Well, here it is -- the power companies behind the unneeded Susquehanna Roseland 500kV transmission line proposal in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have put together a "mitigation package" that they will present to the NPS at the end of January.

As reported last month, the NPS is expected to bend over and approve destruction of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in exchange for $30M of new park land.


Read a good article about the situation here:

"Thousands of acres identified as priorities by conservation groups would be preserved at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, PPL and Public Service Electric & Gas Co. said in a press release."

The proposal, however, was met with derision from some environmentalists. The New Jersey Sierra Club accused the utilities of trying "to buy silence from environmental groups and others that should be opposing this line."

"You cannot mitigate for the destruction of a National Park," the organization said in a press release. "This project would ruin the scenic beauty, breathtaking vistas, and critical resources of our national parks" and "allow for the production of more coal-fired energy, creating more coal pollution that will impact people's health while they are using the parks."

The Sierra Club also noted the utilities' ratepayers would ultimately pay for any mitigation, since utilities fold their expenses into rates. Additionally, utilities are entitled under federal rules to a 12 percent profit on transmission line expenditures.

"The utilities cannot make up for his kind of destruction by buying lands in other places," Jeff Tittel, the New Jersey Sierra Club director said. "This is nothing more than blood money."

Because the Susquehanna Roseland Project is within the PJM regional transmission zone and is a 500kV project, this means that every one of the 60 million electric consumers within PJM's 13 state region will pay a portion of the cost of the transmission project.  Even if you're a PJM grid customer in Michigan, Tennessee, Illinois or North Carolina, or any other PJM  state far removed from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, you will still pay for a portion of PSE&G and PPL's payoff of National Park Service officials. 

This $30M of new park land will be paid for by you over the next 50 - 70 years, and PSE&G and PPL will make a 12.9% profit on the purchase every year, courtesy of federal transmission incentives granted to the project's owners by FERC.  Here's how it works:  The power companies will purchase the land and claim it's a "regulatory expense" (a cost necessary to obtain regulatory approval for the project).  The cost of the land will be placed into the companies' transmission rate base account for the project, which you will pay down by reimbursing them for their cost of the project in your monthly electric bill over the expected 50 - 70 year life of the line.  Just like a new car, the $30M value of the land-bribe will depreciate a little bit each year.  You will reimburse the power companies for that yearly amount of depreciation, plus 12.9% interest on the remaining value of the land-bribe.  So, let's say that in the first year, the balance of the land purchase is $30M and the depreciation rate is 5%.   You will pay them $1.5M, and the value of the land will fall to $28.5M, but you will also pay them 12.9% of $30M that year - $3.87M.  The amount electric consumers will pay for the power companies "mitigation package" will total $5.37M in the first year alone.  The second year will again reduce the value of the land by 5%, and add in a 12.9% return for the power companies on the remaining value.  The depreciation rate I'm using is only hypothetical, of course, but the profits for PSE&G and PPL are real.  What you can depend on is that this "mitigation package" won't cost the corporations a thing and will, in fact, make them a huge profit.

The end result here is that YOU will pay for the "mitigation" of damage to YOUR park and the power companies causing the damage and making a profit selling electricity over the line will get off scott free!  The power companies behind the transmission line claim that the line will save electric consumers millions of dollars in "congestion costs," but that savings is being whittled away by deals like this and is not taking into account the billions of dollars electric consumers will pay for the line over its lifetime.

Are you angry enough to do something about this yet?  Good, we're going to make this easy!  Send your comments about this rip-off of consumers and citizens (who are the ultimate owners of our national parks) to the NPS through this online form, and tell them that you do not want to pay the cost of PSE&G and PPL's "mitigation package" bribe or have your national park assets squandered in the name of corporate greed!

Do it now!  Comment period closes at midnight on January 31, 2012.  Please share this one with your friends and link on Facebook and other social media sites!

PATH has requested that both the National Park and Forest Services continue to hold their application review process "in abeyance" until approximately 60 days after the 12th of Never, or whenever PJM finally makes a decision, whichever comes first.

