Category:

Building Community Trust

8/9/2020

That's an important part of any infrastructure project, and Invenergy has completely failed at the task.

Behold! An Invenergy/GBE door hanger left on a landowner's door. Know where it ended up? The trash can. It had to be separated from the household refuse in order to sit for its recent photo session. I'm going to guess that's a giant grease stain at the top, and not a weird, gray cloud.

And how does Invenergy attempt to build community trust with this door hanger?

NOW UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP!

Obviously, Invenergy understands that nobody trusted the prior owner of the project, Clean Line Energy Partners. But simply stating there's a new owner doesn't get the job done.

Clean Line spent years holding community meetings and events with pulled pork sandwiches, bouncy houses, and other "fun" attractants for local residents to come and develop a cordial relationship with the company based on trust. There was even a ham dinner, where one lucky landowner filled up his own sack with a pile of ham slices. That event was so successful, it transformed an ordinary house cat into the amazing Miss Kitty Hamm, who is able to communicate through the internet for brief periods of time.

Unfortunately, like all cats, Miss Kitty Hamm has developed a little bit of an attitude. She recently penned a note asking for more Grain Belt Express ham, but Invenergy is a cheap date. It prefers to do ABSOLUTELY nothing to foster trust in the local community. I tried to explain that there's little a company can do during these trying times. There's a pandemic raging and person-to-person contact and sharing of food isn't a good idea. But Miss Kitty Hamm can be incredibly stubborn...

Food is the key to a kitty's heart, however, the humans at Invenergy have underestimated the intellectual abilities of the average feline and the people who serve the cat kingdom. We can read! Where's the news stories? Where's the colorful community advertising? Where's the outdoor music festival where kitties and humans can cavort at a distance while enjoying music and speeches? Where's the donations to food banks? Where's the new parks being built for the communities? Where's the cash donations to help the local schools with the added expense of distance learning? Where's the catnip mice for the local animal shelter? There's plenty a "new owner" can do to win the hearts and minds of your average kitty. Invenergy is failing to do anything to build trust with the communities in Missouri! Without a pile of free ham, I simply cannot trust these people!
P.S. That's not a grease stain. My litter box needed changing.

The community's mistrust of Invenergy is raging. First thing they did was eliminate Clean Line's proposed monopoles and replace them with cheaper and more invasive lattice structures. Invenergy has not bothered contacting local county commissions to seek assent for its project. Without assent, this project is not fully permitted. And speaking of permits, Invenergy STILL has not bothered to submit an application for a permit in Illinois. There's no end point for this project. Where's the end point? Well, Invenergy isn't saying.

Western Kansas and the surrounding area to customers in Missouri and other states in the region.

Well, that's sort of like dialing your binoculars out of focus, isn't it, Invenergy? Clean Line's project used to go from Western Kansas to a substation in Indiana for delivery to eastern states. But now Invenergy's project begins in "the surrounding area" of Western Kansas. What "surrounds" Western Kansas? Other states, like Oklahoma, where Invenergy owns the unfinished States Edge Wind Farm. Other states like Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and even Texas. How many potential wind farms does Invenergy own in those states? On the eastern end, what other states are in the same "region" as Missouri? Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas? Where are the customers in those states? How big is a state "region"? Invenergy could be planning to build a transmission line through Missouri that begins and ends anywhere... or nowhere at all. And since Invenergy is just so vague these days, should we ask ourselves who does that? Who builds the middle of a highway to nowhere that doesn't connect with any known roads on either end? You can bet that Invenergy has a plan... it's just not one it wants you to know about right now. In fact, it appears that they don't want anyone to know about their actual plan right now, including regional transmission organizations, other utilities, and especially state regulators. Not exactly a way to win your trust, is it, Kitty?

Meow! Err... no. I trust Invenergy about as much as I trust that smiling sadist at the veterinary clinic with the syrupy voice and greased fanny pole behind her back.

Trust in Grain Belt Express is at an all time low in Missouri.

UPDATE: Ya know how Facebook spies on you and attempts to show you things you may like? Miss Kitty Hamm hopes this means that Invenergy is planning another community ham dinner! And sometimes the jokes just write themselves...

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The Truth About The Macrogrid Initiative

7/7/2020

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Renewable energy companies, transmission builders, and Bill Gates have come together to brainwash the American public into thinking that they need a "macrogrid." And, of course, the mainstream media is only too eager to assist by publishing thoughtless propaganda designed to guide your thinking towards their goal. Here's one of the first examples, from the Los Angeles Times.

Renewable energy has been using your tax dollars for years to build infrastructure that provides small amounts of intermittent energy. Because they are financially rewarded with your money for building, they've built more than the people can use in certain areas, like the Midwest. They have gobbled up a lot of the available transmission capacity to export their product to cities, where people expect all the benefits of energy without any of the sacrifice that goes along with creating it. In order to keep building renewable energy generators in places where there is no need for the electricity, these piggish profiteers want to build a whole bunch of new transmission. They presume if they can get their energy to populated areas, consumers will be forced to buy it. Absolutely not true. The populated areas are also busy building their own renewable infrastructure so they can create both renewable energy and economic development in their own cities, states, and regions. We don't need new transmission to switch to renewable energy. Even if we overbuild transmission, it doesn't mean distribution utilities in New Jersey will choose to buy wind energy generated in Iowa.

Let's take a look at the one-sided propaganda these racketeers are spreading.

