Well, would you look at that?  Another state legislative leader gets indicted on charges that he engineered the success of utility profits through legislation in exchange for financial favors from the utility.

What are the odds that two powerful investor owned utilities participated in schemes to provide financial favors to state legislative leaders in exchange for legislation that financially benefited the utility in two different states?  Are these two unrelated and isolated incidents that just so happened to be uncovered around the same time.... or is there a bigger scandal waiting to be uncovered?

FirstEnergy was outed in Ohio, and then it was ComEd's turn in Illinois.  ComEd has been accused of providing jobs for people directed by Michael Madigan.  How much of the money ComEd paid to these people in exchange for little to no work came out of the pockets of struggling electric consumers?  In the case of FirstEnergy, it was millions that "accidentally" (or on purpose) got accounted for wrong and recovered through electric rates.  ComEd is accused of funneling money through lobbying firms (which would not be recovered from ratepayers if ComEd accounted for it without "accident"), but also for paying a law firm for legal work that never occurred, hiring numerous paid interns, and appointing a ComEd board member that the company didn't really have a use for.  All of those payments probably came out of the common man's pocket through electric rates.

When is FERC going to treat their rate cheaters like the criminals they are?  When it is discovered through audit that the utility recovered expenditures it was not entitled to, FERC gives them a slap on the wrist and makes them give back the money they stole.  There are no penalties or punishment whatsoever.  The utility is free to go forth and commit the same errors again.  Maybe they're caught at it in the future, or maybe they simply get away with it because nobody is paying attention.

But what happens when FERC detects market manipulation by an outsider, like an energy trader?  These accused violators are hounded to the ends of the earth and assessed outrageous fines in the millions of dollars.

There's no equity here.  FERC's utility pets are given free rein to steal as much as they want from electric consumers, while electric market traders are prosecuted for things that aren't even against FERC's rules, because the trader "should have known" that making money in electric markets was somehow wrong.  How does this protect electric ratepayers?  FERC's inequitable treatment of entities that steal from ratepayers needs to be fixed.

And there's probably plenty of stealing going on.  What are the chances that if two totally separate utilities in two different states were caught bribing state officials for financial benefit that EVERY utility does the same, in some form or other?  Of course they do.  Despite flowery corporate ethics policies, making money trumps everything.  Handing out money and favors is how utility profits are made.  They all do it.

Time to crack down...

Grain Belt Express is running a "virtual" open house meeting for affected landowners in conjunction with its second round of physical open house meetings across Illinois.  Some of GBE's web content might surprise you, especially if you're a affected landowner in another state who got promised all sorts of things that never materialized. 

Like monopoles.  For years, Clean Line Energy's Grain Belt Express promised landowners that it would use monopole structures with a smaller footprint.  The Missouri PSC even approved a project that used these structures, falsely claiming that only 9 acres of land across the state would be disturbed (structure footprint only).  And then Invenergy bought GBE when Clean Line went out of business and began to systematically dismantle all the pie-in-the-sky promises made to landowners because there were cheaper options.

One of the first to go were the monopoles.  Invenergy says on its website that all structures will be 40 x 40 (1600 sq. ft.) 4-legged steel lattice towers.  Monopoles are no longer mentioned.

But GBE's "virtual" open house  says its structures could be monopoles, lattice mast, or 4-legged lattice structures.  The footprint of the monopole and lattice mast structures is estimated to be 6-8 sq. ft.  However, the footprint of the 4-legged lattice structure is estimated to be 27 x 46 ft. (1242 sq. ft.).

How do the structures in Illinois vary so significantly from the structures in Missouri and Kansas?  The answer is that they don't.  Kansas and Missouri were also promised monopoles during the permitting process, which were then switched out for the larger lattice structures after permission to build was granted.  Why is that?  Because lattice structures are cheaper to build and less of them are required per mile.  It saves GBE money by increasing the burden on affected landowners.

What else sounds like an empty promise on GBE's virtual open house? 

GBE repeats that its project will be build AT NO COST TO TAXPAYERS.  What?  Electric transmission is not generally charged to taxpayers.  Electric transmission is a strictly "beneficiary pays" enterprise.  The users of the system who receive the benefit of the infrastructure are the ones who pay for it.  This concept follows through on GBE's unique merchant transmission negotiated rate scheme.  Under this rate mechanism, GBE would negotiate rates charged with voluntary customers who sign up to use the line.  Only those customers who voluntarily sign a contract to use GBE would pay for the line.  So, if nobody in Illinois is going to have to pay for it, that also means nobody in Illinois is going to get any benefit from its use.  It's a flyover project causing burden in Illinois for the benefit of electric customers in other states and regions.

GBE says it will improve reliability... but reliability for whom?  Not Illinois, who will not use the project.  This is nothing more than political opportunism... a scheme laid bare by other claims of "energy independence."  Fact:  Electric grid reliability is planned and ordered by regional transmission organizations.  GBE is not a regional transmission organization project and therefore is not needed for reliability reasons.  Why are you being sold "reliability" you don't need?

You're also being sold "new opportunities" that don't exist. 

Fact:  GBE is a high-voltage direct current line.  Our electric grid is alternating current.  Direct current must be converted into alternating current before it can be connected to the electric grid.  Converter stations are hugely expensive and may only be located at the beginning of the line and the end of the line.  Therefore, there is no way any locality along the line could use the electricity passing through.  So, where's the "opportunity?"  The "opportunity" to be paid a pittance for the use of your land for the benefit of others and in a way that makes the transmission project owner very, very, very, very, very, very rich.  Not such a great opportunity after all.

