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...and rubs off on new daddy FirstEnergy!  I bet FirstEnergy didn't know about all the "extras" they would be getting in the meger deal.

We've been watching FirstEnergy's FERC Section 205 filing to recover stranded costs due to  abandonment of the Prexy portion of TrAIL for the past week.  Yesterday, both Exelon and the Maryland PSC petitioned to intervene on behalf of their ratepayers.

FirstEnergy/Allegheny must prove that the abandonment was outside their control and all recovered expenses must be prudently incurred.  Ut-oh, looks like Exelon and the MD-PSC have other ideas!  Here's a link to the filing.  It's a huge, mega-file and takes a while to load, so don't get impatient.  It's worth the wait.  Apparently Allegheny didn't treat the landowners and opposition any better during the TrAIL case than they have treated us during the PATH case.  The Pennsylvania PUC turned down their application for this portion of the line.

Anyhow, TrAILCo is asking for around $13M in project management & permitting costs, ROW property purchase costs, ROW options & damage release costs, construction engineering, pre-construction and legal costs for the Prexy facilities.  If approved, this regulatory asset will be amortized over 49 years, to be paid by all PJM region electric customers.  Fortunately, it appears that they had to try to mitigate the costs by using some of the capitalized assets in other parts of TrAIL, and selling the property purchased for ROW purposes.  The Pennsylvania authorities forced them to give back all the ROW they had wrestled from landowners along the length of the line.  However, us ratepayers get to pick up TrAILCo's cost for what appears to have been a big-time swindle of Pennsylvania landowners.  TrAILCo attempted to utilize unused ROW purchased for a project years and years ago that was never built.  PATH landowners should take notice... if you have signed a ROW agreement with PATH, don't be surprised if 50 years down the road some power company shows up on your property and tells you they have a ROW for a huge, new project.

Just in case you're interested in having a little fun poking TrAILCo with a stick, here's the info. about intervening in the FERC case.  You have until April 1.  Why not file just before the deadline and give FirstEnergy a little April fool's thrill?

Docket Numbers:            ER11-3064-000

Applicants:            PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.

Description:            PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. submits tariff filing per 35.13(a)(2)(iii: Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Co’s revisions to Attach H-18A of the PJM Tariff to be effective 6/1/2011.

Filed Date:            03/11/2011

Accession Number:            20110311-5131

Comment Date:            5:00 pm Eastern Time on Friday, April 01, 2011


 


Comments

Da Hillbilly
03/23/2011 9:05am

What a horrible mess first Energy has bought for themselves. One would think a little research would have been done prior to all this money changing hands in the merger ... oh, wait, it's just the ratepayers money anyhow. I would think there are many a resume' being polished and tightened up these days, however, I'm sure many of them don't contain a word of truth either. I know of one person in particular that could get a job modelling for the new and improved Arrogant Bastard Ale label ... you know who you are, don'tcha?

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bh link
03/23/2011 5:14pm

It got so bad in PA that land owners were coming to the Public Utilities Commission's public hearings on TrAIL complaining about Allegheny's land agents lying to them. Finally, the PA Office of Consumer Advocate had to formally request that the PUC issue an injunction against Allegheny.

Allegheny's response was to crank up their PR machinery and turn out a Land Agent Code of Conduct, which we saw recycled in PATH. Here's the story -- http://calhounpowerline.com/2009/05/16/land-owners-get-ready-for-power-company-misrepresentation/

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dirtyrottenbast#*d
03/24/2011 5:25am

Rate payers shouldn't pay the cost of Allegheny Energy's legal fight against property owners when Allegheny Energy was found to be at fault intimidating people and made to give back all those options they lied, cheated and stole. Allegheny should pick up the tab for all those land deals gone bad. It's the clean hands doctrine.

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Keryn
03/24/2011 9:10am

Well, dirty, one could certainly argue that Allegheny's shady practices had influence on their denial by the PUC. And then there's prudence, which I see has been made much of in that filing with a lot of bluster.

This is going to be a fun one :-)

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Frank
04/02/2011 8:20am

"And then there's prudence, which I see has been made much of in that filing with a lot of bluster."
Patience and Prudence. :-)
I liked them. Telling my age.
Message to PATH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-jrQyd8Atg&feature=more_related


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