Two landowner groups in the bull’s-eye of the recently approved Grain Belt Express (GBE) high voltage electric transmission line say their fight will continue.  The Missouri Landowners Alliance (MLA) and Eastern Missouri Landowners Alliance (EMLA), whose membership encompasses the entirety of GBE’s 200-mile route across Missouri, have decided to appeal the decision of the Public Service Commission to the Missouri Court of Appeals.  The groups say that GBE is not a public utility under Missouri law, and as such does not possess the solemn power of eminent domain to take land for its line.
 
"A public utility has the obligation to serve everyone within its service territory, and to charge the same rate to all similarly situated customers.  On the other hand, as a non-public utility, Grain Belt has the right to negotiate the best deal it can get with individual utility and other customers, and to negotiate with those who are most likely to pay it the highest price and different prices for the same service.  This is discriminatory and does not meet public utility requirements under Missouri law,” said Phil Brown, an attorney with EMLA.
 
GBE’s own studies show that Missouri already has excess generating reserves.  And GBE would not help any utility in the state to meet Missouri’s renewable energy requirements.  GBE could slow down the development of renewable energy resources in Missouri by replacing them with imported renewables from other states.  Landowners also point out that GBE has yet to attract commercial interest. No investor-owned utility or rural electric co-op has signed on with Grain Belt.  Without customers paying sustainable rates, GBE is not economically feasible and cannot be built.
 
The battle now also shifts to counties crossed by GBE, who have authority under state law to deny GBE from crossing the counties.
 
Wiley Hibbard, Presiding Commissioner of Ralls County said, “Ralls County has put a hold on granting assents until the development of our 229.100 application process is complete.  Knowing that the commissioners of each county have the most thorough knowledge and understanding of how these projects will affect their counties, the Missouri Association of Counties (CCAM) has again passed a resolution advising members of the Missouri Legislature to protect and preserve Mo Rev. Statue 229.100.”
 
The Missouri legislature is also taking action on GBE.  Rep. James Hansen has introduced legislation, House Bill 1062, to prevent the use of eminent domain by non-public utilities.
 
“I remain committed to Missourians in ensuring that eminent domain is not used by non-public utilities for profit,” said Rep. Jim Hansen.  “I have introduced legislation that will close this gap in existing law and will work expeditiously to shepherd it through the legislature,” he continued.
 
The project still faces many hurdles before it can be built.  The Missouri PSC is investigating whether to approve the sale of the project to Chicago-based Invenergy.  Kansas officials are engaged in a similar process.  The cases are not expected to be resolved until mid-summer, or later.
 
GBE must also re-apply for a permit to cross Illinois, after having an earlier permit revoked by an Illinois appeals court, which ruled that GBE was not a public utility under state jurisdiction.
 
“Given the uncertainty of the project in Illinois, we wonder if Invenergy actually intends to build this project across Kansas, Missouri and Illinois to a connection point in Indiana that ties into lines that serve east coast states,” Jennifer Gatrel, spokeswoman for Block GBE-Missouri.  “Invenergy has been very mysterious about its intention.”
 
“We urge landowners and opponents of GBE to circle the wagons and gain strength from each other during this period of uncertainty,” said Russ Pisciotta, president of Block GBE, a statewide organization of opponents of GBE. 
 
Pisciotta said they are working on an information packet for landowners that aims to provide some guidance on possible future steps, as well as a review of landowner rights under the law on GBE wanting to take their land.  Landowners who do not receive a packet are urged to contact Missouri Landowners Alliance, Block GBE, or Eastern Missouri Landowners Alliance.
 
“This is far from over,” said Marilyn O’Bannon, spokeswoman for EMLA.  “This battle is young yet.  Anything can happen.  Landowners are urged to exercise great caution when interacting with GBE’s representatives.”
 
MLA and EMLA recommend that landowners not sign any document related to an easement on their property without first reviewing it carefully, preferably with advice from an attorney. 

It's been eight years since FERC opened a proceeding to examine its transmission incentives.  That attempt ended in a bit of a punt, with FERC basically doing nothing to actually effect change.  Incentives have continued to reward transmission expansion as a utility profit center, and consumers have been saddled with more costs of abandoned projects.  Perhaps FERC's incentives aren't working the way Congress intended.

