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National Transmission Needs Study Declares Itself Useless

11/2/2023

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Wait... was it just 10 minutes ago that I said giving the children running the U.S. Department of Energy a pot of money to undermine our current transmission regulatory system was a dumb idea?  Here's another example!

This week the DOE released its National Transmission Needs Study.  As expected, it supposes that we will need many new transmission projects everywhere in the future.  

But what good is it?  After a lot of pushback on its draft study  contention that DOE has any authority whatsoever to plan the transmission system, the announcement says this:
The Needs Study is not intended to displace existing transmission planning processes and is not intended to identify specific transmission solutions to address identified needs, but it does identify key national needs that can inform investments and planning decisions.  ​
Right.  It's useless for planning purposes.  Mainly because experienced planning organizations are NOT going to take advice from a bunch of politically-motivated babies who don't know how to plan lunch, much less a transmission system.  But, bless their little hearts, the DOE babies still think they're influencing their superiors.

Let's look to the actual study.
The findings of this Needs Study are intended to inform regional and interregional planning, as well as help guide the Department in the execution of its transmission-related authorities. The Department understands the factors that drive industry transmission planning today and the entities and institutions that perform such planning. This Needs Study is not meant to displace these planning processes or the reliability standards they address. Rather, the Department believes it will be an important addition to overall industry and government planning efforts to reduce transmission congetion and capacity constraints that adversely affect consumers. 
In other words, all of the stuff in here is useless.  So why did all this taxpayer money get wasted?  It only has comedic value at this point.  

Appendix B contains a Comment Synthesis and Resolution.  
This is the only part worth reading because the rest of it is collective fantasy.  Reality intruded in the comments and watching DOE try to sidestep it is much more entertaining than the report itself.  Imagine how hard I laughed to find my own name mentioned 36 times in the Comments section.  Yes, I submitted comments.  I had fun writing them.  Apparently someone at DOE had fun reading them.  And then some idiot tried to "resolve" them.  I'm not going to list all the brainless responses to my comments, just the ones that made me laugh the most.
A few individuals express opposition to the basis of the Study and what they view as political or parochial goals of the Study. One individual, Keryn Newman, criticizes the discrepancy between needs identified in the 2020 Congestion Study and the draft Study, stating that in 2020, DOE did not find a need to designate transmission corridors. In contrast, this report finds significant transmission need “in an area so vast that if the DOE were to designate corridors to solve it, the entire continental U.S. would be one gigantic ‘corridor.’” Newman concludes that this discrepancy can only be attributed to the fact that the studies “are not based on data and science, but on political goals. 
DOE's "resolution" to my comment?  There wasn't one to this particular comment.  And so it begins...
Keryn Newman criticizes the Study’s conclusion that large-scale transmission build-out is cost-effective. Newman cites the Study’s “vague claims of ‘economies of scale,’” arguing they are never justified and allow DOE to avoid a comprehensive analysis of the cost of transmission. 
Again... not resolved.  Perhaps the comment quoter had big intentions for some of these legitimate comments to be resolved, but the resolver preferred to make crap up and watch cat videos on Facebook.
Keryn Newman argues that the Needs Study does not include adequate consultation with landowners, whom Newman identifies as those who will most experience the devastating impacts of transmission development. Newman argues that the Study identifies landowner concerns as a barrier to transmission deployment but does not bother to consult these “barriers” or to devise solutions to mitigate their concerns. For this very reason, Newman also objects to the FERC Report on Barriers and Opportunities for High Voltage Transmission, which is cited in the Needs Study. Additionally, Newman argues that landowner interests should be represented on DOE’s Technical Review Committee. ​
Finally... we're getting somewhere!  DOE's resolution to this issue is:
Department Response
In response to comments from parties requesting additional, targeted stakeholder and Tribal outreach and continued stakeholder engagement, the Department has made additional efforts to engage with entities beyond the Department’s consultation with states, Tribes, and regional entities pursuant to Section 216(a) of the FPA, as amended (16 U.S.C. §824p(a)(1)). The Department has continued to accept meeting requests from commenting and interested parties to discuss draft Study findings.
Further, the Department has created regional and national fact sheets to be appended to the final Study and released concurrently to help make Study findings more accessible. The Department hopes the final Needs Study will be used as an educational tool to engage communities in discussion about grid needs. Departmental communications on final Study findings are a tool to solicit additional feedback from stakeholders on what future iterations of the Needs Study should entail.
The Department agrees with commenters that landowner, community, stakeholder, and Tribal engagement is imperative. The Department added Section V.e. Siting and Land Use Considerations (pages 95–108) to the final Study on subjects of unique interest to the communities. This section contains discussion of best practices for developers in engaging with landowners and other affected parties. 
Would any landowner who has had a meeting with DOE please raise your hand?  DOE is lying about having meetings with landowners, or any contact whatsoever.  As well DOE does not intend to CONSULT with landowners... it wants to dictate to landowners about how they should feel, what they should want, and thinks it needs to "educate" landowners to gladly participate in their goose-stepping march to government control.  This is the kind of nonsense dreamed up by privileged babies who have never had to live life in the real world.  The DOE's "Best Practices" did not come from discussions with actual landowners.  They came from a bunch of urban dimwits who think meat comes from Walmart, a place where they would never set dainty foot!  This is completely useless.  What landowners want is a seat at the table, not a bunch of know-nothings speaking for them.  DOE actually thinks if they read a number of studies done by fellow urban dimwits that pretend to speak for landowners that automatically makes them experts on what landowners want.  It would have been a lot less time consuming and a lot more accurate to actually consult with landowners.  What is it about us that *scares* these babies so much?
Keryn Newman objects to the Needs Study’s statement that “large amounts of low-cost generation potential exist in the middle of the country and accessing this generation through increased transmission is cost-effective for neighboring regions.” Newman argues this approach is only low-cost due to taxpayer-funded subsidies and lower-cost lands and that “turning rural America into an energy serfdom to provide power to far-away cities” benefits urban communities that do not want to build infrastructure in their own backyard. Newman also argues that the statement exhibits “cultural and political elitism.” Furthermore, Newman argues that the Study dismisses legitimate landowner concerns as “NIMBYism” and barriers to transmission development without attempting to address them. Accordingly, Newman concludes that the Study lacks awareness and empathy. 
The use of quotation marks slays me.  The response does not.
The Department stresses that addressing landowner concerns is critical to ensuring just and equitable outcomes in transmission deployment. The Needs Study makes no reference to “NIMBYism” and the Department has taken care to ensure that landowner concerns are not presented as a barrier to transmission deployment in the final Study. 
Well, that demonstrates lack of awareness and empathy.  Bravo!

