Who do you think you're fooling, Invenergy? In response to a puffy, propaganda editorial touting the "genius" of Grain Belt Express, Monroe County Missouri Associate Commissioner Marilyn O'Bannon speaks for Missouri in a response op ed, Misleading Missourians is the real aim of the Grain Belt Express.
O'Bannon says,
O'Bannon says,
Plundering the land of Missouri landowners for private gain is not heroic nor commendable, but rather a shameful abuse of eminent domain laws by an out-of-state billionaire who aims to ship government subsidized wind energy across our state’s borders and profits into the pockets of investors. It does not benefit the state when private companies manipulate our eminent domain laws to serve only their bottom line and not our citizens.
It looks like Invenergy's "Way of the American Genius" public relations campaign hasn't fooled anyone... anyone at all.
... the author’s attempt to equate the corporate behemoths behind Grain Belt Express to true Missouri trailblazers like Mark Twain, J.C. Penney and Walt Disney is an insulting attempt to mislead, misguide and distract readers from the facts.
First, the Grain Belt Express is not a product of a Missouri genius, but rather an outdated idea of a Chicago billionaire whose intent is to drive profits for investors. If Grain Belt Express was truly innovative they would be taking notes from the SOO Green which delivers renewable energy underground on existing rail rights of way through Iowa to the Eastern U.S., eliminating land and environmental impacts of above-ground merchant transmission lines.
New transmission without landowner sacrifice? Now that's REAL American genius! But GBE is a bargain basement, leftover idea that Invenergy bought at fire sale prices from defunct Clean Line Energy Partners at the time it went belly-up after wasting $200M of its investor's money. Instead of making GBE better, and making it welcome by everyone, Invenergy continues to spend as little as possible trying to make this bad idea work. It's not like Invenergy cannot bury this project on existing rights of way, it's that it simply chooses not to. The people of Missouri are not respected in the least by Chicago-based Invenergy and its super-rich CEO Michael Polsky. Any flimsy excuses by Invenergy that it cannot bury its project should fall on deaf ears because the company has demonstrated that it CAN bury new transmission when it demonstrates a bit of respect for landowners in its path.
Even the Clean Path NY project (of which Invenergy is a partner) is buried underground. One would think an actual genius could modify the Grain Belt Express project to provide all of the “benefits” of clean power without the major disruptions. But corporate greed stands in the way of actual progress.
Corporate greed? That's right! Instead of building a more expensive project that doesn't require landowner sacrifice, Invenergy seeks to squeeze maximum profits out of its project idea through the use of eminent domain to acquire land as cheaply as possible. It's not like the use of eminent domain creates cheaper rates for GBE's customers. GBE's rates will be market-based; that is it will charge the maximum amount it can negotiate with customers based on the market value of the transmission capacity. The market value will not change if GBE uses eminent domain. The market value depends on the value of the service to voluntary customers.
Customers? GBE only has one, and that contract is priced below cost, a loss leader, signed for the purpose of Public Service Commission approval. The claims of savings are based on numbers at least 5 years old, and that pie-in-the-sky figure was created based on overpriced contracts with Prairie State that have since expired. Isn't it time for Invenergy to do a re-calculation based on current contracts and market prices, instead of spending its time creating fake "American Genius" marketing campaigns that serve no foreseeable purpose? Who is Invenergy marketing to with this campaign? Is it supposed to be the landowners? Is it supposed to be the County governments, who have yet to grant assent for the project to cross county roadways? Is it supposed to be potential future customers that Invenergy has not even attempted to negotiate with in a fair and open manner?
Invenergy isn't fooling anyone, except maybe itself. Missourians know that there's a very real possibility that the project will never be built. Instead of seeking customers and financing for its project that would assure Missouri's elected officials that the land taken by eminent domain would actually be used for a public purpose, Invenergy wastes its time and money pretending to be a genius.
Customers? GBE only has one, and that contract is priced below cost, a loss leader, signed for the purpose of Public Service Commission approval. The claims of savings are based on numbers at least 5 years old, and that pie-in-the-sky figure was created based on overpriced contracts with Prairie State that have since expired. Isn't it time for Invenergy to do a re-calculation based on current contracts and market prices, instead of spending its time creating fake "American Genius" marketing campaigns that serve no foreseeable purpose? Who is Invenergy marketing to with this campaign? Is it supposed to be the landowners? Is it supposed to be the County governments, who have yet to grant assent for the project to cross county roadways? Is it supposed to be potential future customers that Invenergy has not even attempted to negotiate with in a fair and open manner?
Invenergy isn't fooling anyone, except maybe itself. Missourians know that there's a very real possibility that the project will never be built. Instead of seeking customers and financing for its project that would assure Missouri's elected officials that the land taken by eminent domain would actually be used for a public purpose, Invenergy wastes its time and money pretending to be a genius.
... it may surprise some readers to learn the Grain Belt Express is a purely optional merchant transmission line which has not been ordered or required for any ratepayer need. Instead, it is a private, supplemental, profit-making endeavor as a merchant transmitter of electricity that is not restricted to wind energy. It is NOT funded by ratepayers because it is not for them. It is funded by investors who receive the benefit from the project. As an optional project, Invenergy can cancel the Grain Belt Express at any time. In fact, the project may never be built if the economics do not translate into returns for investors. For this reason, the project should not be allowed to take land “for a public use.” Landowners deserve certainty, not smoke and mirrors, and Grain Belt Express should not interfere with landowner rights before it even has customers and financing for their project.
If Invenergy takes land using eminent domain now, there's no guarantee that the land will actually be used for a public purpose. What happens if Invenergy takes land now and later cancels its project? Will it have to give the land back when it doesn't serve a public purpose? Or will it be able to keep the land it took under the guise of public purpose and use it for its own private profit?
Missouri's elected officials are understandably cautious, and they're not fooled in the least by Invenergy's smoke and mirrors.
Read the whole editorial for yourself.
Missouri's elected officials are understandably cautious, and they're not fooled in the least by Invenergy's smoke and mirrors.
Read the whole editorial for yourself.
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