivated by $$$ and they have not proven otherwise.  PATH even stoops to name-calling, something I can't remember the citizens ever stooping to during the hearings.  Congratulations, PATH, I'm sure your mommies are very proud of you!  Regarding PATH's definition of "NIMBY," is that their "expert" opinion or merely their subjective, emotional and anecdotal argument?  I'm thrilled that they have finally given definition to the NIMBY word they love so much in a legal document though.  I promise to make good use of that quote from here on out!

• When authorized by the Maryland Public Service Commission, Petitioner will construct, operate, and maintain PATH in Maryland.

When pigs fly, PATH!  PATH does not even have an application on file, much less any guarantee that if they file an application in the future that the PSC will authorize it.  Awfully presumptuous, aren't we, PATH?  More MISINFORMATION through omission of crucial fact.

• Petitioner is pursuing this judicial review because PATH cannot be built without the Substation.

PATH also cannot be built without an application to the PSC, the inclusion of the project in PJM's RTEP, and at least some semblance of "need" for the project, but don't let that stop you, PATH.  Enjoy your little MISINFORMATION fantasy!

• Petitioner agreed to proceed in good faith with the County's special exception process under a reservation of its rights to assert the pre-emption argument at any time.

Well, what's stopping you... go right ahead, PATH, and assert your "pre-emption argument."  What?  PATH's gun is loaded with blanks because there is no argument, pre-emptive or otherwise, because PATH does not have an application for its project before the MD PSC.  I guess that fact makes this statement MISINFORMATION.

• Prior to the first night of the special exception hearing, well-organized and extremely
  vocal opposition to, and misinformation about, PATH, including the Substation, spread in the
  news media, on the internet, and at political town hall meetings and debates. Also prior to the first night's testimony, the Board visited the Property and walked the Site. In the wake of
  resident outrage fueled by misinformation, and in light of at least one Board member's history of actively opposing projects (see the letter in the Record dated December 8, 2010 from Mr.
  Cannon to the Board), this visit appears to have been a premature death knell for Petitioner's application.

MISINFORMATION, you say?  Well, I disagree.  What fueled the opposition and outrage were THE FACTS that were revealed, not that sugar-coated bucket of MISINFORMATION you tried to spoon-feed to the public.  So, PATH, are you now admitting that we kicked your butt on the PR front?  I'm so happy that you finally agree with me that Charles Ryan Associates failed to perform.  I just knew we'd find common ground eventually!  "Premature death knell?"  It's positively EERIE that the Board's visit to your substation property foretold the eventual removal of the PATH project from PJM's RTEP because there is no need for PATH!  Do you also suppose that the Board called Miss Cleo for advice before their visit?  And all this time I thought Miss Cleo was just pulling my leg in order to swindle me...

• Mr. Reed also testified that the Substation will not have any material adverse impact on
  area roadways. (TR 16-17, Oct. 14, 2010). The Substation will be unmanned, and will require
  four to five regular maintenance visits each month.  Mr. Reed testified that these visits would not generate high volumes of either local or regional motor vehicle traffic along the existing roadway infrastructure.

Oh, that's right, Truescape's MISINFORMATION said the substation is going to float down from the sky and magically appear at the site thereby not generating any adverse impacts on roadways during construction.

• Petitioner also offered the expert testimony of a highly respected and well-credentialed
  real estate appraiser and consultant, Mr. Jay Goldman. Mr. Goldman was very familiar with the Property and the surrounding areas and testified he had driven through the communities, flown over them in a helicopter, studied land records and historical sales, and visited the County's land records office. (TR 438-39, Nov. 13, 2010). With this personal knowledge of the Property and proposed Substation, Mr. Goldman compared the Site to the Quarry Creek development in Charlestown, West Virginia. (TR 440-43, Nov. 13, 2010). Mr. Goldman stated that the Quarry
  Creek development is the most expensive in the area, with the value of most of the 60 to 65 houses exceeding $1 million, and three houses exceeding $5 million. Mr. Goldman testified
  that a large rock quarry and an electrical substation are located at the development's entrance. Moreover, the development is adjacent to the main line of CSX Railroad, (which transports high volumes of coal and chemicals), is intersected by power lines, and backs up to the Charleston landfill. Mr. Goldman also indicated that the development contains a water tower, a cemetery, and at least one gas well.  Mr. Goldman testified that despite these perceived negative influences, the property values for the homes in the  development remained quite high.

Jay Goldman was an embarrassment to the PATH project and the residents of West Virginia who were present.  He presented MISINFORMATION because he's from Charleston, West Virginia, which is at least 6 hours (and many worlds!) away from Frederick County, Maryland.  He turned the citizens of West Virginia into cartoon characters who jump at the chance to live near public housing and city dumps and pay a premium for an unobstructed view of AEP's John Amos coal-fired generating plant.  He also doesn't appear to know the geography of his state, unless the "error" of Charlestown vs. Charleston was made by PATH's counsel.  Apparently Geography wasn't someone's favorite subject.  Charles Town (notice it's two words) is located in Jefferson County in West Virginia's eastern panhandle.  It is an easy 30 minute (or less) drive from Frederick County and it is a place that many from Frederick have previously visited and with which they are familiar.  Charles Town doesn't have any homes overlooking the city dump that sell for more than a million dollars.  Charles Town residents oppose PATH and do not consider it a selling point.  Charleston (notice the different spelling, pronunciation and the fact that it's one word) is located in Kanawha County, WV, in the south central part of the state where out of state corporate interests have laid waste to the environment and where politicians' pockets are stuffed with "donations" from the same corporate interests.  Charles Town often finds itself at odds with Charleston because the populations are so completely opposite in thought and lifestyle.  Or was that whole Charlestown/Charleston thing just a miserably engineered attempt at legal chicanery?

