Another episode of Grain Belt Express before the Missouri Public Service Commission has come and gone. I watched some of it, but missed a big portion of Michael Skelly's cross examination due to another meeting. But, I saw enough. Oh, yes, it was plenty. (And there's always the video archive for later).
One of the things that potential Grain Belt Express purchaser Invenergy's Kris Zadlo said yesterday maybe should have been used by the company in Missouri as well. Zadlo claimed Invenergy thought it stood a better chance before the Illinois Commerce Commission without Clean Line in tow. Not that I believe that is the reason for not making approval by the ICC a condition precedent in the purchase agreement for a second, but Invenergy probably would have done much better before the Missouri PSC without the Clean Line clowns in its witness line up.
I hear that Skelly confirmed that Clean Line no longer has any employees. *cough* Personnel change? *cough* There have been no employees since June, 2018. That's when the Clean Line crew hit the unemployment line. Many had a soft landing with former COO Jayshree Desai's new venture to spend investor cash at ConnectGen (what has ConnectGen actually DONE, except spend money?) Others found themselves at other renewable energy companies, like Pattern, or Invenergy. And some grew the beard of unemployment and set out on their own. Apparently Hans Detweiler is one of them, because he now has more hair on his chin than on his head and he shared this morning that he has aspirations of working for Invenergy. Although, he seemed not to know much about anything. Just a human placeholder, adopting the testimony of all the missing Clean Line employees (and certain experts) as his own, in exchange for cash. Hans truly looked bewildered on the stand. I'm not sure he even knew what he was testifying about.
I did manage to catch Skelly telling MLA counsel that Grain Belt's FERC negotiated rate authority can be transferred to Invenergy without any filings at the Commission, and that when Invenergy buys GBE, it also buys that FERC approval. Not even. Zadlo tried to save that line of questioning by demonstrating his knowledge of FERC's requirements for granting negotiated rate authority. Perhaps he should read them again. And perhaps the MO PSC should also read them as well.
As mentioned earlier, Zadlo had a lot of reasons why ICC approval is not a condition precedent for purchase of GBE. If Invenergy's charm (really, they strike me as more sneaky than charming) doesn't win them a permit in Illinois, they may have to reconfigure the project. It could go north. It could go south. It could terminate in Missouri. I guess he had to try to cover for what Dave Berry said earlier... he may have "discussed in passing" with Invenergy that Grain Belt Express may not extend past Missouri.
This is not the same project currently before the Missouri PSC, and the PSC needs to do some hard thinking about what would happen if they didn't sufficiently condition any approval to prevent these kinds of changes. Perhaps Commissioner Hall scents skunk in the air because he seems to be very concerned about when eminent domain may be used if the MO PSC permits the project. Would it be before GBE has all its financing in place and is ready to build? Perhaps he should take a page from Kansas and propose the condition that GBE has all its permits in all 4 states (Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana) in place before any construction (or eminent domain) may begin.
And guess what? Here's a little factoid to ponder over the holidays. Clean Line has spent $197 million (that's MILLION) dollars of investor cash. Despite GBE's attorney's baseless accusations that Missouri Landowners Alliance Counsel couldn't (shouldn't) be trusted with confidential financial information, it was Karl Zobrist himself who blurted that fact out in the public portion of the hearing. Oh, the irony!
So, you're Skelly. You've spent $197M of other peoples' money and have pretty much nothing to show for it. I know if I were him, I might be a little nervous. But no, apparently Skelly thinks nothing of it. He still begins all his answers with the word "so" as if to reframe the question into something worthy of his great consideration. He still likes to mock others in the room, at one point redirecting his microphone toward MLA counsel because I guess the question was too lengthy for Skelly to pay attention to. We could hear Mr. Agathan just fine. The only thing that did was demonstrate what a smartass Mr. Skelly can be. I'm not sure what Mr. Skelly even added to the proceeding that may make the Commission more likely to approve the project. Perhaps the Commission is quite as sick of Skelly as the rest of us are at this point. It gets old. Really old.
Invenergy would have done much better without the Clean Line clown parade. Of course, Invenergy owns nothing and has applied for nothing. Invenergy is nothing but a bit player in its own future. Some business decisions are sound, and some aren't. You get what you pay for.