FERC posted its agenda for its monthly meeting last Thursday.  Front and center on the docket are:

Perhaps the second time will be the charm?  The last attempt produced a mountain of comments, both for and against change (change including both increasing and decreasing incentives).  Utilities and banksters, of course, were looking to increase their take.  State utility commissions, consumer advocates, and consumers were looking to decrease the financial burden of incentives.  This upcoming proceeding is guaranteed to produce more of the same.

Just like last time, anyone can comment and participate in the inquiry.  The first step is to watch Thursday's commission meeting via webcast to listen to any comments on the items.  When issued, the Inquiry will most likely pose numerous questions the Commission wants to contemplate, and will include a comment deadline.

Who knows where this inquiry will take us.  It's Incentives Groundhog Day!

Over the years I've read one glowing blog after another, penned by environmental groups and "clean energy" focused pubs, singing the praises of the doomed Clean Line projects.  Incumbent utilities, the fossil fuel industry, and mysterious "dark money" providers were blamed for getting in the way of "clean energy."  Resistant landowners also took a clobbering, for being so "selfish" to not volunteer their land and desire to farm around new transmission lines.  It was always someone else's fault that Clean Line was failing.  But the song was always the same... we need big new transmission lines "for wind" in order to save the planet.

Recently, Clean Line has announced its ultimate failure (although it's actually been failing for years).  The Clean Line projects are history.  This fact seems to be just barely settling in when along comes another long-distance direct current transmission proposal, SOO Green Renewable Rail.  You'd think these transmission ("for wind") lovers would be over the moon.

But they're not, if this article is any indication.  While describing the project adequately, the author throws in certain unnecessary barbs that try to doom the project before it even gets started.  Here's an example:

Yay! Positive encouragement for a better future!  Except that is followed by this:

Was that really necessary?  I mean you all have been so busy heaping glowing compliments upon Clean Line, without those kind of barbs, and now when a project that could actually get done is on the horizon, you're a pessimistic Doubting Thomas.

Oh, so it's just one sorta off article, right?  But then the armchair climate change warriors who spend way too much time reading and commenting on the ridiculous articles in this pub start up (and it's the same bunch every time).  First they start talking about eminent domain and how good it is, how right, how just.  A project that doesn't use eminent domain just can't be good.  Then they start complaining about how expensive a buried project can be.  We desperately need new transmission "for wind," but it has to be constructed the cheapest way possible, even if it poses a burden on landowners and gets held up and eventually cancelled by overwhelming community opposition?  Is this really about "clean energy" at this point, or is it more about being "right" and powerful in an online forum and stomping on people you just don't like?  You know what they say about people who spend inordinate amounts of time in online communities...

And now let's move onto the suspicious.  Just about every single article about SOO Green Renewable Rail out of Iowa and Illinois mentioned the Rock Island Clean Line and its failure.  The comparison, as inapt as it truly is, gets made for the reader.  Considering the overwhelming opposition in these states that killed RICL dead, dead, deader than dead, how can these folks help but be suspicious of SOO Green?  Some grabbed their torches and pitchforks and issued the battle cry, but aren't quite sure where the battle ground is.

If it's just like RICL, contentious permitting processes at state regulatory boards are on the horizon, and affected landowners want to participate.  Except those processes won't happen.  No eminent domain.  Let's repeat that... NO EMINENT DOMAIN.  Construction on existing rail rights of way.  No private land may be taken against the owner's will.  If the project isn't harming anyone's property, what case would they make against it?  One person stated that there is no "need" for such a project.  I'm pretty sure "need" isn't a factor here.  As a merchant transmission owner, the only examination of "need" comes from customers.  If customers sign contracts to buy service, then it's "needed."  Why would any state regulator need to examine "need" if jurisdictional ratepayers aren't paying for it, and there is no request for eminent domain authority?  I just can't see any logical case against SOO Green, except that folks don't like transmission and think there are other solutions.  I tend to agree with them, for the most part, but if a transmission project that doesn't demand any sacrifice of others gets built underground on existing rights of way, won't that become a feather in the cap of transmission opponents on future overhead, eminent domain, projects?  If SOO Green proves that transmission really can be constructed underground on existing rights of way, what is the excuse for any future project that wants to do it the old fashioned way?