GBE pretends that is is being responsive to landowner concerns and is designing its route accordingly.  It says it learned the following things at the Round 1 meetings last month: 

• Proximity to homes
• Farm operation impacts, including irrigation and spraying
• Construction impacts including on crop yields and drain tile
• Hunting/recreation
• Planned/platted development

But yet it hasn't adjusted its routes at all for Round 2.  And I'm pretty sure GBE "heard" suggestions that it should route its project buried along a major interstate highway instead of across private property during the Round 1 meetings.  But obviously, GBE didn't listen.  GBE only heard what it wanted to hear, not what was actually said.  Why are there no underground and/or public right of way routing options?  When will these options be developed?  Will they be developed?

GBE prattles on about jobs, jobs, jobs.  It's the same computer program-generated hogwash every transmission project uses to pretend its an "opportunity" for rural areas.  Fact:  Most jobs are specialized and workers who perform them are hired from just a handful of specialized companies who bring workers onsite from other states.  There are few jobs for local workers.  In addition, GBE will contract for materials and supplies from the cheapest source.  They don't care if that supplier is local or not.  But, like all transmission projects, GBE pretends it is going to use local workers and supplies "as much as possible."  It's an open-ended, empty promise.

GBE is paying 110% of the market value of easements.  That's 110% of GBE's calculated market value of your land, which may not agree with an independent appraiser's value.  There's no review of this value, GBE simply wants you to trust their valuation of your property.  That's like the fox guarding the hen house!  When (IF!) you sign an easement, GBE will pay you 20% of the amount you are entitled to.  Wait... what?  GBE strikes a deal to pay you a certain sum and then only pays you 20% of that?  Have you ever tried to buy real estate by only paying for 20% of it?  Promises to pay the balance later are open-ended and maybe empty.  When will you be paid?  Is that written in the contract with a firm date?  How long should you have to wait to get the full purchase price when GBE gets full access to your land once you sign?  Can your contract be written so that you receive full payment on signing?

And take note that there is absolutely no mention whatsoever of Clean Line Energy's structure payments.

Looks like Illinois landowners are not getting these payments that were promised to landowners in Missouri and Kansas.  After all, why try to butter up the landowners when the crooked and compromised Illinois legislature has passed an unconstitutional law written for Invenergy's benefit that grants it eminent domain in each county?  GBE doesn't have to fairly compensate landowners, so why bother?

But is this whole project nothing but one giant empty promise?  A merchant transmission project must have contracted customers to pay for its construction before it builds anything.  Try asking GBE who its customers are... GBE has no customers other than a small group of Missouri municipalities who signed up for a measley 5% of the project's capacity at a bargain price.  That won't pay to construct the project.  Ask GBE if they will be posting a bond before beginning construction on a project with no paying customers?

So much complete and utter baloney.  P.T. Barnum would be proud.  Is he going to be at your Round 2 Open House meetings?  Or just his spirit?

Ever notice how greed makes people dumb?  It's especially prevalent in corporations, and New York based energy conglomerate Con Ed has become the new poster child for stupid corporate greed through the announcement of its new Maine Power Link transmission project.

Prediction:  Con Ed is going to positively bleed money trying to make this project work, but ultimately it's going to fail and end up with a huge amount of debt on its balance sheet.

Why?  Because it comes on the heels of another speculative merchant transmission project "for renewables" that was soundly defeated by the people of Maine in an historic referendum last fall.  Perhaps Con Ed has never heard of the phenomena of transmission siting fatigue?  Conventional wisdom says that once a community is hit with an unwanted transmission project it develops a knowledge base and weapons arsenal that make siting subsequent transmission lines through the same community a non-starter.  Fool the people once, shame on you... but you'll never fool the same people twice.

What was it about the New England Energy Connect that the people of Maine found so objectionable?  Was it an emotional response to "not being heard?"  The people of Maine were heard all right, it's just that project developer CMP didn't want to compromise.  It's not about the emotional feel-good of being heard; it's about the feeling that you matter and that your ideas and opinions can change the outcome.  CMP never budged from its transmission plan.  That's perhaps what Mainers found so objectionable.  That and the ruination of their environment for the benefit of others "from away."

So here's Con Ed, announcing an overhead 345-kV transmission line from northern to southern Maine.  Con Ed says it will "follow" existing transmission corridors.  This means it will be sited adjacent to existing corridors, widening them and doubling the visual blight.  Con Ed also says it may need to cut some new greenfield corridors through undisturbed areas.  And it plans to do all this in more populated eastern Maine.

Never going to happen.

Con Ed pretends it is "trusted."  As if they say it enough, it will become true.  Rural communities don't trust companies from other places, especially New York City.  New York City has nothing in common with rural Maine, and it shows.

But Con Ed has not revealed any of its routes, even in general terms, to the ultimate stakeholders:  the affected landowners and communities.

This is NOT transparent siting from Day 1.  Con Ed has already proven itself to be a vascillating prevaricator.  The specific route is going to be the thing that kills this project.

Con Ed is busy trying to buy off environmental and economic development organizations in Maine to support its project.  It absolutely resembles the NECEC project the first time I saw it.... list of local organizations that supported along with glowing, but sadly ignorant, supporting comments.  Con Ed is trying way, way, way too hard.  And the dumbest thing yet is that the people of Maine aren't fooled by this garbage, especially the second time around.  They've been there, done this.  They're not going to buy it.

Con Ed would be much smarter to develop a transmission plan that did NOT visit impacts on Maine.  What's that?  A transmission line buried on existing rights of way, such as road or rail.

Instead, Con Ed is just acting like The Dumbest Transmission Developer Ever.  It's going to be about as popular as new Coke, the Sony Betamax, and hoverboards.