"In order to accommodate the PJM study process, while providing a measure of certainty for both the PATH Companies and the NPS, the PATH Companies respectfully request that the NPS continue to hold its application review in abeyance until 60-days after the PJM Board issues a further decision on the status of the PATH Project. Promptly after being advised of such further decision by the PJM Board, the PATH Companies will notify the NPS of that decision and, within such 60-day period, submit a further request to the NPS with regard to the pending applications."

According to the letter, PJM is not expected to make a decision until sometime AFTER May 2012.

"As indicated by the PJM Staff report, additional analysis will be undertaken after completion of the May 2012 forward capacity auction results. The time required by PJM Staff to perform such analysis thereafter is not yet
known."

You're not really surprised, are you?  This is exactly what I expected would happen after Order No. 1000 was issued, delaying the retooling of PJM's planning process, and after PATH painted themselves into a corner in Virginia.

On April 12, 2011, Virginia State Corporation Commission Hearing Examiner Alexander Skirpan issued his report and recommendations on the March 17 hearing regarding PATH's withdrawal of its application in that state.  In his report, Skirpan recommended that certain conditions be placed on the filing of a new application for the project in Virginia.  One of these conditions was that the application must be based on a completed 2012 RTEP, which won't be issued until first quarter 2013.  The Virginia Commission's Order included this stipulation.

Word is that the NPS/NFS are considering PATH's request.  No decision date has been indicated.

The only "certainty" being provided here is that every year this drags on, PATH makes another $13M in pure profit, courtesy of their FERC formula rate and incentives.  There is no motivation for them to ever restart this project -- they've got $130M tucked safely away in an account that earns 12.4% profit every year.  What a sweet deal! 

All PATH's profits come directly from your pocket in the form of higher and higher electric bills.

Your orchestra has begun composing a new tune... so check back later for more on this subject.

I feel for our friends at Stop the Lines in New Jersey, who have been riding a roller coaster lately regarding approvals for one of PJM's other Project Mountaineer transmission projects.

Down:  Susquehanna-Roseland is approved by the PA PUC and the NJ BPU.

Up:  Appeals are filed in New Jersey.

Up:  New Jersey's BPU gets into a battle of wills with PJM and FERC over it's desire to build new gas-fired generation in New Jersey in order to lower electricity prices in the state.  NJ BPU's position is that in-state generation is better than importing electricity via new transmission lines like S-R.  NJ-BPU is likely to deny S-R and use it as a bargaining chip to get what it wants from PJM & FERC, if it is remanded back to the BPU on appeal.

Down:  S-R is named one of Obama's "Rapid Response" Transmission Projects so it can be rammed through approvals.  Rumor has it that the fix is in at the highest levels for the NPS to approve PSE&G's application to cross the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Up:  The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) release a statement exposing the collusion and corruption going on between the NPS, the White House, and PSE&G.

Up:  The NPS recently came out with a "no build" recommendation.

Down:  In this article (one of the most poorly-written articles I've ever seen!) Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Superintendent John Donahue implies that if power company project owner PSE&G proffers a big enough "mitigation package" (aka BRIBE) that he will bend over and grease up the park for annihilation by the Susquehanna-Roseland project.  I'm not sure who Donahue thinks will be paying the cost of the "mitigation package," but it won't be PSE&G.  The cost of project approvals will be borne by all electric ratepayers in the 13-state PJM Region.  That means YOU!  The bigger the bribe, the higher your future electric bill, and the bigger the profit for PSE&G.  Donahue is willing to sacrifice publicly owned assets to a private, for-profit corporation in exchange for that same public gaining a financial/land grab that is ultimately paid for by them.  We pay ourselves to end up with a ruined national park, and PSE&G makes a big profit.

So, what can you do to prevent paying for PSE&G's bribe?  Submit your comments on the NPS EIS for the S-R Project online.

It shouldn't come as any surprise.  StopPATH WV and The Power Line have been reporting on this issue since last spring, but here's a new article that wraps it all together.

