The filing flurry on RICL's Illinois Commerce Commission application has finally ended. RICL didn't hold up very well under careful examination. It's all a house of cards, a fantastical "business plan" that relies on speculation, or as counsel for the Illinois Landowners' Alliance phrased it, "bold, lofty aspirations."
ILA points out the fragility of this company's plan and the unlikelihood of its success by taking apart RICL's stack of Matroyshka dolls to reveal the true impossibility of RICL ever being built.
ILA points out the fragility of this company's plan and the unlikelihood of its success by taking apart RICL's stack of Matroyshka dolls to reveal the true impossibility of RICL ever being built.
Rock Island wants this Commission to grant its requests for a CPCN and Section 8-‐503 order despite, among other things, (i) not having any generation, or commitments for the development of generation, to connect to the western terminus of the proposed line; (ii) not yet having any commitments for shippers, or customers, to take service on the planned transmission line; (iii) not having commitments from any equity or debt
providers to construct the Project; (iv) and not having completed interconnection studies and agreements needed with MISO and PJM.
Despite RICL's "build it and they will come" game plan, ILA points out that a real business plan needs actual commitments, not simply a string of dominoes that may or may not fall in line when the first one is toppled.
RICL's possible future financing to build the transmission line is dependent upon it having committed customers, or shippers. RICL supposes that as-yet-unbuilt wind farms will sign contracts to purchase capacity, creating a revenue stream for the company that will enable it to obtain financing to build RICL. In turn, the potential wind farms must obtain their own construction financing before they can sign contracts with RICL. In order to obtain financing, the wind farms must secure their own revenue stream by having committed customers sign agreements to purchase power.
RICL is supposing that unidentified utilities will sign contracts to purchase power from unbuilt wind farms that will in turn sign capacity contracts with an unbuilt transmission line. Never going to happen. There's too much risk involved here for any investor's comfort.
Utilities don't like risk.
RICL's possible future financing to build the transmission line is dependent upon it having committed customers, or shippers. RICL supposes that as-yet-unbuilt wind farms will sign contracts to purchase capacity, creating a revenue stream for the company that will enable it to obtain financing to build RICL. In turn, the potential wind farms must obtain their own construction financing before they can sign contracts with RICL. In order to obtain financing, the wind farms must secure their own revenue stream by having committed customers sign agreements to purchase power.
RICL is supposing that unidentified utilities will sign contracts to purchase power from unbuilt wind farms that will in turn sign capacity contracts with an unbuilt transmission line. Never going to happen. There's too much risk involved here for any investor's comfort.
Utilities don't like risk.
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