Fantasy and Reality in Oklahoma

The media fantasy about Clean Line being spun in Oklahoma has officially jumped the shark.

News outlet KJRH says that Claremore company, Pelco Industrial, LLC, "will produce the massive transmission line."  You mean they're going to make all the parts for the line?  Because that's what you said, KJRH.

Pelco makes steel utility poles.  That's all they make.  They don't make lattice towers, which may be used for portions of the line, especially where the project turns from a straight line (angle structures), makes a long span, or crosses rugged terrain.  They don't make conductor (the wire attached to the poles).  They don't make insulators.  They don't make any of the other thousand parts that are required to build a transmission line.  The truth is that Pelco may only manufacture any steel utility poles used by the project.

May.  Pelco and Clean Line describe their partnership as a MOU designating Pelco as a "preferred supplier."  I've seen nothing about a definitive contract awarding Pelco the work.  The truth is there's always the possibility that this work may be snatched out from under Pelco at a later point in the project.

Here's how real utilities source transmission line components:  They issue a Request for Proposals for needed components.  Then they evaluate the responses on the basis of price, suitability, quality, deliverability, and other factors.  Then they award the contract to the best candidate.  Real utilities don't award component contracts years before they know what they'll actually need in order to butter up a state or community to support their transmission project.  Real utilities have a budget for their transmission project.  Real utilities set up their project financing based on their realistic and detailed budget.  Everything they purchase has to fit within their budget.  Cost overruns may not be financed, depending on how much over budget it runs, and the financial institution may question whether the borrower is making sound financial decisions in spending its loot.  A half-finished project that runs out of money doesn't produce any revenue with which to repay the loan.

So, while being a "preferred supplier" sounds good, the rubber will meet the road when it comes time to sign an actual contract.

KJRH says:

Thursday, Houston's Clean Line Energy learned more about Claremore – the community chosen to build their project from the ground up.

But wait a tick... Clean Line has been claiming to be BFFs with Pelco and Claremore for years, according to a 2013 radio show.

And, Phil, did I read in the bio that you had a little challenge getting the folks in Houston on board with you?

You know, we did. I’m going to tell you that I read about the Clean Line project when Jimmy Glotfelty came to Tulsa...

...and appeared at the Tulsa Press Club. And I immediately contacted them and very, very interested in the project because this is the kind of thing we do.

And they welcomed us, quite frankly, with open arms. But it took a little while to get them excited about what we do and how we do it. I’m going to tell you, no magic on my part. It was a good match and I think, quite frankly, the folks in Houston would say the same thing. We’ve have a good working relationship through the regulatory approval, through the design phase, through the open houses that Phil Teel talked about earlier, but most importantly, a real partnership in terms of providing a solution for infrastructure hardening.

So, this is the first time these BFFs got together in Claremore?  Or is that just the "made for TV" version?

KJRH says Clean Line will produce "hundreds of permanent jobs" for Oklahomans.  Where are these jobs?  Clean Line is a transmission line.  Transmission lines are built by highly skilled labor.  Clean Line won't be picking up day labor at the K-Mart parking lot to get the job done.  Only a handful of companies in the U.S. are skilled to accomplish the actual construction of a transmission line, and these companies perform the work on location with their own workers.  Once the line is constructed, the jobs disappear.  It takes little labor to operate or maintain a transmission line once it's completed.  Where and what are the "hundreds of permanent jobs?"  The transmission line will be remotely operated from the control room of a regional transmission organization in another state.  Even maintenance is a hit or miss, occasional occupation.  If a brand new transmission line needs "hundreds" of people to maintain it on a daily basis, maybe it's not such a quality product you'd want taking up space in your community.

Pelco says the transmission project will bring nearly 200 jobs to the area.

“We’re running three shifts right now, but we will double and these will be permanent jobs,” said PELCO President Phil Albert.

So manufacturing steel transmission poles for one transmission project is going to be a permanent occupation for 200 people in Claremore?  Will the poles need to be continually replaced?  At some point, won't Pelco have manufactured all the steel poles needed for Clean Line's project?  This claim really doesn't make sense to me.  How about you?

And here's the reality about Clean Line pumping money into Oklahoma's economy.  All the "economic development" will take place in Claremore and at the source end of the project, if new wind farms are constructed (and remember, Clean Line is only a transmission company, they don't build or operate wind farms).  Neither place will shoulder the burden of the actual transmission line.  Claremore is not on the transmission line route, and neither is the potential wind farm area.  While these areas may temporarily prosper, there's a huge patch of Oklahoma in between that will make an economic sacrifice by hosting a transmission line that provides no benefit to them.  No landowners forced to sell easements for the transmission line will economically benefit from it.  Easement payments only attempt to compensate for loss, not reward landowners for their sacrifice.  The few in Claremore profit at the expense of the many along the transmission route.  Nobody in Oklahoma will be allowed to use, or benefit from, the electricity transmitted on a Clean Line.

Radio Host:  And you know, we’ve talked about this -- these transmission lines. You’re going to power those regions. How much is Oklahoma going to benefit from that resource as far as getting the electricity off those wind farms?

Clean Line:  In the concept of the project, we did not want the serve load. We didn’t want the utilities that are in place now that serve the repair to look at us as competitors.

The transcript gets a few words wrong, but the intent is clear.  Clean Line says they designed their projects so they wouldn't compete with local utilities.

Hahahaaaaaaaa!

That's the hokiest reason to export natural resources out of state for profit that I've ever heard!  Let's see... don't "compete" with local electric providers to produce lower electricity prices for Oklahomans, but instead export Oklahoma's natural resources out-of-state and "compete" with local electric suppliers in the Southeast to provide lower electric rates for their customers?  And make a huge profit doing so?  Perhaps Oklahomans should consider how exporting their natural resources for the short-term gain of a select few precludes any long-term benefit they could receive from providing lower electric rates for Oklahomans.  Using Oklahoma's natural resources to produce lower electric rates in-state could draw all sorts of new energy-intensive businesses to Oklahoma.  And those new businesses would provide hundreds, or thousands, of real permanent jobs for Oklahomans.  Instead, Oklahoma's leadership is cutting off its long term prosperity in exchange for the temporary gain of just a few, and allowing businesses to develop and prosper in other parts of the country using Oklahoma's natural resources.

Reality can be cruel.  Think about it.