1. A macrogrid can save consumers billions of dollars per year.

THE TRUTH: The "studies" that supposedly proved all these savings are skewed. The biggest problem? All renewables studied were terrestrial sources. Offshore wind wasn't part of the study, although offshore wind provides the best source of wind power and is conveniently located near the largest population centers -- both coasts and the Great Lakes. When offshore wind is removed from the equation, the best sources of wind become the Midwest, and the best sources of solar are the south and southwest. But is it cost effective to build a gigantic new grid to move this generation to the population centers? No, they already have a better source closer at hand. I also don't trust the magic math taking place here that prices this new grid. It's going to take a lot longer, and cost a lot more, than a bunch of scientists think it will. None of these guys know the first thing about utility ratemaking. And what are these scientists comparing their new utopia to in order to produce a "savings"? The most expensive sources of energy they can find shipped the longest distance they can imagine on the most congested transmission lines they can find? That's how magic math happens... change the variables until you arrive at the desired answer. If we don't build a macrogrid and force people to use energy produced thousands of miles away, how much will energy prices actually rise? But it's not really about the price of energy, it's about "climate change" and changing how we produce energy. Telling the people that it's going to save them money on their power bill is a dirty lie.

2. We can power our country with 100% renewable energy.

THE TRUTH: Not feasible with today's technology. Just the other day, the Midwest ISO ran into an issue with not having enough supply on a hot day. This is a region that has built a lot of wind turbines. But those turbines weren't producing when the region needed it most on a hot day. Here's a graph showing the generation sources for MISO's power on a hot, summer afternoon.

Without coal, gas and nukes, the power would have gone out.

MISO was also importing more than 5,700MW of power from neighboring PJM Interconnection, the grid authority for a number of eastern states. MISO was importing an astonishing 39% more power than scheduled from PJM in order to serve its load. Here's a graph of the generation sources operating in PJM at that time.

Again, coal, gas and nukes. Without them, a good two thirds of the country would have blacked out yesterday afternoon.

These graphs show the cheapest resources available being dispatched in real time. If renewables were cheap and available, MISO and PJM would have been using them. The resources necessary to run everything on clean "renewable" energy do not exist.

However, some "studies" and "reports" have suggested a massive build out of new industrial wind and solar under the pretense that we can have enough renewables to meet load. How much wind and solar does it look like we're going to need to meet peak load on a hot day? This report calls for 62,626 square miles of new wind and solar installations. For comparison, that's an area just a little bigger than the state of Georgia, and just a bit smaller than the state of Wisconsin. Imagine the entire state of Georgia covered end to end, side to side, with industrial wind turbines and solar panels. How much do you think that would cost? And if the government keeps giving them tax credit handouts with our tax dollars, how much additional cost would that add?

The capacity factors for renewable energy are surprisingly low because they cannot store fuel on site to run when called. When they produce energy, it's a happy accident, not on purpose. Because renewable generators can only be counted on to produce energy a very small percentage of the time, you'd need to overbuild them by perhaps factor of 10. Example: If you need a generator with a dependable capacity of 100MW, you'd need 10 wind farms with a nameplate capacity of 100 MW each. Even then, you're taking your chances that those resources would produce the power you need when you need it.

Wind and solar are poor choices for a 100% carbon-free power source.

3. Renewable energy provides jobs and we need jobs to restore our economy after Coronavirus.

THE TRUTH: Are we supposed to spend money building stuff we don't need in order to create jobs? That's absurd. We build stuff we need, and jobs happen. Why would we spend a bunch of money creating make work jobs building stuff we don't need? The renewable energy industry isn't at any greater risk than any other industry in the wake of Coronavirus. In fact, they seem to be getting additional help other industries aren't. Because Coronavirus put a short pause on the renewable energy industry, the federal government has extended the amount of time they have to claim the fading production tax credit. What other industries are getting taxpayer handouts for making things? Are restaurants getting tax credits for each meal they sell? Of course not. Renewable energy, however, is getting a tax handout for each unit of power they generate for 10 years after being put in service. Remember, that money they're earning comes directly from your pocket because the government does not have its own source of income. All its income comes from you!

We've been subsidizing industrial wind and solar for decades. At first, perhaps it needed a leg up to compete with conventional generation, but over time it developed an appetite for government handouts and now doesn't want to exist without them. In fact, the renewable energy industry has asked the federal government to convert the tax credits it currently earns into straight up cash payments. A tax credit is just that... a credit for the recipient's tax burden. Because many renewable energy companies pay little taxes, they have been converting the credits they earn into cash by selling them to other corporations that can use them to reduce their tax liability. But just like those companies that will convert your long-term legal settlement payments into instant cash, they only give you a portion of the value of the settlement (or tax credit) in exchange for some cash now. Renewable energy companies don't want to lose the full value of tax credits they earn but can't use, so they want the government instead to just give them cash they can use. Pretty bold, isn't it?

And then the industry speaks out of the other side of its mouth about how mature its industry is, how cheap the power they generate is, and how mainstream it's become. They claim they are competitive with conventional generation. If that is true, why do they still need a handout to stay in business?

Renewable energy companies have opportunely seized upon the Coronavirus crisis to pretend they can solve the economic crisis. Never let a good crisis go to waste!

Renewable energy is back in business, and they're building things. We don't need to give them more money to create new jobs... we need to concentrate on other industries that haven't fully re-opened in order to restore jobs. We don't need to spend our money building out an existing industry.

4. We need to "modernize" our grid.

THE TRUTH: Our grid is adequate for its purpose. Old lines and equipment are constantly re-built and upgraded. Transmission operators and reliability organizations make sure the grid stays reliable. They order fixes, re-builds, and new lines as needed. Interestingly enough, this call to build a new "macrogrid" doesn't even contemplate fixing the existing lines, it just wants to build a new system to work in conjunction with the existing one. If the existing one fails, it's going to take the new "macrogrid" down with it. The macrogrid is about building new transmission to ship energy further from its point of generation. It's got nothing to do with the existing grid.

And a couple more things about that crazy LA Times article...

