Grain Belt Express: Sellers, But No Buyers

If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Clean Line's Grain Belt Express Project was trying to unload a whole bunch of 90s beanie babies.  Once upon a time, beanie babies were so popular, it was a seller's market.  Now, you can't give the critters away.

Same deal with GBE.

Big announcement that the results of GBE's open season attracted requests for service totaling more than 4 times available capacity.  Beanie babies for sale!!!

However, GBE's open season didn't attract any buyers for the power in Missouri.  Poor, homeless, unwanted beanie babies!!!

And why would that be?  Because, according to the staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission, none of the utilities in Missouri need to purchase wind power to meet their renewable portfolio standard goals.

"Grain Belt Express has not shown its project is the most cost-effective means of compliance with renewable energy standards in Missouri, as all but one of Missouri's investor owned utilities has already disclosed that it has existing capacity and new contracts that will meet or exceed the 15% renewable portfolio standard target by 2021."

GBE's mouthpiece tried to pretend Missouri was always the intended terminus of his project.

Ten respondents submitted requests for service to deliver some 3,000 MW of power to Missouri, more than six times the available capacity at that delivery station, Lawler said.
“We have 500 MW going to Missouri, which is enough to power 500,000 Missouri homes,” he said. “The rest of it will go farther east, to Illinois and Indiana.”
“Originally we had it all going to Missouri, but the grid there is not robust enough to take full delivery, so we had to bust it up and make an additional delivery point.”

Something got busted up here, and I think it's Clean Line's propensity to make crap up.  The Missouri converter station didn't exist until Clean Line came to the realization that there was NO WAY they could get their project approved in Missouri as long as it was intended as a fly over state to lucrative eastern energy markets.  But, despite Clean Line's offer of beanie baby consolation prizes for Missouri, they're still in serious trouble.

“In Missouri, we’re at the very tail-end of the regulatory process,” Lawler said. “We expect an order from the (Missouri Public Service Commission) in the next couple of months. There is no regulatory time frame (for approval) like there is in Kansas. We expect a decision in the first half of this year.”

Sure, everyone expects an order from the MO PSC, but there's no guarantee that it will be a favorable decision.  How much longer is Clean Line going to pretend everything is hunky dory while the SS Clean Line is rapidly taking on water?  That's awfully brave of them, don't you think?

And what about the rest of the power that's intended to be delivered into PJM's eastern grid... any interest from buyers there?  Nope.  The eastern U.S. doesn't need any beanie babies, either.

So, just like its open season on its Plains & Eastern project, Clean Line is holding a bag full of beanie babies that nobody wants.  None of these generators have been built yet, and won't be built until they have buyers for their product.  Who is going to contract with an unbuilt generator to maybe supply power via an unbuilt transmission line that can't get state approvals?  Utilities hate risk (and beanie babies).

Take a memo, Clean Line:  There's no interest in your product.  The utility industry has been trying to tell you this since your inception.  You just can't overcome the chicken/egg scenario that makes utilities shy away from resource uncertainty.  Yes, I understand Mikey thought they were wrong when he decided to market beanie babies way back in 2009.  But time has been unkind to his beanie baby market.  The sooner he admits it and stops this farce, the better off we'll all be!