• Of the countless protestants, including representatives of three groups, testifying in
  opposition to the Substation, not a single one was: a civil engineer who had conducted a wetland study; an environmental engineer who had conducted an environmental impact review; an historical expert who had conducted a historical impact analysis; an EMF specialist; or an epidemiologist who had examined  available health impact studies.

That's right, the "countless protestants" weren't paid to spin a specific rendition of "the facts" while PATH's "experts" performed poorly, and even resorted to perjury in some instances.  Being an "expert" does not mean they are incapable of spreading MISINFORMATION, only that they are being paid to do so.

• While the heated emotions and fears of the protestants were palpable and readily appreciated, the opposition's testimony was anecdotal and based on blogs, random  anti-substation websites, and highly  questionable "reports."

PATH provides no proof of this accusation, not even one example is given.  This statement is opinion, based on MISINFORMATION.  Amusingly, in West Virginia, one of PATH's motions to the PSC actually relied on a blog as a source to prove some point that only seemed to fully form in the minds of Randy Palmer and Phil Melick.  Quick, someone call the WAHHHHHmbulance!

• Petitioner refers to the opposition as "protestants" or "opponents" and not "residents" given that a number of those
  testifying in opposition to the Substation do not live in the neighborhood closest to the Property, much less Frederick County or even the State of Maryland (e.g., Patience Wait of West Virginia).

Hahahahah!  It really bothered PATH that much that we attended the Frederick hearings?  Guess what, out of state corporate PATH players?  We're actually WELCOME in Frederick, you're not.  Therefore, in future weak attempts to spread MISINFORMATION, remember that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Very entertaining, PATH!  Now quit spreading MISINFORMATION to the Circuit Court for Frederick County and go away.  It's over, you lost.

We've touched on this over at the Coalition for Reliable Power, but here's another, more recent article that spells out precisely why the need for PATH in its current form has completely evaporated.

Due to dropping demand and increasing demand response, the economic congestion that PATH pointed to as one of the needs for their transmission line has completely evaporated.  Prices in "eastern PJM" (the east coast load pockets) have levelized with prices in "western PJM" (home of all those coal-fired generating plants in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio).

This means that, in 2014/15, the price of electricity won't be appreciably higher in the eastern parts of the region than in the western parts of the region.  When prices are levelized like this, there is no need to transport "cheap" electricity from western PJM to eastern PJM.  That transfer was "needed" in order to alleviate the transmission congestion "bottle neck," and that was the problem PATH was supposed to solve.  Now that congestion bottle neck no longer exists.  If there's no need to transport power across the region, there's simply no need for PATH.

Remember that crazy congestion costs motion filed by the MD-PSC staff attorney in February that caused the Maryland Chamber of Commerce to file a late petition to intervene right before PATH went belly up and floated downstream?  That specious argument is now completely nullified.

This information isn't new.  The auction mentioned in the article happened three months ago.  There is a new angle presented in the article, however, whereby the new EPA rules and the TrAIL transmission project coming online are also credited for the evaporation of "congestion."  The TrAIL line helped, but the argument was made during the its approval process that demand response and energy efficiency would be able to solve the "congestion" problem without building a new transmission line.  It looks like The Sierra Club and other TrAIL opponents have been proven correct, although saying "I told you so" is a hollow victory in the face of the environmental destruction Allegheny Energy wrought while constructing the line, the burden to landowners that resulted, and the billions of dollars the unneeded TrAIL line is going to cost all PJM ratepayers over the next 70 years, plus.

The EPA rules have had the effect of adding some of the true cost of coal onto electricity prices in western PJM.  Seven gigawatts of coal-fired generation was priced out of the market at the auction.  The article points out that this is a good thing for all of us who like to breathe clean air.  It's a win-win, according to EnergyPulse!

So why is PATH continuing to waste our money appealing the decision of the Frederick County, Maryland, Board of Zoning Appeals against a special exception to construct the Mt. Airy substation?  PATH is trying to preserve the three long-term processes they will need to make a comeback, one of which is the court fight over siting of the substation.

PATH is not coming back in the form we knew it on February 28, 2011.  Whether they will try to "greenwash" it as a project with different goals depends on how stupid they think the state regulatory commissions and the opposition are, and remains to be seen.  We're all still here and we're still on to you, PATH.  It's time to abandon your silly, little project and put your efforts toward doing something constructive for society.  Quit wasting both your own, and our, time and money.  PATH is history.