Here's what DOE's "study" concluded about transmission on farmland.
Transmission can share much of its rights-of-way with other activities, such as agricultural fields or recreational paths, and are considered a “mixed use” activity. 
This also demonstrates a complete lack of sense and an absolute disconnect with farmers.  This is WHY DOE needs to consult with landowners.

This is how your hard-earned money is being wasted in Washington, DC.
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"Some" Landowners Interfering With Investors' "Overhead Cash Registers"

11/10/2018

1 Comment

 
The arrogant renewable energy folks had a "forum" this week.  On the day of the "forum" a renewable energy news outlet ran a series of three obnoxious articles telling people that the electric transmission grid is outdated and overly congested.  The solution?  Lots more new transmission "for renewables."  (read wind).

This is never going to happen.  The reasons why are clear, if slightly beyond the thought capacity of an industry that continues to lie to itself.  Merchant transmission  has been a gigantic failure.  The articles gush on about troubled projects that have racked up one failure after another, while also noting the complete failure ("the wheels came off") of many others.  News flash:  They're all going to fail eventually!  Not one "renewable" merchant transmission project has been built.  They can't be built.

Reasons why include:

1.  No customers to pay for them!  Even when Clean Line thought it had the green light for its Plains & Eastern project, it failed to attract any customers to pay for it, and Clean Line bailed at the first opportunity to unload this cash cow onto a utility wannabe who thought it could use part of the project as leverage to profit off a real utility's plan to construct a wind farm and the world's longest generation tie line.

2.  RTO's are not designed to facilitate exports.  RTO's are purposed to serve their region and therefore costs of serving the region are visited upon the consumers in that region.  Exporting electricity to other regions does not serve anyone in the region.  Asking different regions to build new transmission to patch regions together to serve the renewable energy industry doesn't benefit anyone in any of the regions either.  One article even claims that new "renewable" transmission lines "represent potential overhead cash registers for their owners."  So, this is all about an industry cashing in for their own benefit?  But yet...

3.  "Some" landowners oppose transmission.  Why the modifier "some?"  What is that supposed to represent anyhow?  That only a handful of landowners object to superrich investors and foreign corporations erecting an "overhead cash register" on their land using the power of eminent domain to take private property?  Sorry, but you're wrong about "some," if that's supposed to mean a small number.  Eminent domain for private gain is widely opposed by both affected and unaffected landowners.  Only "some" landowners are in favor of it, those who don't live on the land and are looking for a quick payday, or perhaps those who obliviously believe they're going to be richly compensated for the use of their land (or quid pro quo payments for being a public advocate for the transmission project).

Or perhaps "some" is an attempt at denying the power of landowners to derail transmission proposals?  Even though landowners were the biggest impediment to Clean Line's projects, Clean Line still wants to claim its projects failed due to the efforts of "a major utility, and prominent state politicians" and "some landowners."  As if the landowners were not the impetus for the political opposition, and as if a major utility opposed more than one of Clean Line's projects?  It was the landowners, Sherlock!  They are powerful, and they are the primary reason transmission projects are cancelled.  Wasn't it Sun Tzu who said "know your enemy"?  Denying the power of your most stalwart enemy is a fool's paradise.

Here's the basic truth:  Eminent domain for the purpose of erecting an "overhead cash register" on private property is frowned upon.  Sure, there was that awful Supreme Court decision that eminent domain could be used for "economic development" purposes, but that came with overwhelming backlash.  Eminent domain's historical use by utilities to serve all customers cannot be extended to erect "overhead cash registers" on private property.  New "renewable" transmission isn't necessary to provide electricity.  The grid we have is managing to keep the light on (for the most part).  One person's desire to obtain a different kind of electricity does not override another person's right to own and enjoy property.  If a company desires to erect an "overhead cash register" on private property, it's going to need landowner buy in.

How to get there?  It's not any of the ways renewable energy companies and environmentalists have proposed.  Landowner aggregation schemes, increased easement payments, even royalties, are not adequate for "some" landowners.  "Some" landowners simply do not want to sell an easement for any reason.  The "eking out and incremental solutions" (in the words of Jayshree Desai, former CLEPT-O, now spending some other investors money as ConnectGen) doesn't reside in erecting "overhead cash registers" on private property.  It resides in new ideas for buried transmission on existing rights of way, along railroads or highways.  That's the solution.  That's the way to "...figure out longer-haul, bulk transmission to really change the fundamental supply-demand balance of renewables in this country," Ms. Jayshree.  Jayshree and her band of Don Quixotes wasted more than $200M of investor cash trying to build "overhead cash registers" on private property.  And still one of the Dons persists because he can't pull his head out of the clouds (or another place closer to the ground). 

Overhead merchant transmission is dead!  The renewable energy industry and its environmental sycophants should should stop wasting their money and efforts on "overhead cash registers" and invest it in underground solutions.  The cost of these solution must be borne by the beneficiaries, in this case it's the renewable energy industry, or its customers.  The rest of us aren't going to pay for it.  You want to make money?  You gotta spend money!  The answer is at hand.  Don't make me grab you by the scruff of your neck and rub your nose in it.

1 Comment

Transmission Failure Has an Echo

11/14/2017

2 Comments

 
What time is it, kids?  No, it's not Howdy Doody time, but there will be a clown.  Lots of them, in fact!  It's time for the annual EUCI Best Practices in Public Participation for Transmission Projects!
This means it's time for transmission opponents to laugh, snicker and giggle over the way the utility industry thinks it's "managing" us all the way to permit denial.  That's right, boys and girls, once every winter, the transmission industry gathers in some place warm to discuss "public participation" for transmission siting!  Every year a different bunch of knuckle heads gets up and tells their own personal war stories about how they "managed" transmission opposition by "participating" with "the public."  It's supposed to be instructional, as if these losers have somehow found the key to stop opposition to badly planned and executed transmission projects.

They haven't.  Not once.

Sometimes, they even let guys get up and speak about how successful they are, even though their project has not been built.  And then the project fails.  I'm guessing they weren't very successful in "participating with the public" if opposition crashed their project.

