Miss Kitty Hamm doesn't play well with others. She's always on the prowl for other cats invading her space. She alerted me this morning to a strange cat in the vicinity. We think it may be Invenergy's cat. And what a tale this kitty has to share!
New this morning is a podcast from Energy Cast. Take a listen. On this podcast, Invenergy's vice president of communications, Beth Conley, says something incredibly curious. If you listen really hard, you may hear some faint meowing and hissing as if someone is trying to stuff a cat back into a bag from which it has just escaped.
Around minute 17:05, this podcast gets really interesting. Beth is telling the host about the other kinds of energy projects her company is working on. She says
New this morning is a podcast from Energy Cast. Take a listen. On this podcast, Invenergy's vice president of communications, Beth Conley, says something incredibly curious. If you listen really hard, you may hear some faint meowing and hissing as if someone is trying to stuff a cat back into a bag from which it has just escaped.
Around minute 17:05, this podcast gets really interesting. Beth is telling the host about the other kinds of energy projects her company is working on. She says
"We're looking at working on transmission for gen-tie"
And then the audio gets abruptly cut off, as if Beth's power supply was cut, or maybe something was edited out, or she suddenly found her foot in her mouth. There's a definite blip in the audio when she mentions the word "gen-tie." She picks back up in mid-sentence, stating
"... for some of our existing projects and then as stand alone projects recognizing that renewables are located often far from demand."
Gen-tie? Did she mention gen-tie? Yes, yes, she did!
What's a gen-tie? It's short for "generation tie line" also known as "Interconnection Customer's Interconnection Facilities" (ICIF). A gen-tie is a generation company's private driveway to a strong point on the transmission system where it's feasible to connect their generator. A gen-tie is not a public use, open-access transmission project that others can use to ship energy at set rates. An ICIF owner is not required to let others connect and use its line... all the capacity on an ICIF line is for the exclusive use of the owner's generation. There are no rates others pay to use these lines, because others cannot use these lines. A gen-tie is a private use facility paid for and used exclusively by its owner. These facilities are protected from having to supply transmission service to others.
So, Invenergy is working on a transmission gen-tie ... for some of their existing projects, and then as stand-alone projects... but they are still gen-tie facilities, and not open access transmission lines.
Where might Invenergy be working on a transmission gen-tie project? Look it up on google. I can't really find any. Can you?
However, Invenergy is working on the Grain Belt Express transmission project. But that's not supposed to be a gen-tie project. It's a merchant transmission project that is supposed to sell transmission capacity to unaffiliated companies at negotiated rates. Anyone who wants to take service on GBE can make Invenergy an offer... or maybe they could, if Invenergy was actually holding an open season looking for customers. But google can't find that either. If Invenergy is selling service on GBE, it's a deep dark secret... and open seasons are not supposed to be deep dark secrets, but widely publicized to draw maximum notice from potential customers... just to be fair and all. If Invenergy was selling service to the highest bidder, wouldn't it be fair to give everyone an opportunity to bid?
Of course, if GBE was a gen-tie, there is no public notice necessary because no one else can buy service on the line. Deep-dark-secrets are okay here!
Does it make a difference what Invenergy is building? Of course it does! The Missouri PSC and the Kansas KCC issued permits to build a merchant transmission project and granted eminent domain authority for Invenergy to take rights-of-way for GBE. Both states considered GBE a "public use" transmission project worthy of eminent domain authority because it was selling service to other customers for benefit of the public at large. A gen-tie does not provide public benefit... it only provides benefit to its owner... like a private driveway vs. a public roadway. We can all use public roadways, but we cannot use private driveways belonging to others for our own profit.
What exactly is Invenergy building now? If it says it's building a merchant project for sale at negotiated rates, then it can use eminent domain to acquire property, or at least the threat of it, to push landowners to sell. If it's building a gen-tie, it probably wouldn't be allowed to use eminent domain to acquire property and would have to pay whatever price landowners demanded for right-of-way. Without the sledgehammer of eminent domain, market prices depend on arms-length negotiation and no landowner is forced to sell an easement.
Don't you think Invenergy should start practicing some of that great "transparency" Beth tootled on about during the podcast? Maybe landowners should start asking Invenergy representatives if GBE is a gen-tie, generation tie line, Interconnection Customer's Interconnection Facility, or ICIF? And maybe they should record Invenergy's answer, or get it in writing?
What's a gen-tie? It's short for "generation tie line" also known as "Interconnection Customer's Interconnection Facilities" (ICIF). A gen-tie is a generation company's private driveway to a strong point on the transmission system where it's feasible to connect their generator. A gen-tie is not a public use, open-access transmission project that others can use to ship energy at set rates. An ICIF owner is not required to let others connect and use its line... all the capacity on an ICIF line is for the exclusive use of the owner's generation. There are no rates others pay to use these lines, because others cannot use these lines. A gen-tie is a private use facility paid for and used exclusively by its owner. These facilities are protected from having to supply transmission service to others.
So, Invenergy is working on a transmission gen-tie ... for some of their existing projects, and then as stand-alone projects... but they are still gen-tie facilities, and not open access transmission lines.
Where might Invenergy be working on a transmission gen-tie project? Look it up on google. I can't really find any. Can you?
However, Invenergy is working on the Grain Belt Express transmission project. But that's not supposed to be a gen-tie project. It's a merchant transmission project that is supposed to sell transmission capacity to unaffiliated companies at negotiated rates. Anyone who wants to take service on GBE can make Invenergy an offer... or maybe they could, if Invenergy was actually holding an open season looking for customers. But google can't find that either. If Invenergy is selling service on GBE, it's a deep dark secret... and open seasons are not supposed to be deep dark secrets, but widely publicized to draw maximum notice from potential customers... just to be fair and all. If Invenergy was selling service to the highest bidder, wouldn't it be fair to give everyone an opportunity to bid?
Of course, if GBE was a gen-tie, there is no public notice necessary because no one else can buy service on the line. Deep-dark-secrets are okay here!
Does it make a difference what Invenergy is building? Of course it does! The Missouri PSC and the Kansas KCC issued permits to build a merchant transmission project and granted eminent domain authority for Invenergy to take rights-of-way for GBE. Both states considered GBE a "public use" transmission project worthy of eminent domain authority because it was selling service to other customers for benefit of the public at large. A gen-tie does not provide public benefit... it only provides benefit to its owner... like a private driveway vs. a public roadway. We can all use public roadways, but we cannot use private driveways belonging to others for our own profit.
What exactly is Invenergy building now? If it says it's building a merchant project for sale at negotiated rates, then it can use eminent domain to acquire property, or at least the threat of it, to push landowners to sell. If it's building a gen-tie, it probably wouldn't be allowed to use eminent domain to acquire property and would have to pay whatever price landowners demanded for right-of-way. Without the sledgehammer of eminent domain, market prices depend on arms-length negotiation and no landowner is forced to sell an easement.
Don't you think Invenergy should start practicing some of that great "transparency" Beth tootled on about during the podcast? Maybe landowners should start asking Invenergy representatives if GBE is a gen-tie, generation tie line, Interconnection Customer's Interconnection Facility, or ICIF? And maybe they should record Invenergy's answer, or get it in writing?
Down, Miss Kitty Hamm, down! Does anyone have some catnip I can borrow?
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