Hey, Invenergy, Don't Forget To Pick Up Your Bag of Doorknobs On Your Way Out...

It's almost hearing time in Missouri!  Again.  How many times does this make?  I've lost track.

In preparation for the hearing, there are certain things the parties must file, such as their list of issues, and their position on these issues.  The issues are the questions the Commission must contemplate in making its decision.  All the position statements have been filed.  Some were short and sweet - question & brief answer.  And some were like the War & Peace version of a position statement.  Clean Line's was of the second variety. 

Blah, blah, blah, shoulda, woulda, coulda.  It reads like a fairy tale about a magical beast.  You've heard all this garbage about how wonderful Clean Line *could* be before.  Nothing much new.

However, there was a pair of footnotes that caught my eye and made me laugh. 

4 The KCC granted the Company’s Petition for a siting permit to construct the Kansas portion of the Project on November 7, 2013. Subsequently, on October 4, 2018, the KCC issued an Order Granting Limited Extension of Sunset Provisions (Docket No. 13-GBEE-803-MIS) which extended the term of the 2013 siting permit order to March 1, 2019. Pursuant to this order, Grain Belt Express updated the KCC regarding its financial, managerial, and technical ability to complete the Project, including the pending Invenergy acquisition. On November 21, 2018, the Company and KCC Staff filed a joint motion for stay of procedural schedule and extension of sunset term, seeking extension of the siting permit order until further order of the KCC to accommodate the remainder of the procedural schedule and the future acquisition docket schedule. The KCC granted this request on December 6, 2018 and extended the sunset term to December 2, 2019.

5 On November 12, 2015, the Illinois Commerce Commission (“ICC”) granted the Company a certificate of public convenience and necessity (“CPCN”), and authorized Grain Belt Express to construct the Illinois portion of the line. Pursuant to a decision of the Illinois Appellate Court, this order of the ICC was reversed on procedural grounds. In Concerned Citizens & Property Owners v Illinois Commerce Comm’n, ___ N.E.3d ___, 2018 IL App. (5th) 150551, 2018 WL 1858128 (Ill. App., Apr. 17, 2018), the court held that while Grain Belt Express owned an option to purchase property to be used for the transmission of electricity, it was required under Illinois law to “own, control, operate, or manage” utility infrastructure “at the time of application” before it could qualify as a “public utility,” and remanded the case to the ICC. The court specifically found that applicants like GBX “may seek recognition as a public utility while, at the same time, applying for a certificate of public convenience and necessity ... as long as they have obtained the ownership, management, or control of utility-related property or equipment at the time of the application.” Id. at *5-*7. After the Company receives an extension of its Kansas siting permit to 2023, and after the Company receives a CCN from this Commission, it can acquire utility property or equipment in Illinois that will permit it to file a new application with the ICC.

Footnote 4... uhhh, that's a creative re-telling of recent events in Kansas.  Clean Line sort of skirts around the KCC's Order for it to file evidence of its financial, managerial and technical ability to undertake the project.  Evidence!  Not hot chat over brimming bowls of vanilla panna cotta.  Clean Line didn't file any evidence, instead it met in private with the KCC Staff and fed them a bunch of malarkey, then it asked the Commissioners to be excused from filing anything... after the deadline to file had passed.  So, are we to think that private meetings with KCC Staff are perfectly good substitutes for filing evidence?  That certainly lightens things up in Kansas.  I wonder what restaurant the KCC Staff would prefer to be wined and dined at during the impending acquisition proceeding, instead of the company filing actual evidence?  Furthermore, the KCC did not grant Clean Line's request for an open ended extension.  It set a firm date to coincide with the decision on the acquisition application.  That's going to take at least 300 days from the date it is filed.  So, we're talking at least another year in Kansas, with no guarantee of success.

And then let's examine Footnote 5.  Clean Line is only telling part of the story of what happened in Illinois as well.  It completely overlooks the opinion of the Supreme Court in the RICL matter, which left for another day the question of whether or not Clean Line (or Invenergy, for that matter) could ever be deemed a public utility with eminent domain authority.  And if you've ever watched the archived video from the Supreme Court argument on the RICL case, you may conclude that the chances of a merchant transmission project with negotiated rate authority becoming a public utility in Illinois are slim to none.  Just because Grain Belt Express may "seek recognition as a public utility" doesn't mean it's going to happen.  Heck, I could seek recognition as a super model tomorrow.  Doesn't mean I'll be on the runway next year.  It's just not going to happen.

So, (I'm warming up for Tuesday's drinking game) here's the bag of doorknobs.  After the company receives an extension of their Kansas permit to 2023...  This can't happen for at least another year and is far from certain.  And after GBE receives a permit from the Missouri PSC... also something that is far from certain.  And after it purchases utility property in Illinois... it will apply for a permit again.  Doesn't mean it will be granted.  In fact, I'm 99.9% certain it won't happen.  This footnote looks like this:

Clean Line's domino set up is about as useful as a bag of doorknobs.  That's what Invenergy purchased, a bag of doorknobs.

And speaking of Invenergy, here's a song for them.

If you have time to tune into the Missouri Public Service Commission hearings next Tuesday and Wednesday, I guarantee it's going to be a really big show.  Perhaps some surprises.  Everyone loves surprises this time of year, don't they?  Here's a link to the program line up.  You can watch live video from a link here, or on the MPSC's home page.

My money's on Missouri Landowners Alliance for the win.