It starts out talking about a newly built power line in operation. It mentions that there was opposition to the project because it would "saddle energy consumers with unnecessary costs, degrade sensitive wildlife habitat and interrupt a series of gorgeous landscapes." And then the Times points out that it was built anyhow. Logic leap! Just because the project was built doesn't mean it obviated all those concerns. It merely means that those concerns were run over in the process of approving it. Unnecessary costs and degradation of habitat and landscapes happened anyway. Building it didn't make them disappear.

The article tells you that building billions of dollars of new transmission will make you less likely to catch Corona. So will wearing a mask, and that's only going to cost you a buck.

Landowner concerns about eminent domain and sacrifice for the benefit of people far, far away are glossed over and minimized with the idea that if they don't accept it, we're all doomed. The idea that we have to sacrifice something and may only choose which sacrifice to make is overblown. We can have it all if we choose to build renewables near load. It's as simple as that!

On the subject of Clean Line Energy Partners... that company failed because it had no customers. It wasn't the fault of landowners or regulation. Those things merely slowed the projects, they didn't kill them. CLEP failed because there were no places "where the energy is needed." If nobody needs imported "clean" power, why would we spend billions building new transmission?

The article points out that California, a huge importer of power, has plans for 100% clean electricity by 2045. But what happened when California recently debated the issue of installing wind offshore? The fishing industry, the U.S. Navy, and coastal residents got their shorts in a wad, claiming that offshore wind would hurt them. Where does California plan to get its renewable energy if it doesn't make it in state? Why, it plans to put those hurtful burdens on other states to produce it and export it to California. The politically disconnected are ground zero. This is the epitome of environmental injustice! If you want renewable energy, you must sacrifice. You! Not someone else! Only when these states are forced to make their own sacrifices will all the impossible clean energy goals begin to wane.

One more thing... this "macrogrid" has been proposed in one form or another ever since I've been doing the transmission thing... a dozen years now. Except it's only recently been about "clean energy." It used to be about moving coal-fired resources around the country "cheaply." It's just been re-packaged to fit today's narrative. It's not about "clean energy." It's about building a whole bunch of transmission in order to make billions of dollars of profit at consumer expense.

And about the House Democrat's newly released climate plan? Ahh... that's another blog post soon to come! Keep checking back!

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Can Grain Belt Express Cure Coronavirus?

7/2/2020

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OF COURSE NOT!

Leave it to the Missouri Times to publish a bogus editorial claiming that GBE could be solely responsible for Missouri "avoiding a catastrophic recession."

Hold your nose (and maybe a barf bag) while reading this pack of prevarications. It's GBE spokespuppet Lee Barker, back again to try to convince Missouri how great GBE is going to be. C'mon, Lee, who are you trying to convince? GBE has been bumping around Missouri for at least a decade now. There are no minds left to change. Glossing over the repugnance of the project only serves to set more opposition to the project. Is the purpose of this diatribe an attempt to make the guilty feel better about themselves? I really don't think the guilty care. They know they did wrong, but they did it anyhow because they wanted to please an out-of-state corporation who wants to make a whole bunch of money off the backs of Missouri citizens.

Where to start?

The developer of this clean energy infrastructure project has begun sending letters to landowners about the financial compensation they’re entitled to. Soon, rural Missourians will start to receive some of the more than $20 million that this project will pay to landowners over its life.
However, contributing landowners aren’t the only Missourians who stand to benefit from the Grain Belt Express Transmission Line.

Yeah, we know... and landowners simply don't care. The "letters" are going right into the trash. Nobody is going to receive anything because they're not signing easement agreements. Tell me, Lee, how do you know how much GBE is going to pay landowners? Did Invenergy share that information with you? That would be untoward, don't you think? Invenergy hasn't negotiated anything with anyone yet, but yet Lee knows how much this is going to cost the company. $20M divided between 700 landowners -- but Invenergy stands to make billions BILLIONS on this project over its lifetime. Does this seem fair to you? I also noticed that Invenergy is trying to get landowners to select to receive their "compensation" over decades, instead of when their land is taken using eminent domain. Why would anyone do that? There's a whole lot to digest in an Invenergy "letter" and it's best to discuss it with your attorney and tax advisor before taking any action (other than using it for animal bedding).

Lee seems confused about the difference between compensation and benefit. He uses both words. They mean entirely different things. Compensation is something, typically money, awarded to someone as a recompense for loss, injury, or suffering. Compensation is an attempt to make a victim whole. Benefit, on the other hand means an advantage or profit gained from something. The landowners are gaining nothing in this deal. Eminent domain merely requires "just compensation", it doesn't require "benefit." There is no benefit for "contributing landowners." Contributing? Yes, these landowners are contributing a portion of their wealth, peace of mind, and sense of place to a for-profit corporation in Chicago, and they're being forced to do it against their will. I wonder how much of Lee's 401(K) he "contributed" to Invenergy's profits? I'm going out on a limb here to guess none. Lee doesn't contribute anything, but he thinks others should.

Local energy suppliers will have the opportunity to use the more affordable electricity and pass the savings onto their customers. This will lower utility bills by more than $12 million every single year.

Oh, please. The savings aren't guaranteed and there is no requirement that any municipal utility "pass the savings" onto customers. Your city utility could use the entire savings to host a ritzy shindig celebrating Michael Polsky and you'd get nothing. Or maybe the woke mob can commission a statute to their new leader? Tell me about the savings after they happen. What guarantee is there that Invenergy won't pull out of the MJMEUC contract entirely? Better check that contract again...

The Grain Belt Express will also put a serious dent in the staggering unemployment rate by hiring 1,500 Missourians to work on the transmission line. While most infrastructure projects demand massive tax breaks in return for this level of job creation, the Grain Belt Express hasn’t asked for a single state incentive. In fact, it will inject more than $7 million into local communities through taxes.