And I suppose it doesn't help that many of the Midwestern news articles were packed with the same old, tired Clean Line glitter, such as overinflated promises of jobs (600!), generalities about how "hungry" the east coast is for power (hint:  it's not, it's doing just fine building its own renewables, such as offshore wind), and overblown claims about how SOO Green is "for wind."  The suspicious have heard all this dreck before, and they didn't believe it the first time.  Recycling Clean Line talking points bolsters the comparison to Clean Line and can only make things harder down the road.  Let's hope SOO Green can just be itself -- a revolutionary idea that can change the way transmission is built in this country.  Applying a tired transmission line narrative to a fresh new idea is sort of disappointing, and it's fueling existing suspicion.

Perhaps it was too much too soon for many of the naysayers and the suspicious.  Maybe they just need a little time to noodle it out.  SOO Green has a hard road ahead convincing these folks that they don't have ulterior motives, and that they can get the job done.  I'm willing to give SOO Green a chance, how about you?

Back during PATH's heyday, our opposition group's fearless leader often likened transmission opposition to peeling an onion.  As each layer came off, we found another underneath.  Similarly, I see transmission opposition as a virtual jigsaw puzzle without a box, without any pictures of what it's supposed to look like put together, or even edge pieces to get you started.  Instead you've got a pile of random pieces that you keep trying to fit together, and if you're successful, eventually a picture will begin to emerge, and start growing outward.  Of course, this puzzle never gets finished... as Robert Frost said "...way leads on to way...".

I get excited when I find new pieces for my transmission puzzle, and when I hear a couple of random pieces "click" to reveal a new picture.  So it was when this article recently surfaced from the depths of Google.  The picture isn't necessarily in the article, just a random piece of the puzzle, but in what is revealed when joined with other random pieces already sitting on my puzzle table.

Traditional investor owned utilities make their money by owning things used to provide a public service.  They're the middle man, paid for their ownership, plus a guaranteed generous return on their investment.  It's an easy way to make money, and they want it all to themselves.  But, being powerful and owning much of the electric grid also means these entities favor new projects that complement the rest of their business.  Utilities aren't interested in providing supplemental transmission that increases the profits of other generators, so that kind of transmission gets put on the back burner.  It's also more difficult for incumbent utilities to build transmission that has no public purpose.  These companies are used to having the public pay their costs through rates.  If they can't get transmission cost recovery in rates, they're not interested in building it.

For a brief moment in time, other companies backed by private investors tried to horn into this neat little profit center and claim a piece of it for themselves.  Independent merchant transmission wanted to own the infrastructure and charge investor owned utilities to use it.  Except Clean Line Energy Partners failed at its task.  It tried to claim the deep, institutional power of incumbent IOU's for itself in order to force damaging infrastructure on the public for the express purpose of making money.  Independent transmission owners building transmission for sheer profit (instead of reliability, or economics) aren't public utilities, therefore they cannot jump the public use hurdle easily scaled by incumbent utilities.  Independent transmission needs to look elsewhere to build projects that aren't dependent upon eminent domain for their success.

The companies who want to change this whole scenario to increase their own profits are renewable energy generators.  They've built so much generation, fueled by outrageous federal tax credits, that they've filled the available transmission lines.  Now this industry needs new transmission in order to build more and increase their profits.  They can't get IOU's to build more transmission for the express purpose of providing a path for new generation because the cost cannot be recovered from ratepayers.  AEP tried this with its Wind Catcher project and failed.  They can't get independent transmission companies to build more transmission for the express purpose of providing a path for new generation because such use is not a public utility.  So, what's a renewable energy generation company to do?

Take matters into their own hands.  Put up the money and build new transmission themselves with the idea of selling the completed transmission project to IOU's, who will then attempt to get ratepayers to pay for it.  There's no real risk for the IOU -- if regulators fail to approve the transmission cost recovery, the IOU isn't on the hook for it.  In this scenario, everyone wins (well, except the independent transmission owner, who was only in it to make money, extracting value by charging both the generator and utility to use something it owned).  The independent transmission owner tried to be an "open access" transmission provider, thinking that would magically deem it a public utility, however this failed.  Generation companies don't even have to pretend, they can build any generation tie line they want and prevent others from using it.  However, they cannot use eminent domain to do so.