Like about how they "leveraged lessons learned" and "American Electric Power and Allegheny Energy are applying best practices to help gain approvals for the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), a 765-kV project extending 275 miles through West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. Learn how the two companies are working together to apply successful strategies for grassroots outreach, community involvement, and public education while contending with project delays, entrenched opposition, and the economic downturn."  Not only was the PATH project cancelled just a month or so later, but the costs of all the activities these weasels advised their compatriots to undertake were later found not to be recoverable from ratepayers in a regulatory proceeding.  Nice work, fellas!  And, BTW, if you read the linked blog post and are wondering if my pals ever sent me a copy of their power point presentation, the answer is yes.  It came in a packet of data responses during an administrative hearing at FERC.  It really wasn't all that.  Borrrrring!

And then there was the year EUCI added a public participation website contest to the festivities.  Yes, they actually sent StopPATH's entry to their judges, and the judges did their duty.  I am missing the evaluation comments or scoring sheet though, but I do have a very vivid imagination!   And, again, if you read the linked blog post you'll be happy to know that I did present an award to BlockRICL at a transmission opposition convention shortly thereafter.  What?  Transmission opponents have their own gatherings?  Sure!  The utility guys would learn way more stuff there, but we don't invite them.  Nor let them in when we see them at the windows with their noses pressed to the glass.

And then there was the year they advertised their conference as helpful for "community group representatives."  That's a euphemism for you.  They actually thought opposition leaders were going to show up for their conference.  I guess all that pretending success among themselves was getting sorta boring, and nothing livens the place up like transmission opponents bearing torches and pitchforks. 

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Except no opponents showed up.  We didn't have any ratepayer funding for the trip and we were too busy using our own money to fight transmission companies.

So what's on the agenda for this year's Best Practices in Public Participation for Transmission Siting conference?  More bluff and bluster about how "effective" these buffoons have been at "participating with the public."  There's several presentations about transmission projects in Wisconsin and how the companies practiced "media relations and messaging in the face of public opposition" to get their project approved.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't "public participation" that bagged that trophy. It was more likely "private participation" the company may have engaged in behind closed doors.

These transmission companies think they're "building trust" with the public.  Who "trusts" a transmission company that has its eye on your property for one of their profit-making schemes?  Do you really think these guys are telling you the truth?  Because part of the program includes calling you a liar.
Emotional challenges to a project can cause projects sponsors to respond with facts, but those facts are often drowned out if the parties are unwilling to compromise. In this presentation, we will have an in-depth analysis of how to respond to exaggerated or false claims and how to manage project opposition explained with real-life case study/scenarios.
Hey, fellas, we simply don't believe you.  No matter what you say.  We don't trust you.

And then there's a bunch more clueless expounding about "what are stakeholders' concerns?"  Transmission companies don't know what your concerns are, because they don't listen to (or much care) what you think.  They brush away your every concern as nothing to be concerned about.  I'm guessing NONE of the participants of this conference have ever been a transmission opponent, nor do they take anything transmission opponents say seriously.  Quit pretending you know how we think, okay?

American Electric Power (parent company of Transource) will be making a presentation about their effective communication strategy that "can neutralize opposition and gain acceptance of transmission line projects."  So, the question is, when are they going to start utilizing that amazing strategy on their own Transource project?  Transource opposition is strong and building.  It's not being "neutralized."  And when you say stuff like that, it only makes the opposition more determined to kill your project than ever.  "Base to AEP:  Communication strategy FUBAR.  Failure imminent.  Disengage.  Retreat.  Over."

And don't miss the Public Outreach Executive Forum, where Transource's own Todd Burns will join a panel instructing his peers on how to "shape organizational culture, policies and practice in a public centered organization."  It sorta sounds like he thinks you're made out of silly putty.  But I'm betting, in the end, Todd's the one who's going to be bent out of shape.  Although, maybe Todd can pick up a few pointers at this conference?  I mean, his strategy is obviously not working on the Transource project. 

It's just another gathering of the clueless in their self-congratulatory echo chamber of failure.

Rock on, transmission opponents, rock on!

2 Comments

AEP's Shocking Arrogance Translated into Cheesy Videos

7/28/2017

3 Comments

 
Well, hey, hey, hey, aren't we Johnny on the Spot with our Wind Catcher Energy Connection project website, AEP!  But there seems to be some sort of discrepancy.  AEP has not provided the same information to the public on its website for the Independence Energy Connection, even though that project is several months down the road into route selection.  Independence Energy Connection's website provided very little information up until quite recently, and what's there now is so facile that it insults the intelligence of the public.

For example, this explanation of "congestion."
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Right... because transmission lines are just like highways and if all the electrons can't squeeze through electric prices will go up?  You forgot to mention that the "cheaper" electricity that can't squeeze through is only "cheaper" because it can't get through.  Once your 4-lane highway is in place, all the "cheaper" energy will motor through to consumers in other places.

And Independence Energy Connection seems to be missing this collection of cheesy videos that you've provided for "property owners" on your Wind Catcher Energy Connection website.  I'm sure they apply to both projects.

After watching a few of these videos I can only conclude that AEP has absolutely NO self-awareness.  Does AEP really think these videos will appeal to and reassure landowners that everything is going to be hunky dory?  The technique of using multiple actors to recite talking points and finish each other's sentences is annoying.  I'm not sure what presenting your information in that format was supposed to accomplish.  Are the public supposed to find someone they identify with in the video and listen to their 10 words of information and reject the rest recited by the other people they don't like the looks of?  Honestly, some of these guys look like deer in the headlights.  If they're not comfortable presenting information, then the viewer is not comfortable receiving it.  Or is the viewer supposed to feel like they're outnumbered and the only one going against the program?  Whatever technique you were going for, I don't think it works.

And that's because of the actual information recited. 

Such as this one, where AEP says they control what you can do on your land and you'll need AEP's permission to use it.

Or this one, where AEP lists all the things you might want to do with your land that they consider "encroachments."  AEP will monitor what you do and may "insist" that "encroachments" be removed.

This one may be most shocking... because AEP calmly tells you how you may be shocked while around or under their high-voltage transmission lines.  But it's not a risk to you.  It just might be a bit uncomfortable.  Forever.  It's all perfectly safe.