1,500 jobs are going to pull Missouri out of a sure recession? Doubtful, even if 1,500 Missourians were offered jobs building the transmission line, which they won't. So far, landowners have seen a handful of land agents from out of state. The highly specialized labor required to build a project like GBE is also going to be imported. Jobs for Missouri aren't a part of GBE.

Of course GBE has asked for a state incentive! It's asked for the solemn power to take private property for its own use in order to make a profit. Much bigger than a minor tax break... and speaking of taxes... really.... $7M? That's chump change! How much will Missouri communities have to spend fixing roadways destroyed during construction?

Economic stimulation on this scale is quite rare, but it should come as no surprise. Under new ownership by U.S.-based Invenergy, the Grain Belt Express has become much more than a means of transferring clean, renewable energy across the state. It also includes a plan to bring broadband internet to communities in need.
Today, over 40 percent of counties in Missouri are without improved health care, education, business, communication, and entertainment because they lack broadband. Grain Belt Express aims to bridge the so-called “digital divide.”

Well, maybe the local communities can use their $7M windfall (spread among 8 counties, mind you) to actually make GBE's broadband accessible? Putting a wire on a pole doesn't create broadband by magic. You make Missouri sound like a straight-up slum, Lee! These poor communities don't have health care, education, businesses, communication or entertainment and only Invenergy can come to their rescue? Pure hogwash!

Hey, maybe you could use your "letter" to wash your hogs, or other fattened pigs wandering around your communities spreading manure?

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Not In Microsoft Bill's Yard

6/17/2020

5 Comments

NIMBY!

Super-rich Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates is funding a new initiative to brain wash the American people into believing they need a "national" transmission system.

Don't fall for it!

Of course, none of these new transmission lines would be in Bill's yard, they would be in yours! He thinks you need a nationwide, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) network optimized for the nation's best wind and solar resources.

Thanks to generous support from Breakthrough Energy, an organization founded by Bill Gates that is working to expand clean energy investment and innovation, the Macro Grid Initiative will undertake wide-ranging educational efforts in support of transmission expansion to connect areas with low-cost renewable resources to centers of high electric demand. This can be accomplished by connecting grid regions like MISO, PJM and SPP.

Take a look at this propaganda group's maps of "America’s centers of high renewable resources". What's missing? Offshore wind. Offshore wind doesn't exist in this group's scenario. Why not? Because offshore wind doesn't require a "national transmission system." In fact, it requires very little new terrestrial transmission at all. Now guess who's paying for this little brainwashing expedition, and who might benefit if they can succeed in making America dumber, and completely upend the way we plan and build transmission and generation in this country.

And how do they plan to do that?

The Macro Grid Initiative seeks to build public and policymaker support for a new policy and regulatory environment that recognizes the substantial nationwide benefits of new regional and interregional transmission. Priority areas include:

An expanded nationwide and eastern grid with a focus on the regions of MISO, PJM and SPP.

The next round of regional and interregional transmission planning.

A fully planned and integrated nationwide transmission system.

A new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission transmission planning rule.

Achieving the Macro Grid vision will require new policies at the federal, regional and state levels that recognize the substantial nationwide benefits of an interregionally connected transmission network.

New policies at the state and federal level? Like usurping state jurisdiction to site and permit new transmission and planning the grid on a national level so that uncooperative states are run over in the process and affected landowners are left with nowhere to turn? How else would they:

...reduce barriers to development...

...overcome the barriers to siting long-line transmission facilities...

...upgrade our nation's aging and creaky transmission network...

...connect all this clean energy to our homes...

...expand regional and interregional transmission...

... build a strong national power grid...

Barriers? They mean you. They mean hundreds of thousands of landowners whose private property will be condemned using eminent domain in order to place an unwanted transmission line on private property and generate a huge profit to the owner of the new transmission line. Affected landowners will get nothing, not even one electron from the transmission line. HVDC is an unbroken line from beginning to end and requires outrageously expensive substations to convert it from DC to AC in order to connect with our existing transmission system. It's an electric highway on your property that you cannot use. Landowner payments are merely compensation for the market value of the land taken. They are an attempt to make landowners whole, not to realize any sort of profit.

Creaking? I've honestly never heard a transmission line creak. It whines, it hums, it crackles. It doesn't creak. Replacing existing lines to upgrade conductors and equipment happens when needed because our system must remain reliable at all times. This is so much crap. Bill's NIMBY initiative is about building NEW lines, not upgrading existing ones.

Instead of connecting centralized electric generation to our homes, people are increasingly installing their own electric generation on their homes. Corporations are installing on-site renewables on their stores, offices, and factories. We don't need to "connect" anything, just generate our own clean energy!

And this one. It deserves to be quoted in its entirety.

Michael Skelly, Founder, Clean Line Energy Partners; Senior Advisor, Lazard:
"Building out our grid brings jobs, efficient markets, and cheaper and cleaner power. No individual or company can do this alone. But together with a broad public and policy maker consensus I have no doubt it can and will be done. I'm excited to see ACORE and ACEG's Macro Grid Initiative take on this important effort."

YOU FAILED, Michael Skelly! You proposed building the same kind of "national" grid a decade ago, and you failed miserably after wasting $200M of investor's money. (Bill Gates beware!) A national grid isn't feasible. It's not what the people want.

Why not? Because they want to build renewable generation for clean energy in their own homes, neighborhoods, states and regions. They don't want to create a hole in their own economy where they stop creating local energy and economic development and begin to send their energy dollars to other regions. For example, let's look at New Jersey.