This would explain the sudden interest of NextEra and Invenergy in transmission.  Both of these companies have purchased failed Clean Line projects.  While NextEra has sat on the failed Plains & Eastern project without much interest, Invenergy has made state approvals for Grain Belt Express part of its deal.

How might NextEra and Invenergy plan to use their Clean Line projects?

This.

In the wake of Wind Catcher's failure, AEP has issued an RFP for owning new wind generation that almost exactly matches Wind Catcher.  However the difference is that AEP is not assuming any risk this time.  AEP wants the generation delivered to the same transmission hub at Tulsa that it was planning to use for Wind Catcher.  No transmission risk.  And if you look into the fine print of the actual RFP, AEP says that it will consider purchasing completed transmission to Tulsa as part of the deal with the winning company.  In other words, if someone else builds it, AEP may buy it from them.

Let's travel to the land of imagination, where random puzzle pieces click soundly into place.  NextEra owns a permitted transmission project that gets near Tulsa on a different route than the hotly opposed one AEP was using for Wind Catcher.  Invenergy owns a partially built wind farm that could supply the requested generation and qualifies for the production tax credit (another AEP RFP requirement).  It's highly unlikely that these two competitors can or will work together to join these two pieces.  What does Invenergy do?  It buys a different failed Clean Line that is proposed to begin just a stone's throw from its Wind Catcher wind farm, and run east along a different path.  Would it be possible to re-route this project, or add to it, to make a new connection to Tulsa?  Absolutely.  Look at a map.  I don't have to draw an imaginary line here.

When I tried to fit the pieces of Wind Catcher, failed clean lines, renewable generators, and the opportunity of AEP's RFP together, I heard a distinct "click."  Wanna bet that both NextEra and Invenergy have submitted bids using failed clean lines in response to AEP's RFP?

Of course, we won't know for certain for quite some time, but these pieces fit together seamlessly to produce a picture of a giant green dollar sign.

Renewable generation companies are tired of waiting for someone else to build the transmission they need to build more generators.  The federal production tax credit is fading fast and time is of the essence.  These companies have taken matters (and risk) into their own hands.

In the long run, though, I don't think it stands a chance of actually working, but it seems like it could be a risk big wind companies are willing to take for the time being.

We've been watching an idea for new HVDC transmission completely buried along existing rail and apparently so have some investors.  SOO Green Renewable Rail has new financial backing from Siemens, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and Jingoli Power, the project's developer announced today.  The project can now begin efforts to get the project permitted, and attract commercial interest.  It's getting real, folks!

Why am I so excited about this?  Because it's a better idea whose time is finally at hand!  What's better?  How about no eminent domain?  With the transmission lines buried in a two foot wide trench along existing rail, and work performed from the rail, this kind of transmission doesn't become a burden on landowners.

Developers liken their new transmission idea to our fiber optic system.  I haven't heard about any fiber optic builders plowing through private property and stringing an overhead hazard that farmers have to work around in perpetuity, have you?  Of course not!  They bury that stuff along existing rights of way and don't bother anyone.  It's about time we jettison old transmission ideas in favor of new technology and new solutions that avoids the power struggle between transmission developers and landowners that routinely delays and cancels so many old transmission ideas.

Buried transmission is also a better idea from a safety and reliability perspective.

You're probably not going to burn the state down, either.

We've simply got to jettison the idea that landowners must sacrifice in order to build new transmission.  SOO Green proves that they don't have to!

So, what's in store for the project next?  It needs permits from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Utilities Board, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and various local jurisdictions.  But it doesn't plan to seek eminent domain authority, and without landowner resistance, who's going to object and slow things down?

It also needs customers.  Will investor owned utilities show interest in a transmission project that's more of a sure thing, not bogged down in contentious permitting marathons?  Or do the big utilities still want to own everything themselves?  Will a new kind of customer show up to use a new kind of transmission project?  Let's hope so, because building this transmission project raises the bar for future projects.