At a recent DOE "congestion study workshop" utility schmoozers, their PJM and MISO lap dogs, and government officials came together to further their goals of building a whole bunch of unneeded transmission to transport midwest wind to east coast load centers.

“Illinois, Indiana and now northwestern Ohio are seeing a tremendous growth in wind integrations,” said Bob Bradish, head of American Electric Power’s transmission planning group. “A lot of that is now starting to show in the way of congestion on our system out there.”

AEP could also build transmission and pay for it itself, he noted. But the nature of eastern demand is such that a congestion issue identified and addressed in the western part of the PJM system, for example, will lead to other points of congestion.

“East economics are so that they want to pull everything from the west; you fix something, they just pull more, so congestion comes back up again,” Bradish said.

Why should you be worried?  Because it's the same stupid plan as Project Mountaineer -- west to east power flows that require new, expensive, destructive transmission lines, now cloaked in the "green" of wind.  Of course, all those lines "for wind" will also be tied to the existing grid connected to AEP's (and other dirty generators') coal-fired plants.  And as PATH taught us, you can't separate "clean" from "dirty" electrons. By the time that "wind" lights up a flat-screen TV in Annapolis, it's going to be the same old "coal" that's been doing it for years, however the consumer is now being fooled into believing they're using renewable power.

If you live around PATH's proposed "Kemptown" substation site and have been wondering why they persist in dragging the zoning issues through the courts, this is why.  The property is attractive as a target for other "wind" transmission projects.

So, keep an eye on how DOE's congestion study plays out and the progress of off-shore wind, which will turn the west to east flow paradigm completely around and will end up being the cheapest and most efficient solution.

Contradictions.  That's the trouble with doublespeak; inconvenient and pesky contradictions keep popping up, such as this glaring faux pas in a Richmond Times Dispatch op-ed by PJM blowhard Michael Kormos.

"In the case of offshore wind projects, located miles off the coast, lines will be needed to move the electricity from the generators to the onshore grid."

But then:

"New transmission lines will be needed to move electricity from renewable sources — many in remote locations, far from existing transmission lines — across multiple states to the urban areas where the power is needed."

Whoa, there, buddy.  Why would new transmission lines crossing multiple states be needed to move offshore renewables to the onshore grid?  Last time I checked, there weren't any states located in the Atlantic Ocean.

Can't quite decide if that 800-pound industry lobbyist gorilla that lurks in the corner at PJM Interconnection is going to insist that East Coast population centers be forced to have their "public policy" goals met by Midwest wind located a thousand miles away?  Or will the big East Coast energy companies prevail and get rich on the offshore wind right on their doorstep?

"The FERC, which provides regulatory oversight for regional transmission organizations (RTOs), recognizes the problem and recently issued an order related to what can be done to ease building transmission lines that aren't strictly for reliability and providing for those who benefit from those lines to help pay for them."

Oversight?  You mean like that really cool babysitter you had back in elementary school that let you jump on the bed and make prank phone calls to the local pharmacy to ask them if they had Prince Albert in a can?    So, the overly permissive FERC babysitter is going to make it easier to build unneeded transmission lines for other reasons, which are going to end up so muddled that it will be impossible to properly allocate costs or challenge a subjective planning process.  Also, those who benefit from them will help pay for them... with the rest of us who don't benefit from them picking up the bulk of the tab, right?  That's awfully nice of PJM and FERC, don't you think?  I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees a trip to the judicial fun house in the making.  You know, sometimes when you insist on having too much of a good thing, you end up with nothing at all.

And not to change the subject, but that Governor's Conference on Energy isn't about renewables, is it?  Check out the "sponsors" here, and then check out the prices for sponsorship.  For the cost of all those "receptions" and "meals," check out the price list for how much those "sponsorships" cost here.  Yeah, Virginia is for lovers, and lobbyists, and coal companies, and coal burners, and gas companies, and oil companies, and public relations propaganda, and front groups.  What?  Front groups?  How shocking!  I'm certain the Governor's office didn't knowingly endorse industry front groups Faces of Coal and Virginians for Reliable Energy by permitting them to "sponsor" his conference!  Of course not!  The muck is getting pretty deep, I hope the conference participants brought their hip-waders...