So, let's see here... AEP has just told property owners being asked to host new transmission lines that AEP will become Big Brother to monitor what goes on on their properties forevermore, insist that they remove anything AEP doesn't like, and that they're probably going to be "nuisance" shocked constantly.   Well, gosh, AEP, sign me up!!!

And AEP wonders why property owners oppose their projects?

One last thing, AEP.  I sort of hate to play the race card and all, but why are all the people in your videos white, except for that lone token black guy?  That's not what a cross-section of America looks like, in case that's what you were attempting.

AEP just keeps kicking itself in the butt.  Nice going, knuckleheads!
3 Comments

Randy Dowdy Teach Big Lesson

3/16/2017

5 Comments

 
Randy Dowdy used to grow big corn.  But in the aftermath of a natural gas pipeline's crossing of his farm, he seems to nowadays be growing the public's attention to how landowners are routinely disrespected by the builders of new energy projects.

Dowdy's story is shocking.  It's awful.  It's infuriating.  His once extremely productive farm has been destroyed.  The company refuses to pay him for repairs.  Promises made were not promises kept.

Sadly, Randy Dowdy's story isn't unique.  Its a common story told over and over by landowners who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in the middle of a linear energy infrastructure project, whether pipeline or electric transmission line.

Lesson #1

Don't believe verbal promises from the company.
When Sabal Trail approached him, Dowdy agreed to a negotiated fee for the right-of-way and estimated crop loss because he knew if he balked, the government would help the company take it anyway. He agreed in good faith, as well. Sabal Trail promised that Dowdy’s land would be returned to its original state by early January, in time for the new planting season.

And this is where the dispute begins.

“I was assured that Sabal would adhere to Georgia Soil and Water provisions,” says Dowdy, “that they would adhere to guidelines for segregated top soil and sub soil…rebuild my terracing to insure erosion wouldn’t occur…and put everything back in pre-construction condition. They said they would do…in their words…everything it takes.”
Lesson #2

Companies will hide behind construction management plans approved by regulators.
Andrea Grover, Director of Stakeholder Communications for Sabal Trail, says the company “followed specific protocols in place for construction which include storm water, erosion and sediment control plans which all require best management practices or “BMPs.”

“Our representatives have worked with individual landowners over the course of the past 3 ½ years to address concerns as related to the project and its impact to agriculture,” Grover explains. “The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) is the lead agency which approves pipeline projects, and Sabal Trail’s work is limited to only the FERC approved areas and conditions for construction. Project inspection personnel and our contractors all have the appropriate level of certifications for storm water controls inspection in Georgia.”
Lesson #3

Landowner complaints are ignored.
While Sabal Trail management promised that Dowdy’s farm would be back in business by the first week in January, and ensured that the project right-of-way would be “restored to its previous condition and contours,” that wasn’t the case. Repairs continued into February—and, worse, were still in progress when a major late January storm hit the state.

“I had already reached out to Sabal Trail management at least five times in December to say I was seeing erosion issues,” recalls Dowdy. “They promised to fix it immediately, but they never did, so when the storm came, we were completely unprotected.”
Lesson #4

Your only remedy for a dispute over damage is through civil court, at your own expense.
Dowdy thought he had made some headway with Sabal Trail when the company, in an attempt to make peace with an unhappy landowner, offered to pay Dowdy to make additional repairs to his land.

“They asked me to put together an estimate for attempting to repair the land, including an acceptable value I placed on my wetlands, and additional future yield loss,” says Dowdy. “We made a verbal agreement and I began repairs as instructed. Sabal knew the costs and agreed to pay for the estimated costs of repair.”

“When it came time for them to pay though, they introduced a condition—in order to get my reimbursement, I would have to sign a document releasing Sabal from future long-term yield loss, wetland violations and compensation. Here I was repairing what they messed up at my own expense and then they want more.”

Dowdy says his lawyer advised him not to sign and, thus far, he has not signed nor has he received a penny of the promised reimbursement from Sabal Trail.

Next Step…Litigation?
Lesson #5

Despite having access to approved construction management plans, personnel actually completing the work have little knowledge of the plans and are apt to take shortcuts or plain ol' ignore the plans in order to get the job done easier and faster.  The people doing the actual construction work don't care about your property the way you do.
Dowdy’s laundry list of what wasn’t completed correctly by Sabal Trail is long.

“Sediment barriers were placed wrong, no hay was spread, there were no temporary terraces or berms…water was moving off my land at a 10% grade and sediment was going right into the surrounding wetlands and waterways. If Sabal had been in compliance with BMPs, I wouldn’t have been replacing 15,000 cubic yards of topsoil as I am having to do after the storm.”

Grover says Sabal Trail did return to Dowdy’s farm, and others impacted by pipeline construction, after the late January storm event, to “inspect the construction areas to ensure soil erosion devices installed according to the BMPs are working properly or repaired if necessary.”

But by then, says Dewey Lee, UGA Professor and Extension Agronomist, even though Sabal Trail installed additional BMPs after the storm damage was discovered, it was too late.

Lee who has worked with Dowdy on conditioning his farmland for a decade, says, “In the restoration that Sabal did, it appears they did not follow regulatory protocols perfectly. It appears that the crew handling the reconstruction did not have a full understanding of what their responsibilities were. This ultimately caused erosion down Randy’s waterways and across his field.”

Like Lee, irrigation specialist, Rance Harrod, knows well Dowdy’s attention to detail when it comes to his land. Dowdy and Lee’s suspicions that co-mingling of the top and sub soils in the fields was confirmed just last week after an irrigation supply line to the pivot began leaking. It was Harrod, along with Dowdy and a Sabal Trail employee, who worked on the fix.

Dowdy says as soon as Harrod began digging, it was apparent that the Sabal Trail repair crew had paid little attention to BMPs when it came to replacing the soil.

“Sabal has created tremendous soil loss and erosion resulting in offsite movement into the wetlands, no question about that. Randy’s damages are almost incalculable,” Lee adds.
Lesson #6

The regulators who approve construction management plans don't enforce them.  They expect that the company will police itself.  Company inspectors work for the company, not the landowners.  The fox cannot guard the hen house.
“I shared pictures of the problems I was seeing with the Georgia Environmental Protection Department to show them things weren’t being done to regulations, hoping that they would take it up with Sabal,” says Dowdy. “But they said they needed to see it at the time it happened…that a later complaint wasn’t enough.”