Yesterday, NJ Governor Phil Murphy announced plans to build a new port in Salem County to support the development of offshore wind farms off the Jersey Shore. Officials say the New Jersey Wind Port will create 1,500 permanent jobs, generate $500 million in annual economic activity, and help the state reach its goal of gradually relying more on so-called clean energy.

Does Governor Murphy want to pay for an outrageously expensive "national grid" so he can import energy from other regions and cancel his port project? My suspicions point to "no."

Likewise other eastern states, who plan to jumpstart their own economies by creating a robust offshore wind industry.

Nobody wants an exorbitantly expensive "national grid." And if you need an example of how such an initiative will fail, maybe you can ask Michael Skelly?

Take your propaganda and shove it, ACORE. Quit pretending you represent consumer interests, ACEG. Everyone knows where you get your funding, and it's not from consumers.

And while we're at it, next time your crappy Microsoft PC gets infested with viruses and quits working, toss it in the dumpster and buy a MAC. It might cost more upfront, but you won't have to buy a new computer every couple years. Unlike his proposed "national grid" your boycott of Microsoft products will end up in Microsoft Bill's Yard.

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Show Me Your Front Group, Invenergy!

4/30/2020

6 Comments

The Missouri Legislature is back in session, and that means Invenergy's expensive front group is also back in session. In fact, a key person managed to catch a clip of one of their ads yesterday. The advertisement asked people to "contact your senators" about Grain Belt Express. Yes, please do, otherwise they're going to get their information from Invenergy's bloated front group.

What's 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. The front group is perhaps the most easily recognized use of the third party technique. The third party technique has been defined by one public relations (PR) executive as, "putting your words in someone else's mouth."

Invenergy calls its front group "ShowMe Connection," and purports it to be a "Community Organization" on Facebook with more than 1,500 "likes."

Let's dive in folks!

Back in December of 2019, someone registered the domain name "showmeconnection.org" through an agent.

Our Mission
We support access to broader vital services across the state through the promotion of innovative projects resulting in positive economic, environmental, and community impact.

Right... but don't waste your time folks... there's really nothing there except links to the front group's facebook and twitter accounts. And that's where things get interesting and the strings multiply...

Let's look at Twitter first...

ShowMe Connection has only 4 followers.

Let's find out who they are.

MPUA is obvious and needs no explanation. It's the overstuffed municipal utility organization hungry for a free lunch at everyone else's expense.

Craig Gordon is SVP of Government Affairs for Invenergy. "Government Affairs" is corporate speak for lobbying.

What a coincidence that he's one of only 4 followers of a Missouri "community organization," right?

Courtney Ryan works for LS2Group. LS2Group is a public relations company located in Iowa that does work for transmission companies, like Clean Line Energy Partners, and that work has included other attempts at front groups.

That "Jazz" guy? Who cares. Apparently he uses his Twitter account to monitor stuff for work... like front groups?

This Twitter account has been used to post garbage-y things related to Grain Belt Express. It pretty much looks like nobody is paying attention except the bozos behind the front group.

Now let's take a look at the front group's Facebook page. Again, garbage-y GBE stuff that nobody seems to be following. Despite its claim to have 1,500 "likes," the posts only have less than 5 "likes" and many of those come from people involved in the front group. Here's an example:

Worked with landowners? How is drawing a line on a map "working with landowners?" Best path? The landowners don't agree. The 39 communities aren't in the "best path," although this bogus post sort of tries to make the reader think that the supporting communities are composed of landowners who think it's the best path. Garbage. Misinformation. Lies. That's what front groups do.

Now let's start adding string.... According to the "Page Transparency" box, this Facebook page is owned by "James Brian Gwinner."

Who is this guy? He's a partner at LS2Group. He's also an active Missouri lobbyist. Facebook requires this transparency for pages that run ads about social issues, elections, or politics. And sure enough, this front group is running advertisements on facebook. So far, it's spent up to $500 on "social issues, elections or politics" ads.

Wasting taxpayer dollars working to stop the project? These heroic legislators (nee "politicians") are doing the work guided by their constituents, the people who vote for them. They're not doing the work of out-of-state for-profit corporations with bloated lobbying and public relations budgets. Missourians truly do deserve better than Invenergy and its stupid front group games that treat them like stupid sheep.

Facebook pages that advertise in this category are required to disclose who paid for the advertisement.

Oh look, ShowMe Connection has an address. It's a UPS Store. Nope, nothing shady here, folks....

Does ShowMe Connection really exist? Let's ask the Missouri Secretary of State, Jay Ashcroft.

ShowMe Connection was registered as a domestic non-profit corporation on December 31, 2019. Non-profit? I'm pretty sure if you dug below all the astroturf, you'd find that Invenergy is funding this "corporation" and they're all about the profit.

ShowMe Connection's Articles of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State show still more names associated with this front group. There's an Iowa lawyer (because what does an Iowa PR group know about registering a Missouri corporation?) and then it needed a Missouri lawyer to be its registered agent. These guys are just figureheads. They don't matter. But, they do manage to shield the real people running this front group, don't they?

The Front group was formed for the following purpose(s):

Focus on What Matters, Inc. (the "Corporation") is a nonpartisan organization having as its primary purposes the following: (i) the education of our local communities on public policy, including economic policy, relating to local communities and governments; (ii) the education of the general public on economics and public policy; and (iii) generally advancing and preserving the rights and responsibilities of citizens to appreciate the benefits of and ensure the continued existence of competition, economic freedom, and free markets. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, the corporation is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 50l(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (or corresponding section of any future federal tax code).

Focus on What Matters, Inc.? Was that the original name of this front group? Or is it some fake DBA name? I'm guessing it was a name that changed to make the front group sound "more Missouri" by using the state's popular "show me" in its name. Focus on What Matters, Inc. (FOWM) doesn't seem to actually exist anywhere (except in the minds of the LS2Group, who thought it up in the first place as a sparkly front group name). Furthermore, ShowMe Connection amended its Articles just a couple months later to remove the reference to FOWM. Looks like these hired gun lawyers filed the wrong corporation name. Auspicious! Obviously not the sharpest knives in the drawer...