According to this article, PJM has blinked during the stare-down it's been having with the New Jersey BPU:

"The independent operator of the regional power grid is moving to make a series of changes to its system. Its goal: fix impediments that even it agrees has helped thwart the development of new power plants, something the Christie administration has been pursuing for more than a year.

PJM detailed several steps it is taking to expedite new power plants, including overhauling its much criticized generation interconnection system. The system is designed to ensure that new power plants tying into the regional grid do not lessen its reliability by requiring high voltage lines to carry more power than they are capable of.  The interconnection process has been blamed for the time it takes to win approval as well as driving up costs for those developers seeking to build new power plants.

Michael Kormos, senior vice president of PJM, said the organization is considering retooling the process to allow it to "fast track" developers that are ready to move forward with their projects, a proposal suggested by Hess Corp, which is one of the three projects to win subsidies from New Jersey.

PJM also is considering having independent parties do the studies of what interconnection upgrades are needed when a new power supplier is trying to hook into the grid. That comes in response to questions raised by New Jersey whether there is a conflict of interest with existing transmission owners doing the studies, as is now the case, because of potential benefits that could derive to an affiliate if the required upgrades discourage new plant construction."

The article says that it's too little, too late though, and PJM's last minute swerve won't go far enough to resolve the dispute.

"If anything, the rhetoric seems to be turning more heated, with state officials talking about investigating whether structural market power exercised by incumbent generators creates barriers to the entry of new suppliers.

"We shouldn't gloss over the issue of market power," said Stefanie Brand, director of the Division of Rate Counsel. "I think the board should look at it more closely."

At a day-long hearing held in the Statehouse Friday, PJM officials and power suppliers dismissed that allegation, saying studies by independent monitors have found no evidence of such behavior. Instead, several consultants argued that New Jersey's own efforts to encourage power plant development are undermining the competitive market and discouraging investment in the state."

Yeah, right, PJM, guilty much?

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities held another public hearing yesterday regarding their plan to use ratepayer subsidies to fund the cost of three new, state-of-the-art gas-fired power plants.  Board President Lee Solomon said that it's too late to turn back now because New Jersey's LCAPP is a law he is obligated to pursue.  The State of New Jersey says that inadequate generation in the state is causing higher electricity prices.  New Jersey contends that PJM's markets aren't encouraging the development of new generation in constrained areas as they are designed to do, and they intend to find out how manipulation of the market by large, out-of-state energy corporations is causing PJM's system to fail.

Of course, there was no shortage of front groups who are funded by these large, out-of-state energy corporations that control New Jersey's market at yesterday's hearing.  Industry-funded front groups who showed up to oppose New Jersey's plan included the New Jersey Energy Coalition, a front group funded by Exelon which was originally intended to protect their Oyster Creek nuke plant.  Also on hand to pretend that New Jersey's plan will hurt competition in electricity markets was industry-funded and directed front group Compete Coalition.  The Compete Coalition, despite their purported advocacy for competitive markets, is actually working against competition in order to retain market share for their corporate "members," says the American Public Power Association.  APPA is a group representing the interests of community-owned electric utilities.

NJ.com has an interesting article demonstrating Compete's third-party propaganda tactics.  When asked about their opposition to New Jersey's plan, the two New Jersey-based companies whose names appeared on a letter submitted to the Governor's office by the Coalition said that they were asked to sign it by their energy providers (the big companies funding the Coalition).  Neither company knew anything about the controversy or why they were supporting the Coalition's position.  Obviously, they didn't write (or even read) the letter before signing on.

Ah, the energy corporations and their front groups... always an entertaining show.  When are they going to realize that no one is drinking their koolaid anymore?

It doesn't look like New Jersey is fooled either and they're not backing down.  Stay tuned to see how this one plays out.