Dowdy recalls he asked the agent “well where were you when it needed to be inspected?” He says the agent told him they didn’t have enough manpower to be everywhere along a 500-mile pipeline at all times.

“The only people inspecting what Sabal was doing to my land was Sabal,” says Dowdy. “The way I see it, it was like the proverbial fox guarding the hen house.”
Energy companies and regulators talk big about construction plans that protect landowners.  Reality is often far different.

Construction management, environmental protection, and agricultural impact mitigation plans are just that... plans.  They offer no real protection for landowners.  They're just pieces of paper.  Don't be fooled.
5 Comments

Community Participation in Urban Transmission Plans

9/21/2016

2 Comments

 
Building new transmission is hard.  Building new transmission in urban areas is really hard.  Building new transmission will always foment opposition of some kind.  When the proposal affects urban areas, opposition will be loud, widespread, and fierce simply due to the number of people affected and the lack of space to construct new infrastructure in an already crowded landscape.

I came across an article recently that provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the actions of two different utilities attempting to build new transmission capacity for short distances in urban areas.

Dominion needs to build new capacity in the City of Alexandria, Virginia.  In preparation, it convened a "resident-led work group" and involved city officials in coming up with a plan that was least objectionable to the city and residents.  By doing this, the affected individuals were allowed to "buy in" to a solution that they felt they had some control over.  By giving the affected community a (real or imagined) voice in selecting a solution, opposition was ameliorated.
“In my view, Dominion looked really hard at the input this community had and listened to us around the table. I’ve served on a lot of task groups in Alexandria, but this is probably the best I ever sat on.”
It probably bears mentioning that the Dominion proposals included underground options.
And Mayor Allison Silberberg touted Dominion’s proposal for the fact that both options keep power lines underground.

“The good news is Dominion put forward two alternatives that are, in the proposal, both shown to be underground in Alexandria,” Silberberg said. “That’s really good, because that has been a top concern. We are awaiting more info from Dominion with regard to the specifics, and then once we get that specific info from them, we will be reconvening the work group, which has been excellent, to go over these considerations and the two options.”
Underground proposals rarely gather the same kind of fierce opposition as overhead proposals.  So, good for you, Dominion, for being flexible enough to compromise in order to realize the goals of the project, and not stubbornly insisting on a configuration the community would reject.

Now, let's compare this to FirstEnergy's current kerfuffle in New Jersey.  FE affiliate Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) wants to build a 10-mile transmission upgrade in urban Monmouth County, NJ.  And they want to do it overhead, along a commuter train right-of-way.  FirstEnergy has not consulted with the community, but is insisting on building the project to its own specifications.  Opposition has been huge, swift, and fierce.  Community opponents number in the thousands.  Legislators have gotten involved.  And opposition to this particular transmission proposal has leaked over into FirstEnergy's proposal for a transmission only utility spin-off in the state.  What a mess FirstEnergy has made of this project and its community goodwill.  There's no going back from this.

By refusing to take community suggestion, and insisting that it cannot bury the project along the train right-of-way (although Dominion seems to be able to do just that in Virginia), FirstEnergy has done nothing but encourage opposition to dig in its heels and spread like wildfire.  The MCRP will never be built as currently envisioned by JCP&L.  FirstEnergy cannot bully or buy its way to community support for MCRP.

It's time for some new thinking at FirstEnergy's transmission headquarters.  In days gone by, it was accepted practice for a transmission utility to simply buy enough community support to get a project approved despite community opposition.  A utility never had to compromise when it could buy enough support to fool regulators and provide "political cover" for elected officials to claim that the community at large supported the proposal.  A utility simply presented its planned project as a fait accompli and ignored any community opposition.  The times, they are a changing.

Dominion has accepted that there is a better way to get transmission built without widespread community opposition that delays projects and increases their cost unnecessarily.  FirstEnergy is still banging its corporate head against a brick wall, refusing to change, and causing delays and unnecessary costs for projects it does manage to get approved through third-party advocacy.

There is a better way.  And it works.  If FirstEnergy wasn't so mismanaged, it would clean house in its transmission department and restock it with folks from Dominion.
2 Comments

How Many Clean Line Supporters Are Actually Dead?

9/18/2016

0 Comments

 
The Consumer Energy Alliance recently got caught sending fake letters of support for a pipeline project to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  One of the letter writers has been dead since 1998.

Hmm... Consumer Energy Alliance.... where have we heard that name before?  I know!  The Consumer Energy Alliance was behind the "EDJ Alliance" that was used in a lame attempt to drum up support for Clean Line's Plains and Eastern project in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee last year.  Since then, it has been suspiciously quiet... almost like it is dead itself.  And the Consumer Energy Alliance also pretended to speak in favor of Clean Line's Rock Island project at an Illinois Commerce Commission public hearing in 2013.  Clean Line is a "member" of the Consumer Energy Alliance, although it (along with all the other "members") aren't "consumers" at all.  The CEA represents "consumers" in name only, while it really represents the interests of its paying industry members.  That's what's called a "front group."
A front group is an organization that purports to represent one agenda while in reality it serves some other party or interest whose sponsorship is hidden or rarely mentioned.
In the recent pipeline case, attorneys for opposition groups have asked the U.S. Postal Service to investigate the CEA for mail fraud, since it stupidly mailed its fake support letters to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to be placed on the pipeline docket.  The attorneys have also asked FERC to
...immediately convene an independent audit of all public comment statements submitted to docket of Case No. CP16-22 since the opening of the comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement; that the Commission strike Intervenors’ Exhibits A through O from the docket and grant leave to any intervenors to this proceeding to submit
further pleadings relating to striking other public comment statements from the docket; finally, that the Commission make a referral to its Division of Investigations, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector-General, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector-General, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The opposition groups claim "someone appears to have undertaken widespread criminal fraud to influence the outcome of this federal pipeline certificate proceeding." And have produced evidence that at least 15 of the letters submitted to FERC by the CEA were done so without the knowledge or permission of the purported authors.

The CEA answered the opposition complaint, requesting "... that the Commission decline to address Neighbors’ protest (the “Protest”) as its contentions are false and have no merit."  CEA goes on to claim that it has records to prove that the authors of the letters gave permission to CEA to create and mail the letters to FERC.  The authors claim otherwise in numerous affidavits.  In one instance, the author has been dead since 1998.  In another, a relative of an author claims she could not give permission because she has dementia.  Another author  interviewed by Newsnet5 said, "I’ve never said none of those words. I don’t have a typewriter, I don’t have a computer to make a letter as such.”