ShowMe Connection says its purpose is "charitable, religious, educational, and scientific ." Which purpose is served by asking Missourians to contact their Senators to support Invenergy's for-profit transmission project? Not charitable. Not religious. Not educational. Not scientific. Political! It's a political purpose. It's lobbying on behalf of Invenergy. Seems like maybe these two sharp knives pretty much lied to the Missouri Secretary of State about their corporation's purpose. The evidence of this is attached to all this front group's strings.

And isn't it interesting that ShowMe Connection supports free markets? There's no "free market" being carried out by the taking of private property via eminent domain instead of allowing the landowner to negotiate with the company in a free market that recognizes the true value of his land. Invenergy can cut off any negotiations that go above what it wants to pay by threatening to begin the eminent domain process. Either the landowner agrees to Invenergy's price, or else! There's no free market going on where Invenergy needs to meet the landowner's price in a freely negotiated purchase. And this, right here, is why for-profit merchant transmission projects that sell their service in a free market should not be able to circumvent that same free market to take private property at a low price.

Let's sum all this up... There's some entity calling itself "ShowMe Connection" advertising in Missouri to encourage voters to contact their Senators. This entity is a front group for Grain Belt Express project owner Invenergy and is run by Invenergy's public relations company in Iowa, with the help of some local folks. It's not a "community organization." It's a corporate front group.

However, you should contact your Senators, folks! In fact, why not contact all the Missouri Senators, if you have time? Let them know you support legislation to prohibit eminent domain for Grain Belt Express and want to preserve private property rights! If you don't, the only voices these Senators may hear could come from Invenergy and its front group puppets. Don't let some Chicago corporation run your state government! Now is the time to act!

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Battle of the Special Interests Masquerading as Consumer Advocates

4/22/2020

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In this corner we have the "shadowy" and "secretive" New England Ratepayers Association, which describes itself as "...established to give a larger voice for the families and businesses that are served by regulated utilities," and "NERA will advocate on behalf of ratepayers across a wide range of issues in every state in New England." However, the media has kind of described NERA as an industry front group. Nobody knows where NERA gets its funding.

NERA includes 12 company members and received $245,000 in total revenue in 2018, Public Citizen pointed out in its testimony. Contributions make up the entirety of the group's revenue, according to its 990 tax forms, averaging approximately $20,000 per member.

"A $20,000 financial contribution to become a 'member' of the New England Ratepayers Association orients its membership more in line [with] a corporate trade association," Public Citizen wrote in its comments.

NERA describes itself as "an independent non-profit" that was "established to give a larger voice for the families and businesses that are served by regulated utilities." NERA's Brown did not respond to multiple Utility Dive questions about its funding and membership.

"NERA isn't some rag tag bunch of dreamers. They are a well financed corporate front group pursuing a smart, aggressive playbook," said Slocum.

And in the opposite corner is Public Citizen, who describes itself as "a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power," and claims "we don’t participate in partisan political activities." However Influence Watch claims Public Citizen is a "liberal lobbying and advocacy organization created by left-wing activist and former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader. The organization supports a broad liberal policy agenda focused on opposing to the free-market interests of American business owners." Public Citizen gets a lot of its funding through shadowy and secretive grants and "gifts" from private environmental "funds". No consumers are guiding its energy work.

The referee for this match is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who has recently embarked on a campaign to reverse the past decade of energy policy set by earlier Commissioners and remake the agency into a partisan political stooge for the industry it regulates. You might call it a new era of regulatory capture.

The prize for this fight is net metering, a subject that was thoroughly adjudicated nearly a decade ago and firmly decided as not within FERC's jurisdiction. However, NERA now says that it IS FERC jurisdictional and that the Commission should regulate excess energy production that feeds back to the grid and set its price as the utility's avoided cost. All this has been thoroughly picked over and decided long ago, but NERA believes it can now get a different result from the new FERC.

Public Citizen wants to make this a slugfest over who actually represents consumers and who represents special interests. Somehow they believe having this sideshow argument is going to derail NERA's petition. NERA is probably laughing themselves silly while they wave their red cape at Public Citizen.

Who will win? It doesn't matter, because we all lose.

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More Missouri Municipality Misinformation

4/4/2020

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The Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA) and the Kirkwood electric department don't know how government works.

MPUA's spokesman recently opined regarding a recent Missouri Supreme Court rejection of an appeal of the MO PSC's decision to issue a permit to Grain Belt Express.

This decision sends a strong signal to the state legislature that the project has the constitutional basis to proceed with a wind energy transmission line through Missouri,” according to Kincheloe.

And, according to Kirkwood's Petty:

“We would also hope that this helps convince legislators that we will prevail in the courts if they attempt to block the project. Clearly precedent is on our side on this one and this Supreme Court decision demonstrates it,” Petty said.

I'm going to guess these two guys failed basic government classes. The legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch enforces the laws. The judicial branch interprets the laws.

Separation of powers is a doctrine of constitutional law under which the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) are kept separate. This is also known as the system of checks and balances, because each branch is given certain powers so as to check and balance the other branches.

If the legislative branch makes a new law that clearly prohibits the use of eminent domain for merchant transmission projects, the judicial branch would interpret it in conjunction with other existing laws, and the executive branch would enforce it. The courts do not make laws. And the courts cannot prevent the legislators from making new laws. These two yakkity-yaks are beyond confused. They seem to think that the appeals court decision the Supreme Court refused to re-hear somehow prevents the making of new laws because making new laws would be "unconstitutional."