Why should a state sell out and permit an overhead transmission route that uses eminent domain when it can get all the benefits without having its landscape littered with linear infrastructure?  The smart states might even increase their revenue by leasing space along existing highways for new buried transmission.  What state couldn't use a new source of revenue for its road system?  States could stop being cheap dates and accepting old technology, and perhaps set their sights a little higher in the future.

Imagine, a future where high voltage transmission is buried, along with all the other linear infrastructure that transports commodities long distances.

Good luck, SOO Green Renewable Rail!  We'll be following this story...

What happens when a utility manages to buy approval to build a highly controversial aerial transmission project that could have been buried to avoid the biggest controversy?

It blows up in their face, that's what.  And it could end up costing ratepayers millions in increased electric fees.

Dominion spent years trying to permit its Surry-Skiffes Creek transmission line project on 300-foot towers across the James River at Jamestown, Virginia.  It agreed to pay out millions in "mitigation" in order to appease opposition (of course, the mitigation will be paid by ratepayers, not Dominion), and it finally got approval.  But not all opposition was bought out and the National Parks Conservation Association continued its legal battle against the project while Dominion was busy constructing its monstrosity across the river.

Dominion turned on the power last Thursday.

On Friday, a federal appellate court ordered Dominion's permit to build the project void and returned the case back to a lower court.

Read about it here.

What's about to happen next is anyone's guess.  The court could order Dominion to turn off and dismantle the project.  Perhaps it will order changes to the project.  Either way, the cost of winning a legal permit will fall onto ratepayers.

This is absolutely absurd.  And expensive.  It probably would have been more cost effective to bury the project across the river in the first instance.

Who's to blame here?  Dominion.  And grid planner PJM Interconnection, who "ordered" the project in the first place.  But who will end up paying for their mistake?  Electric customers.

PJM, you've got to go.  You're costing electric ratepayers too much money!

If you live in Pennsylvania, it could cost you $514M in increased electric bills.  If you're a JCP&L customer in New Jersey, it could cost you $102.6M.  If you're a PSEG customer, you could pay $156.3M more.  Most customer zones in PJM will pay more for their electricity if Pennsylvania and Maryland regulators approve the Transource Independence Energy Connection.  The majority of customers who would see their rates decrease from this project are located in BGE (Baltimore), Dominion (Northern Virginia) and PEPCO (Washington, DC).  The net change to region wide electric rates amounts to just $12M.  And to realize $12M net savings, PJM has ordered a transmission project that will cost more than $500M to build.  Are they nuts?  Or are they nothing more than electric Robin Hoods, robbing the poor, politically disenfranchised power zones to benefit the rich, politically connected ones?  Either way, something stinks!

Stop Transource member, land and business owner, and party to the state cases Barron Shaw tells us where that smell is coming from in a new editorial.

Everyone probably already knows Transource would cause increased rates in Pennsylvania (and if they don't, it's up to you to share your knowledge with your friends and family).  What's new is Barron's revelation about how Transource parent company American Electric Power and PJM Interconnection have gamed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission into allowing a skewed evaluation process for new market efficiency projects, and how Transource gamed the system it had set up to make its project appear "beneficial" by essentially stuffing 10 pounds of electricity into a 5 pound bag.

That's right, with the help of AEP, PJM created a two-tiered evaluation system based on voltage that allowed the lower voltage projects in the bottom tier to take no notice of increased electric costs in parts of the region that wouldn't see benefit from the project.  And once that system was set in place, AEP designed (and PJM selected) a bottom tier "lower voltage" transmission project that actually moves more power than those in the upper tier that would have to balance cost decreases in beneficiary zones against increases elsewhere in the region.  Because a higher voltage project normally used to move this amount of power would not pass a cost/benefit test, Transource created a monster of a lower voltage project in order to pass the test.  One has to wonder whose interests PJM has in mind when it approves adding additional conductors (wires) to a lower voltage project in order to make it move as much power as a higher voltage alternative using less conductors.  Which configuration is actually more efficient?  Better designed?  Able to be upgraded without building new lines?  As non-engineers, we can't really say, however we can depend on the knowledge of power engineers who don't build this kind of project.  Transource IEC is truly one of a kind, from an engineering standpoint.    And this leads me to believe it's probably not the best idea.  What were you thinking, PJM?  Aren't you supposed to have the best engineering staff in our region in order to keep the lights on?  This isn't a great example.  In fact, it looks like PJM is part of some kind of conspiracy, like a cartel, or a cabal, or both.