Here's how CEA explained this "misunderstanding."

As an energy consumer advocacy organization, CEA has developed a process of gathering grassroots support for affordable, reliable energy projects. As part of that widely accepted business process, CEA conducts automated telephone surveys with selected individuals. When an automated call is placed, and consistent with accepted industry practice, the call is directed to the individual listed in phone company records. The individual who participates in the survey is asked a series of questions from a scripted questionnaire to which he or she is requested to answer by pressing on the phone’s keyboard “1” for “yes” and “2” for “no”. But, it is the nature of automated surveys that the questions are not asked by a live person and there is no process to identify and confirm who answers the phone and responds to the question.

The survey used here began with an introductory statement telling the respondent that the Commission is considering whether or not to grant a permit to build the NEXUS pipeline and explaining the benefits of the pipeline, including creation of jobs in the region and reduction of energy costs for manufacturers and consumers. The survey continued with the express question on whether or not the respondent would give his or her permission to relay to the Commission his support for the pipeline. If the respondent replied with “no”, the survey would ask another question reiterating the importance of the Project and again ask the respondent if he or she would support the pipeline and authorize CEA to pass that view on to the Commission. On behalf of those respondents who indicated their support for the project and authorized CEA to forward that viewpoint to the Commission, CEA then generated the letter for the 347 individuals that were filed.

Moreover, it is implicit in the nature of any automated phone survey that from time to time there will be instances where the person who answers the phone and responds to the survey is not the person listed in the telephone company’s records as the householder. This would explain the inadvertent error that can occur when a supporting letter is generated in the name of the person listed as householder, but someone else actually answers the phone. So, even though the householder – in whose name the support letter was generated – may not be competent or even in agreement, the person who answered did respond affirmatively and authorize support for the Project. Similarly, in some instances the respondent may not fully understand the presented question, unintentionally answer it in the wrong way and later change his or her mind. Or, in some cases, the respondent may forget that the survey even took place, let alone that he or she gave the authorization for his comments to be filed with the Commission. CEA regrets any such misunderstanding or miscommunication that may have occurred.
So, CEA robocalls people and asks them to push a number on their phone and that constitutes permission to create and mail a letter in their name to the federal government?  One news account says that CEA robocalled 25,000 households, and from that it found only 347 people supposedly gullible enough to push the right button to give permission?  And even then, many deny ever getting the phone call in the first place.

I guess we can assume that the other 24,653 people contacted by the CEA did NOT support the pipeline, although CEA didn't bother generating a letter from those consumers expressing their opposition to the project.

CEA doesn't represent consumers.  CEA represents its paying industry members.  One of those members is Clean Line Energy Partners.

So, if you're a live person in relatively good health, you'd better get your comments opposing the various Clean Line projects filed with regulators now.  Otherwise, the CEA may submit comments supporting Clean Line to regulators using your name. 

What a bunch of dirty, cheating tricksters!
0 Comments

Transmission Myths Often Mistakenly Believed and Then Utilized to Support Unsuccessful Practices

8/5/2016

1 Comment

 
The EUCI industry echo chamber is at it again.

Congratulations, Midwesterners, you now have your very own special EUCI conference!  Dealing with you has become a specialized practice area for the transmission industry.  What is it about you that makes you special?  Is it your attachment to your land?  Your love of uncluttered, wide-open spaces?  Your appreciation for peaceful, non-industrial landscapes?  Your honesty?  Your sense of justice and fair play?  Your mistrust of outsiders who want to take something from you?  The transmission industry sure would love to figure out what makes you tick!

That's why they will be gathering to discuss you at Transmission Expansion in the Midwest this coming October.  Attendees believe they will:
...explore the specifics of how to develop and maintain positive landowner relationships while negotiating in good faith for pipeline, electric transmission, wind and solar, rail and public sector projects. This would include whether pursuing site leasing, site purchase, easements, right of ways and/or workspace, and whether coming from the perspective of project management, design engineering, environmental, appraising, permitting, survey, right of way, inspections, construction, operations, and others, this presentation is a must in helping ensure a successful project, on time and on budget with happy landowners.
That just can't happen.  No landowner is ever "happy" when electric transmission is sited on their property.  Never.

But EUCI bravely soldiers on, putting together these industry echo chambers where industry speakers hide their failure in order to pretend they're successful. Whatever... they're only fooling themselves.  The reality is that it's getting harder and harder to permit, site, and build transmission in the face of record-breaking opposition.  Opposition is bigger.  Opposition is faster.  Opposition is more sophisticated and successful than ever before.  So, what do EUCI's speakers know about the opposition that delays, alters and flat-out cancels even the most carefully planned transmission projects?  Not much.  Not only are the industry critters lacking perspective, they absolutely have no idea what motivates opposition.  Why?  Because they've never been an opponent!  And they don't want to learn from any opposition heathens.  Wouldn't these classes be better taught by the opposition?  Instead, you get this:
Recognize and understand landowner’s perspectives and the importance of dealing with unique differences in various landowners, their personalities and their needs/concerns.
Who's going to help you understand landowner perspectives?  A landowner?  No, a land agent, the arch nemesis of a landowner.  If I really wanted to understand someone, I'd like to talk with that person, not their enemy.

And then there's this:
Beyond the historical considerations of zoning, environmental, special use, conservation and damages determination, communities are becoming more and more vocal in their requirements in infrastructure development.  As social media and cyber-activism have become the norm (even for landowners not impacted by a project), companies need to become social-savvy in route planning, outreach and negotiations.  More often than not, whether in the electric industry or in other related industries, projects are successful or fail spectacularly due to communication issues, lack of messaging and poor understanding of the locale impacted.
Would this presentation be helped by a local opposition perspective?  Definitely.  However, you're not going to get that at EUCI.  Again, this is presented by a land agent who isn't from the community where transmission is located.  The land agent has no experience presenting successful social media campaigns that draw in opponents and keep them active and engaged throughout the process.  Transmission company ideas of social media campaigns consist of cherry-picked and carefully wrapped one-way communications directed at communities.  There's nothing interactive about it if you don't agree with the company position presented.  Companies, ever afraid of legal missteps, cannot and will not communicate with opponents in an informal, down-to-earth manner.  Company social media campaigns are a complete waste of time.