Let's stop and ponder this... the decision of the court is based on EXISTING law. It's not based on hypotheticals of passing new laws. When a court determines that an existing law does not do what the legislators want it to do, it is up to the legislators to make a new law.

And that's exactly what they plan to do as soon as the legislature goes back in session.

“Quite honestly, I’ve been focusing on keeping the power on in the wake of the coronavirus crisis,” said Petty. “I’m not sure where things are in the Senate. Hopefully, this Supreme Court ruling will be something they use as guidance.

Sure they will... guidance demonstrating the urgency for making new laws!

In the court decision, the standard of review was whether the PSC had the authority to approve the project under the existing statute. The court found that it did. The court also had to determine whether the PSC's action was reasonable; that is whether it was based on substantial evidence. The court found that the PSC's decision was reasonable. The court also found that GBE met the definitions of "electric corporation" and "public utility" under existing laws. However, if the law changes, all that goes out the window. If the law prohibits the PSC from issuing a permit to a certain entity (such as a merchant transmission project as defined by the law), then all those prior findings fail at their source... whether the PSC has the statutory authority to approve the project in the first place. If the PSC has no authority to issue a permit, none of the rest of it matters. There are no constitutional issues here.

Full steam ahead at the legislature!

Earlier this year, the Missouri House of Representatives passed by a 118-42 a bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Frankfort. His bill will prohibit developers of the 4,000-megawatt high-level transmission project from forcing landowners to sell property.

“This bill protects the rights of landowners in Missouri,” Hansen has insisted in sponsoring the bill.

The Senate also is expected to support the bill along party lines. Petty has urged Kirkwood residents to contact legislators and express their concern over the statehouse blocking the new green energy source.

Looks like Missourians are in good shape at the legislature, once it's back in session. If any residents of Kirkwood even bother to contact their legislators and plead their case to save a few cents on their electric bills, it is likely to fall on deaf ears.

This editorial masquerading as news is an untimely bit of propaganda based on a misreading of the law. Legislators are not constrained in any way against the making of new laws. Trying to convince them that they are is misinformation.

Be ready to go when the time is right, folks! Defeat of GBE is still a very real possibility!

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Central Maine Power Dons Clown Suit For Failing Public Relations Effort

12/4/2019

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CMP's New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project is doomed. And it's getting pretty expensive. Good thing there's a clown!

Foster's reports that CMP and its foreign-owned parent company, Avangrid, thought it would be smooth sailing for NECEC. It's been anything but smooth sailing.

Maine doesn't want this project! The people of Maine don't want a new transmission line through one of their last remaining unspoiled wild areas in order to serve Massachusetts with green-washed "new" power sources. And they're not giving up.

Grassroots groups have been hard at work collecting petition signatures to put the issue on the ballot in 2020. CMP is feeling so threatened (and sure that the grassroots groups will succeed) that it recently kicked off a political action committee with $500,000 from Avangrid. This anemic PAC is intended to sway the vote in favor of the project. Send in the clowns!

It's not off to an auspicious start.

There's a hysterically bad Facebook group. It started off with something like 20 followers, but has now magically bumped its followers up to just over 500. I'm not buying it. There are places you can purchase fake Facebook followers. Cha-ching! How much did that dip into the Avangrid fund? How come I think CMP bought itself some followers? Just take a look at their Facebook page! There are hundreds of comments opposing the transmission project on every post. I haven't seen any comments supporting the project. People are laughing at this pathetic Facebook foray.

And then this turned up today:

CMP has hired a casting director to audition some people that merely "look" like real people from Maine to star in upcoming advertisements for the project. It even wants some cute kids; to pull on your heartstrings and cry about how grassroots opposition to NECEC is stealing their dreams and their childhood. (No mention of how being exploited in a TV commercial contributes to this problem).

Seriously? Now that everyone can see that CMP is casting ACTORS for its advertisements, nobody will believe them. The "Plain Folks" propaganda device only works when the audience doesn't know they're actors!

You know how it is when you see some fading celebrity hawking Ginzu knives and age-spot cream on Infomercials at 3 A.M.? Yeah, that. That's about how believable these expensive ads are going to be for the public.

Somebody is trying really hard to employ the seven common propaganda devices to this PAC's campaign. Cha-ching!$! CMP is dumping a lot of money into an effort that doesn't stand a chance. And it looks like their PR company is bumbling badly.

How much profit must be in it for Avangrid if it's willing to dump this kind of money into propping up its doomed project? This project has to be crazy over budget at this point. Where's the money coming from? I do hope someone is paying attention to CMP's rate filings to make sure they don't have any happy, little, accounting accidents.

Meanwhile, grassroots activists are making fantastic headway in their petition drive. It's awfully nice of CMP to provide them with these expensive comedy breaks... because laughter is always what makes life worth living. Carry on, folks!

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People Love Wind - Just Not In Their Backyard

11/25/2019

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I've been waiting at least a decade for offshore wind to catch up with onshore wind. Finally, it's getting real!

Take a look at a map of wind energy potential in the U.S.

The blue, red and purple have the most potential. In addition, offshore wind blows more consistently than land-based wind. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that the best potential is offshore. But the wind energy industry has been using the wrong map, one that doesn't include offshore wind.

This makes it look like the best wind potential is located in the middle of the country. And that's where they've been building it for the past decade. Except there isn't a lot of demand in the middle of the country. Electricity usage is highest where the most people are, mainly along both coasts and the Great Lakes. Serendipity! That's where the greatest offshore wind potential is located!

Big wind developers have overbuilt in the Midwest, and now they're out of nearby users. The more they build, the more they need to export, and export to load centers requires billions (or even trillions) of dollars of new electric transmission. That's expensive! And it's even more expensive to bury it, so big wind and big transmission developers have been hard at work trying to necessitate big overhead transmission builds that will fly over all those communities between the middle of the country and the coasts.