Read Barron's entire editorial.  He makes it easy to understand PJM's outrageous manipulation and abuse of its authority to enrich its biggest members.  PJM needs to go!

Missouri regulators signal readiness to OK Grain Belt Express transmission project

Does that look anything like this?

"Signal" is today's popular, but sadly overused and misused, journalistic punt.  It drives me nuts to see all this "signaling" going on, and any journalist who thinks they are clever or original by using it is actually just a lazy imitator.  Please remove this idiotic word from your stories. 

Now that I'm over the headline, what "news" does this story give us?  Couple of things, well beyond what a thinking public might surmise about possible conspiracy within the Missouri government.

First, there's this:

That's right, it did.  It also told the PSC at hearing that it would begin eminent domain proceedings against 700 landowners immediately after receiving any permit from the PSC.  The witnesses' reasoning was that it must quickly begin surveying and core drilling to finish engineering of the line and landowners would not willingly give permission for that work.  Company mouthpiece Hans Detweiler told the PSC that the only remedy for uncooperative landowners was to take the right of way using eminent domain so it wouldn't need permission to enter for testing.

Hans, you dope!   Maybe you actually believe that (in which case you're demonstrating how very little you know about actually building transmission), but real transmission companies never do that.  Under most state laws, an entity with eminent domain authority has the right to enter property to perform testing prior to initiating a take.  AEP has been using this bully tactic recently, filing for court orders preventing landowners from interfering with entry and testing.  Except the landowners were not interfering in the first place.  The landowners simply refused to grant permission voluntarily and sign company release forms.  A court cannot force a landowner to sign a permission form.  It can only order the landowner not to interfere (something they were not doing in the first place).  The transmission company may risk getting on the wrong side of a local judge, but they'd probably get worse by pretending a take was necessary to perform simple surveys.

Does Invenergy have money to burn?  Why would it be spending bundles acquiring property and testing it to microsite a route when it doesn't have permits in all four states?  Until all permitting and siting is completed at the regulatory level, Invenergy would only be guessing and hoping the money it spent in Missouri would allow a route that would be contiguous with unapproved routes in other states.  And even within Missouri, Invenergy does not have a converter station site.  The option it had in Ralls County has expired and the landowner did not renew it.  As well, Invenergy does not have an approved interconnection in Missouri where it can tie into the existing transmission system operated by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.  In fact, Invenergy isn't even in MISO's queue for study of a proposed interconnection.  Therefore, any final routing through Missouri would simply be a very expensive guess at this point... unless Invenergy doesn't plan to connect in Missouri at all and simply pay off MJMEUC and deliver nothing at all.

Is the Missouri Public Service Commission this gullible?  After nine years of Clean Line baloney before the Commission, are we supposed to believe they don't smell anything at all suspicious?  I don't believe it.  Not for a second.  I wonder what the MO PSC, elected officials, and government agencies know that they're not saying?

There's simply no way GBE will begin construction next year.  No way at all.

GBE does not have a permit in Kansas.  GBE does not have a permit in Illinois (and even if it applied today, it would be years and years before any decision would be made).  Essentially, GBE has done nothing to support a connection to PJM, and nothing to support a connection to MISO in Missouri.  GBE is an empty extension cord that doesn't connect to anything.  Who spends money building that?

And then there's this:

Right.  A company ready to begin construction on a transmission project it's been trying to permit for years receives "signals" that approval is imminent, and it has no comment.  Invenergy has failed to say much of anything in the media lately, and has refused to share any future plans.  Is it because Invenergy's REAL plan may signal something that Missouri can't permit?  There's more here than meets the eye and the only signals being emitted are a bunch of obscuring smoke.

No matter.  There's still this:

So, what do all these "signals" indicate?  Nothing new.  Grain Belt Express is still impossible.  Landowners are not backing down and won't be intimidated by new owner Invenergy.