KURT ALERT!!!!  Of course a Midwestern Transmission Expansion conference wouldn't be complete without some fantasy from Clean Line Energy Partners!  Except Clean Line's presentations are always the same.  No creativity there!
Case Study: Delivering Wind Energy to Market

The United States possesses some of the best renewable energy resources in the world. However, continued growth of the renewable energy industry in the U.S. faces a serious challenge: the lack of transmission. Clean Line Energy is developing a series of long-haul direct current transmission lines to deliver low-cost renewable energy to communities that have a strong demand for clean power.

This presentation will focus on the Grain Belt Express Clean Line, which will deliver wind energy from Kansas into Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The project has received its regulatory approvals in Kansas, Illinois and Indiana and is currently working through the final state approval process in Missouri. The presentation will provide an update on the regulatory, routing, and other milestones accomplished with a focus on the benefits this project will bring to Missouri.

Amy Kurt, Director of Development, Clean Line Energy Partners
Benefits?  Pretend jobs and tax revenue?  Economic development isn't the basis for eminent domain.

And that's just the problem.  Eminent domain.  As long as eminent domain is on the table, there will be no "happy" landowners.  It's not about "communication" or psychological manipulation of landowners, it's not about siting, it's not about getting to know the community values, it's not about made-up "benefits," it's not about purchased "support" for transmission projects.  It's about the eminent domain.

No matter how much smoke and mirrors this industry generates in its echo chamber, it will continue to face increasingly effective opposition and transmission projects will fail.

Checkmate.
1 Comment

Transmission Line "Open Houses" Cause Project Opposition Infernos

7/22/2016

2 Comments

 
The transmission project "Open House" is a public relations ploy designed to indoctrinate an unsuspecting public with transmission company talking points while simultaneously dividing and conquering a community.

This tactic is so old, I don't even know (or much care) where it originated.  All that matters is that it has become an industry "best practice" that needs serious reform.  Transmission companies who utilize "Open House" format are doing nothing but shooting themselves in the foot right out of the starting gate.

The idea behind presenting a project to a community via an "Open House" format is to neutralize the combined energy of an angry crowd, such as would occur if the company presented its project to all attendees at the same time in a town hall format.  By keeping attendees separate, the company believes it is keeping the public from sharing information and validating their ideas with others who share the same unfavorable opinion about the information presented.  An assembled crowd listening to the same information from one speaker would feed off the energy of just a few naysayers until everyone is on the same opposition bandwagon.

But "Open House" meetings simply delay the inevitable.  Unless companies meet with community residents separately, multiple attendees will talk with each other and share opinions.  People band together at times of crisis, and transmission company "Open Houses" are a fertile enabler of impromptu discussions and exchanges of information by community members.  The commiseration of strangers will spill out of the "Open House" venue and continue long after the transmission company employees take off their little name tags and pack up their display posters.  The transmission company "Open House" is the birthplace of transmission project opposition groups.

In the past, each community opposition group had to reinvent the wheel and it took them longer to cause transmission project approval headaches.  Today however, the internet exponentially expands quick access to resources and information used to spray gasoline on an opposition bonfire while anger is fresh.  It's an opposition inferno!

Is there a way to change that outcome?  Sure.  But it's not about meeting format.  It's about how company information is presented.  Current "best practice" intends to lead attendees through a maze of "information stations" where company representatives explain electric energy, environmental protection, the transmission grid, transmission grid planning, need for new transmission lines, and the appearance and function of new lines.  Then the attendee is dumped out into an "information station" where they can look at maps to find out how close their property is to the proposed transmission line.  That's all the attendee cares about, everything else learned at the early stations is completely forgotten when they come to the realization that the project is going to directly affect them.  Then the transmission company hands them a "comment card" and the idea that their opinion matters in the ultimate transmission route.  Attendees are conditioned to frame their comment around pushing the line off their own property and onto that of their neighbor.  That only works for a few minutes while the attendee is earnestly at work trying to avoid the transmission line.  Comment card deposited, the attendee leaves the venue, where others have gathered on sidewalks and in parking lots to discuss the project and resolve to fight it.  Opposition is born.

I came across a news photo recently depicting a transmission company employee talking to attendees at a Southern Cross transmission project "Open House."  It's classic.  Every news story about a transmission line "Open House" includes the obligatory photo of attendees speaking with company employees.  I've seen this photo thousands of times, only the faces change.

Look at this photo.  The body language tells the story.
Nervous transmission company employee tries to explain himself to angry attendees.  Look at the three attendees.  Two have their arms folded across their chest.  That's a defensive posture that indicates they clearly aren't even listening to transmission guy any longer and certainly are long past being receptive to his information.  The attendee in the middle has his hands firmly planted in his pockets, which is also a semi-defensive move that signals insecurity, mistrust and a reluctance to listen.  All three attendees have the same expression on their face.  It's the expression of someone who clearly doesn't believe the person speaking.  You can bet that those three will be talking with each other as soon as transmission guy moves away to talk with other attendees.

But wait... is transmission guy also in the process of shoving his hands in his pockets?  Ahh... insecurity!  And why not?  Who wouldn't be insecure facing down these three?

So, what's the problem?  Transmission guy is presenting them with a fait accompli.  He (and his company and possibly a regional transmission organization) have already made the decision to build a transmission project.  Now, maybe the project is a necessary response to a problem that must be solved.  But nobody likes hearing the solution to a problem, without first considering the problem.

A better approach is not to attempt behavior control of a community to go along with a pre-determined solution, but to involve the community in crafting the solution to a problem that affects them.  Presenting the problem to the community and soliciting possible solutions within a range of possibilities, and being open to new possibilities, creates a whole different dynamic.  It causes attendees to listen to the problem, the possible solutions, and to become involved in solving the problem.  When communities are involved in crafting the solution, they cooperatively "buy in" to the ultimate solution.  Now the solution may not be the company's desired transmission project, so the company needs to demonstrate flexibility in the selected solution.  As long as it gets the job done, right?

But wait... a solution that's not the company's solution might not make the most money for the company.  Look at yourselves, transmission companies, you want to be public utilities, but yet you believe that also gives you the right to make the most money possible from the public you serve.  It doesn't.

Stasis or momentum?  The choice is yours!
2 Comments

Would You Trust This Guy?

5/23/2016

2 Comments

 
James V. Fakult needs to work on his communication skills.

