...the DOE is among the most prominent defendants requiring payment from the Judgment Fund, which pays for claims against the government. The department paid out more in legal claims than any other agency last year and the year before, according to the fund's records — more than $5 billion over the last decade.

And according to the department itself, the bloodletting as far from over. The DOE has failed to make good on some of its most important contractual obligations for years, and its private partners have been collecting billions in damages.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 requires that the DOE dispose of nuclear waste being produced at civilian energy plants around the country, which in turn pay fees for a long-term storage facility. The department's contracts with dozens of energy companies said it would start disposing of the waste in 1998.

The companies held up their end, feeding about $750 million into the Nuclear Waste Fund each year. But the department did not manage to set up any facility to receive the waste, forcing energy companies to store it themselves on-site.

The hang-up has been in finding a location for the centralized storage facility. For decades, Yucca Mountain in Nevada was the only location that could legally be considered, despite fierce opposition from state and local groups. The Obama administration eventually abandoned the site as "unworkable" in 2011.

How will a grid that provides a two-way street to carry and store more renewable energy help resolve this situation? DOE's Hannegan responds with a sports analogy. On a mesh-like grid, the problem, whether it is a computer hacker, a big forest fire or a battery failure, is a threat that can be quickly isolated, allowing the rest of the surrounding grid to operate normally using better controls and quickly dispatched stored electricity.

Lawlor says this "isn't about eminent domain," which is one of the worries of many who live along the proposed route.  

"We will sit down with every single landowner and negotiate with them on the unique nature of their property. In fact we've been doing that for a couple years now."

What happens if a landowner doesn’t want to negotiate with Grain Belt Express?

The Company is allowing sufficient time for negotiations with each individual landowner along the route. Grain Belt Express is committed to conducting easement negotiations in a manner that respects the private property rights of landowners and achieves a voluntary easement acquisition. The Company is also committed to working with landowners to minimize the impacts of the Project upon their property. In order to ensure that infrastructure projects in the public interest can be completed, the entities building them need the right to condemn certain easements, particularly in cases of parcels that have title issues, parcels with missing or unlocatable landowners or heirs, or parcels where landowners refuse all reasonable attempts at contact or negotiation. Grain Belt Express views the use of eminent domain as a last resort that is appropriate only after exhausting all reasonable attempts at voluntary easement acquisition and title curative work. In all cases, landowners are entitled to due process and payment of fair market value for any easement acquired, and will retain ownership of their land.

...sit down with every single landowner and negotiate with them on the unique nature of their property.

$1,167 per MW/month, escalating at 2 percent (2%) annually beginning as of the  Commencement Date for the first 100 MW tranche.

$1,667 per MW/month, escalating at 2 percent (2%) annually beginning as of the Commencement Date for the second 100 MW tranche.

$2,500 per MW /month.  For the first two years, after which time the contract may be extended for a period up to 26 years.

the Parties shall cooperate with
each other to obtain all Governmental Approvals that are required for Transmission Provider to construct and operate the Project and put this Agreement fully into effect, including making any filing in support of another Party's application for any such approval as requested by the Party
seeking such approval. From and after the Execution Date, the Parties shall not take any action, or seek any relief, before any other Governmental Authority that is inconsistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

that PE’s initial acknowledgment of the substandard meter reading history was an appropriate and an accurate reply to the Commission's correspondence. Its later reversal on the issue of accepting some responsibility for the substandard performance is troubling and counterproductive for the proper resolution of these issues.

It is not a legitimate excuse to blame the weather (which PE can’t control) or the staffing issues it faced (which it can control), as neither of these factors is unique to PE as an electrical utility, nor are they unusual or unknown factors.

PE is obligated to make its decisions as to how to manage and staff its Meter Reading Division in a manner and to a level of industry standards, and I find that PE failed to do so during the time period under review.

I find that the facts demonstrate that the meter reading rate of Potomac fell below an acceptable level of reading for the years 2011-2012, and that was in violation of its tariff and of good engineering practices as required of a utility. I conclude that the failings were due to an inadequate level of staffing and of a failure to have adequate contingency plans in place when PE faced unusual weather events.

Spot power traded in the market run by PJM Interconnection LLC has averaged about $31 a megawatt-hour this year. That's less than half the $84.55 average in 2008.

As the price of electricity in the region fell by half over the past decade, utilities raised monthly bills for residential customers by 26 percent, according to government data. Consumer advocates say the power companies are using falling electricity costs as cover to raise other charges. Utilities counter that they are passing on billions of dollars' worth of government-mandated improvements to long-neglected infrastructure.