And now, finally, the populated coastal states have figured out that harvesting nearby offshore wind for their own use, instead of importing it from the middle of the country, makes financial sense. It keeps their energy dollars in their own state and region and fosters a whole new offshore wind industry in their communities that will provide local jobs and economic development. Win-win!

Except the people who live there don't want industrial energy infrastructure in their own back yards. They don't want to see wind turbines on the horizon or have their night views ruined by blinking red lights. And they certainly don't want their beaches disturbed by new electric cables connecting offshore wind turbines to their already substantial transmission networks.

But they still love wind, just not in their own backyard.

Fenwick Island resident Tom Brennan asked why consideration isn’t given to putting windmills closer to Indian River Inlet, and “continuing the commercialization up there instead of ruining of what we have down here?”
Ms. Dudley Eshback referred to periodic flooding at Fenwick Island State Park. “Should the proposed major power transmission plant be flooded following one of these regularly occurring and increasingly frequent storms imagine the public safety impact. It could be very disastrous,” she said. “We must explore alternative, clean sources of energy. And I’m not an expert on wind energy, turbines or transmission stations but I do know it is folly to consider further developing and destroying what little open space is left.”

And they have plenty of suggestions of someplace else to put it. Except those folks don't want it either. Nobody wants industrial renewables in their own back yard!

Well, welcome to the world of industrial renewables, everyone! The people in the middle of the country don't want it either, especially when they will receive absolutely no benefit from it. Nobody in the middle of the country wants to have their horizon ruined with turbines and blinking red lights. And that's not the entirety of onshore wind... they're built so close to existing homes and businesses that the people suffer from shadow flicker and other health effects.

Nobody wants to live near industrial onshore wind installations. Nobody wants to live near industrial offshore wind installations. Nobody wants to live near industrial wind installations!

Maybe industrial wind isn't the answer? Industrial wind actually supplies a very small percentage of our power. It's impact on climate change is really very small. However, the big wind industry has been pumping out the propaganda so long, that a lot of Americans are completely brainwashed into thinking that it is the solution to climate change. And the big wind industry has been making money hand over fist installing its infrastructure across the country. The intersection of corporate profits and climate change propaganda deserves careful thought.

Industrial wind is an orphan nobody wants. Instead of pushing it off somewhere else and accepting the sacrifice (as long as it's not OUR sacrifice), isn't it time we all stand up and find another solution that doesn't cause any sacrifice? The reality of industrial wind is now being revealed to the populated coastal areas, and they don't like it. Eventually will also realize that it's nothing more than a corporate money-making scam that does little to reverse climate change.

We need better solutions, for everyone!

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Transource's Tall Tale

11/13/2019

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"Look, look," said Transource. "We care about your community! We're planting trees!"

Honestly, this public relations stunt is about as transparent as tracing paper.

Instead of reporting on the way Franklin County got tossed under the bus in Transource's settlement with York County, the media covered Transource's propaganda stunt like a trained monkey.

Transource pretended that it "donated" money "to support local conservation efforts of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed." Is this the same watershed that it's going to degrade with new transmission on new right of way in Franklin County? You betcha!

So, while Transource "volunteers" (wanna bet these employees were paid their normal hourly rate, which is charged to electric ratepayers, while "volunteering" for an out-of-office activity) planted 300 trees to create a future riparian buffer along the West Branch of Conococheague Creek, it still plans to destroy the mature riparian buffer along Falling Spring?

Trees and vegetation would no longer shade the stream in the area, which would damage the habitat for fish and the insects they feed on, according to Chris Rudyk, vice president of Falling Spring Chapter of Trout Unlimited. There's also a danger of defoliants running into the stream. Many defoliants approved for use in Pennsylvania cannot be sprayed in California, New York or Delaware, Rudyk said.
Warren Christman, chapter president, said blasting during construction could impact the flows to the limestone creek.

Of course! They call it "mitigation," as if destruction of nature can somehow be negated by helping nature somewhere else. A real nature-boosting "donation" from Transource would be if they packed up their carpet bag and hightailed it back to Columbus, Ohio.

“At Transource, we are proud to advance shared priorities like this and we understand the important role streams play in the natural ecosystem and community recreation,” said Todd Burns, director of Transource Energy.

Shared priorities? Get outta town, Todd Burns! Todd Burns only understands the important role streams play in the natural ecosystem and community recreation when the stream in question isn't slated to be destroyed by his company's money-making schemes.

What's the point of all this? I'm guessing Transource's fee-fees were a bit bruised when its settlements with eastern leg parties weren't glorified by the media. The people of Franklin County failed to lie down in front of the bus like defeated doormats. Transource maybe thought it needed a little good press to counterbalance all the negativity stemming from its settlements. Gagging settling parties didn't create a media lovefest.

But here's the thing.... nobody cares! Transource shot its wad way too early. The real negativity hasn't happened yet. It's dangling over Transource's head like an anvil on a fraying cable, and when it drops it's going to flatten them. What's Transource going to do when that happens? Throw cheap candy from a garish float in a Franklin County Christmas parade? Quick, someone think of a random act of fake charity Transource can hide behind when the anvil falls...

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<<Previous

Forward>>

Building Community Trust

The Truth About The Macrogrid Initiative

Can Grain Belt Express Cure Coronavirus?

Not In Microsoft Bill's Yard

Show Me Your Front Group, Invenergy!

Battle of the Special Interests Masquerading as Consumer Advocates

More Missouri Municipality Misinformation

Central Maine Power Dons Clown Suit For Failing Public Relations Effort

People Love Wind - Just Not In Their Backyard

Transource's Tall Tale

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