So... *take a shot* there's still briefing to come. It's going to be epic. Meanwhile maybe the circus will come to town and collect its clowns?
Happy Holidays, everyone!
One of the things that potential Grain Belt Express purchaser Invenergy's Kris Zadlo said yesterday maybe should have been used by the company in Missouri as well. Zadlo claimed Invenergy thought it stood a better chance before the Illinois Commerce Commission without Clean Line in tow. Not that I believe that is the reason for not making approval by the ICC a condition precedent in the purchase agreement for a second, but Invenergy probably would have done much better before the Missouri PSC without the Clean Line clowns in its witness line up.
I hear that Skelly confirmed that Clean Line no longer has any employees. *cough* Personnel change? *cough* There have been no employees since June, 2018. That's when the Clean Line crew hit the unemployment line. Many had a soft landing with former COO Jayshree Desai's new venture to spend investor cash at ConnectGen (what has ConnectGen actually DONE, except spend money?) Others found themselves at other renewable energy companies, like Pattern, or Invenergy. And some grew the beard of unemployment and set out on their own. Apparently Hans Detweiler is one of them, because he now has more hair on his chin than on his head and he shared this morning that he has aspirations of working for Invenergy. Although, he seemed not to know much about anything. Just a human placeholder, adopting the testimony of all the missing Clean Line employees (and certain experts) as his own, in exchange for cash. Hans truly looked bewildered on the stand. I'm not sure he even knew what he was testifying about.
I did manage to catch Skelly telling MLA counsel that Grain Belt's FERC negotiated rate authority can be transferred to Invenergy without any filings at the Commission, and that when Invenergy buys GBE, it also buys that FERC approval. Not even. Zadlo tried to save that line of questioning by demonstrating his knowledge of FERC's requirements for granting negotiated rate authority. Perhaps he should read them again. And perhaps the MO PSC should also read them as well.
As mentioned earlier, Zadlo had a lot of reasons why ICC approval is not a condition precedent for purchase of GBE. If Invenergy's charm (really, they strike me as more sneaky than charming) doesn't win them a permit in Illinois, they may have to reconfigure the project. It could go north. It could go south. It could terminate in Missouri. I guess he had to try to cover for what Dave Berry said earlier... he may have "discussed in passing" with Invenergy that Grain Belt Express may not extend past Missouri.
This is not the same project currently before the Missouri PSC, and the PSC needs to do some hard thinking about what would happen if they didn't sufficiently condition any approval to prevent these kinds of changes. Perhaps Commissioner Hall scents skunk in the air because he seems to be very concerned about when eminent domain may be used if the MO PSC permits the project. Would it be before GBE has all its financing in place and is ready to build? Perhaps he should take a page from Kansas and propose the condition that GBE has all its permits in all 4 states (Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana) in place before any construction (or eminent domain) may begin.
And guess what? Here's a little factoid to ponder over the holidays. Clean Line has spent $197 million (that's MILLION) dollars of investor cash. Despite GBE's attorney's baseless accusations that Missouri Landowners Alliance Counsel couldn't (shouldn't) be trusted with confidential financial information, it was Karl Zobrist himself who blurted that fact out in the public portion of the hearing. Oh, the irony!
So, you're Skelly. You've spent $197M of other peoples' money and have pretty much nothing to show for it. I know if I were him, I might be a little nervous. But no, apparently Skelly thinks nothing of it. He still begins all his answers with the word "so" as if to reframe the question into something worthy of his great consideration. He still likes to mock others in the room, at one point redirecting his microphone toward MLA counsel because I guess the question was too lengthy for Skelly to pay attention to. We could hear Mr. Agathan just fine. The only thing that did was demonstrate what a smartass Mr. Skelly can be. I'm not sure what Mr. Skelly even added to the proceeding that may make the Commission more likely to approve the project. Perhaps the Commission is quite as sick of Skelly as the rest of us are at this point. It gets old. Really old.
Invenergy would have done much better without the Clean Line clown parade. Of course, Invenergy owns nothing and has applied for nothing. Invenergy is nothing but a bit player in its own future. Some business decisions are sound, and some aren't. You get what you pay for.
So... *take a shot* there's still briefing to come. It's going to be epic. Meanwhile maybe the circus will come to town and collect its clowns?
Happy Holidays, everyone!
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