I get lots of notices about new transmission proposals, but this one was so poorly done, it made me laugh out loud.  According to this article, liespotting is an art.  Watch out for number 6 when reading the quotes from Fakult.
Liars overemphasize their truthfulness. “To tell you the truth…” “Honestly…” “I swear to you…” Oh, if only it were so! When people use these bolstering statements to emphasize their honesty, there’s a good chance they are hiding something. Learning to baseline someone’s normal behavior is important in situations such as this:  You want to listen for normal or harmless use of such phrases. There’s no need to add them if you really are telling the truth, so be on guard.
Now listen to Fakult:
"The growth has been in some fits and starts, but we're at a point now where this is an essential project to continue to provide, really, the type of service, the level of service, that our customers expect from us," Fakult told the Asbury Park Press. "It reinforces the system in that area. It allows us to, again, provide better, more reliable, resilient service."
Really, James?  Really?  What was the purpose of sticking that word into your statement, except to bolster your statement that the people really need your project.  And you repeated yourself there at the end, hoping it would give more credibility to your proposition.  Clearly, he doesn't even believe it himself.  Maybe if he repeats it a couple dozen more times it will become true?
"The time is now," Fakult said. "It just needs to be done now."
Perhaps Fakult is attempting to tread carefully, since a substantially similar project was attempted many years ago but failed due to public opposition.
Nearly 16 years ago, the utility scrapped plans for a 6.5-mile transmission line, to be run on 60-foot high steel poles, along the railroad tracks from Matawan to Middletown, after intense community opposition. Residents and some town officials, fearing a reduction in property values and worried about health risks, fought the project for a decade.

"To me, it is nothing but a resurrection of precisely the same plan that we fought and stopped," said state Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, R-Monmouth, a vocal opponent years ago. "It's the phoenix rising from the ashes, it's the ghost of battles past. It's not different."
I don't think the people have forgotten.  Looks like opposition will be swift and fierce.  So, what's changed this time?
This time, the utility proposes to run the wires atop slender single poles that average 140 feet tall rather than bulky towers used in the past, spokesman Ron Morano said.
Who says the public likes monopoles any better than they like lattice towers?  Did AEP tell you that?
AEP isn't the public.  Truly aesthetic transmission is underground.  You should have started there, James.  Since everyone (214,000 ratepayers, according to the article) is going to benefit from the project, everyone should pay the increased cost of undergrounding it so it doesn't become a hazard or a burden to adjacent landowners.  You're always going to have opposition when you propose that a few should sacrifice themselves for the many.  Beneficiary pays.
The use of the NJ Transit corridor, which is already designated for public use and has existing electric infrastructure, as well as the slimmer monopoles, will help to minimize the disruption on the community, Fakult said.
Transmission lines are NOT like Lay's potato chips.  Just because someone lives near invasive infrastructure does NOT mean they want or deserve more of it.  Look at it this way -- those folks living in close proximity to existing infrastructure have already paid their dues to society.  Isn't it someone else's turn?
Morano, the JCP&L spokesman, said the utility follows all safety and heath guidelines and will have an electromagnetic fields expert available at open house sessions. "We are successfully building transmission lines in other (areas) without any issues," she said.
EMF health-related issues are entirely perceptual.  Your "experts" and selected 30 year old studies don't convince anyone.  How about putting your money where your expert's mouth is, FirstEnergy?  How about offering the landowner a written guarantee to cover the health care costs of any individual who can prove their illness was related to living in close proximity to your transmission line?  Your wallet clearly doesn't believe your "science."

So, next FirstEnergy plays its trump card to claim that PJM has determined the project to be necessary.
PJM Interconnection, the organization that oversees the electric grid in 13 states and Washington D.C., has identified the Monmouth County Reliability Project as a necessary project to reduce the length and frequency of outages in Monmouth County, the utility said.

If not built, "over the long term, you start to see issues emerge," Fakult said. "When you start to see peaking conditions, you just don't have the contingencies that you need to run the system reliably."
PJM?  The organization that "answers to no one?"  But your press release said YOU were proposing it, FirstEnergy.  Which is it?  Who first "identified" this project as a necessity?  Was it PJM, or was it FirstEnergy, looking to "energize" its profits by building transmission it believes necessary to meet future demand:
As noted in the fact sheet, Energizing the Future is a transmission initiative through 2017 that involves upgrading and strengthening the grid to meet the future demands of customers and communities. Key factors driving that investment include enhancing system reliability by replacing existing equipment with advanced technologies; meeting projected load growth; and reinforcing the system in light of power plant deactivations, the fact sheet added.
Fakult thinks he can do things differently this time:
The company plans to hold three open house events in neighborhoods near the proposed project to share information with the public and gather feedback. The company also is setting up a website at www.monmouthreliability.com.
You're going to hold three events guaranteed to thoroughly piss off the communities and give the opposition an opportunity to meet and greet and build mass, FirstEnergy?  You've really learned nothing at all over the years, have you?

Your talk about "need" really isn't convincing.  Did the utility "need" this transmission project the first time it was proposed, 16 years ago?  Obviously not, since it never happened and the lights still come on in those communities when people flip the switch.  Adding words like "really" this time isn't going to help you.

Once again, FirstEnergy puts its cart before its horse by presenting a community with a transmission project as a fait accompli.  Presuming the project is "needed" and it's only a matter of how to build it and where to put it will never be accepted at face value by a community.  First, you have to convince them that a need for something exists, and then you consult with the community to determine an acceptable solution.

That's true "community consultation."  Really.
2 Comments

    About the Author

    Keryn Newman blogs here at StopPATH WV about energy issues, transmission policy, misguided regulation, our greedy energy companies and their corporate spin.
    In 2008, AEP & Allegheny Energy's PATH joint venture used their transmission line routing etch-a-sketch to draw a 765kV line across the street from her house. Oooops! And the rest is history.

    About
    StopPATH Blog

    StopPATH Blog began as a forum for information and opinion about the PATH transmission project.  The PATH project was abandoned in 2012, however, this blog was not.

    StopPATH Blog continues to bring you energy policy news and opinion from a consumer's point of view.  If it's sometimes snarky and oftentimes irreverent, just remember that the truth isn't pretty.  People come here because they want the truth, instead of the usual dreadful lies this industry continues to tell itself.  If you keep reading, I'll keep writing.


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