This isn't over yet.  Carry on.

Okay, now I've officially seen everything.  A foreign, investor owned utility is complaining about "a pretty nasty ad" that exposes its backroom deal with Maine's Governor to sell the state's pristine wilderness for $258M in payola.

Dark money?  An investor owned utility is pointing at a low budget internet ad campaign and calling it dark money?  Investor owned utilities are the kings of dark money!  They dole out millions in political contributions each year with the hope of influencing laws and policy in states where they do business.  They spend buckets of money hiring the top public relations spinners to lie to their customers with smiles on their faces.  They create front groups and fake "coalitions" to advocate for their money-making transmission project ideas.  And, as CMP has so aptly demonstrated in the past week, they create monetary compensation packages to be traded for political support.  Fact:  Maine Governor Janet Mills has publicly supported the New England Clean Energy Connect project because the state and some private interests have been promised $258M in payouts over the next 40 years.

So, "wahhhhh, wahhhhh" CMP, let me call you a wahhhmbulance.  You're such a lily white, downtrodden, paragon of virtue being attacked for your extra large heart and spirit of charity by some big, powerful, "dark" interests who spent a whopping sum on attack ads, reported to be somewhere between $500-$999.  That's dollars.  Five-hundred dollars.

$500 vs. $258,000,000.  Yup, CMP, you poor, poor victim.

And, oh my gosh!  The ad has had 100,000 to 200,000 impressions, the number of times a post is displayed.  Why, I'm offended.  Soooo offended that this ad

has been viewed over 116,000 times on YouTube!  If I was a total geek who had no real evidence of anything but wanted to spin an opinion piece to make it look like CMP is a poor, poor victim of "dark money" interests, I'd dig up stuff like...  As of Wednesday, the highest number of impressions, 12 percent, has come from men, ages 25-34. The next-highest, 11 percent, from women ages 55-64.  Because this would matter greatly in making my point.  Or covering up the fact that I really had no point.

I mean, don't watch this ad

because it increases the impressions and amount of "dark" money spent by Satan and his anonymous henchmen attacking the purity of Janet Mills.  Just look at her, even her jacket is white as snow!

We definitely have to stop the internet spread of this ad

because CMP says it's "dark money" and anonymous.

Even though it is clearly marked as paid for by Stop the Corridor, CMP and Janet Mills need to know where this coalition got its $500 to run the ad.

Maybe we can arrange a double reveal?  Stop the Corridor can show how it raised $500 and CMP can reveal how it raised $258M?  Maybe throw in a little spreadsheet of all CMP's political contributions, lobbying, and memberships for the past year or so?  Probably the public (and CMP's customers) would rather see that than some bake sale records and copies of personal checks for small amounts.  CMP may be surprised how easily citizen opposition groups can raise $500 - $999 to run ads like this:

Please don't do anything that increases the online impressions of this ad.

Central Maine Power doesn't want you to.

Stop it!

Stop it right now!

Is it an adjective, or a noun?  The history of Clean Line Energy Partners being history has already been written.  It's been written by thousands of Midwestern landowners who objected to having their homes and businesses bisected by a new transmission corridor.  It's been written by state utility commissions in eight states.  It's been written by courts in multiple states.  It's been written by state legislatures passing laws to thwart it. 

It's also been written on this blog.

Anyone who needs to "remember" Clean Line Energy Partners now probably never needed or wanted them in the first place.  What happens if a company "winds up" and nobody misses them?  Was it all just a colossal waste of $200M?

Yes.  Big Transmission is still a colossal waste of time and money.  Big Transmission is still dead.

Steve Huntoon revisits some of his earlier prognostications in this article in RTO Insider.  Huntoon debunks NREL's pseudo-study promoting the building of a "national grid" (a utility fantasy born in the early 2000's), concluding that such a concoction would cost ratepayers more than $50B.  Is that in today's dollars?  Including return, O&M, and taxes?  Or is that one of those stunningly misleading "total cost of building the line" lowball figures that has no correlation to how much money ratepayers actually pay?

At any rate, Big Transmission's song remains the same.  Big Transmission is still dead.