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Senate Committee Confirms Bay's FERC Nomination - With Training Wheels

6/18/2014

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After enough wrangling to make a cowboy cry, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmed the nomination of Norman Bay as Chairman of FERC... as long as he keeps the training wheels on his regulatory tricycle for the next 9 months.

Bay can be a FERC Commissioner, as long as Acting Chairman Cheryl LaFleur gets to continue to "act" for the first 9 months of Bay's tenure.

RTO Insider has the best coverage of today's events here.

RTO Insider notes that our own Plastic Senator Joe Manchin sold out in a hurry.
Among those who had expressed concern over Bay’s limited energy policy experience was Manchin, who helped sink the bid of Obama’s previous nominee, former Colorado regulator Ron Binz.

That sparked a flurry of negotiations over the last several days among the White House, Murkowski and Energy committee Chair Mary Landrieu (D-La.), which resulted in the president’s concession not to appoint Bay chairman immediately.
Poor, old Plastic Joe.  Some days, he just can't seem to make up his mind.
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Potomac Edison/Mon Power Monthly Meter Reading Will Cost YOU an additional $7.5M Every Year

6/13/2014

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FirstEnergy's Potomac Edison and Mon Power subsidiaries finally got around to filing their testimony in the rate increase case last week.  As instructed by the WV PSC, the company has added the additional cost of rectifying its own failure to the increase it is seeking.

Monthly meter reading will increase customer rates an additional $7.5 million annually, or 1.35% for residential customers(1.57% for non-residential).  This increase will be added to the already proposed 13.95% base rate increase, and additional estimated increase for coal plant retrofits of another 2%.  Total rate increase proposed by FirstEnergy for its West Virginia residential customers?

17.2%

According to Testimony of Raymond E. Valdes filed last week, FirstEnergy's 2013 cost of meter reading was just over $5M per year.  Dividing that number by the number of actual meter reads performed resulted in an average cost of $1.99 per meter read.  But FirstEnergy can't simply double the costs because its number of meter reads compared to estimates is not equal, even when the annual read customers are removed from the equation.  When numbers are actually put on paper, it turns out that FirstEnergy was not actually reading meters every other month, or half the time, as required.  FirstEnergy was reading meters much less than the required every other month.  Maybe the WV PSC should have asked for these numbers during the general investigation and simplified everything?

Actual Meter Readings in 2013:          2,238,832
Estimated Readings in 2013:              2,894,376

If the company had been reading meters every other month as it was supposed to, then these two numbers would be equal.  This is the plainest picture you're going to get of FirstEnergy's failure.

So, anyhow, Valdes used the $1.99 reading cost to calculate a total incremental cost to switch to monthly meter reading of $6.4M.

But, wait, the company needs to add an additional $1,074,173 in "transition costs" to rectify its own meter reading mistake.  FirstEnergy describes these costs as:  "estimated additional costs the Companies will incur related to the conversion to monthly meter reading."  The company proposed to recover this extra million over a 3-year period, so that it can earn interest on it (at your expense, of course).

This brings your additional cost to read meters monthly up to:

$7,519,213


And that is a clearest picture you will get of how your Public Service Commission has failed to protect your interests during its perfunctory "investigation" of FirstEnergy's customer abuse.

The PSC clearly found FirstEnergy to be at fault in the investigation.  But, instead of punishing the company for its failure, the PSC has punished the customers who were injured by the failure.  As my friend Kery says... when is the failure to perform under a contract ever the fault of the party who was injured?  FirstEnergy failed to perform.  They should be liable to the parties injured by their action.  End of story.

Except, this is West Virginia, where our PSC behaves like a poodle on a leash held by Ohio energy conglomerates.  Look up "regulatory capture."

The PSC could have made some token attempt at fairness in its general investigation order.  It could have ordered FirstEnergy to absorb the first year's incremental additional cost ($7.5M).  It could have ordered FirstEnergy to absorb the $1M transition costs, instead of putting them on the backs of struggling ratepayers for three years.

But it didn't.  FirstEnergy was rewarded for its failure.  Rewarded for injuring YOU, the customer.

So, what can you do?  Tell the PSC what you think!  You can submit an online comment here.  Select "high profile" case number 14-0702-E-42T from the drop down list on the comment form.

As we move forward with this rate increase case, there will also be opportunities to voice your concerns in person during various public comment hearings around the state.  Stay tuned...
3 Comments

Get Your Own Potomac Edison "Must Read" Order!

6/6/2014

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Good news, FirstEnergy customers!  If you're one of the thousands of customers whose electric meter is only read every other month (or longer interval), there is now a quick and easy solution to your problem!

Simply pick up your phone and call the customer service number on your bill and "inquire" about it.  Then do it again the next day.  (Like those instructions on your shampoo bottle -- lather, rinse, repeat).

According to the voice message I now have recorded on my answering machine from FirstEnergy escalation specialist (or other fun job title) "Kim" (employee number 30111):
Any time there is a bill inquiry on the account more than one occasion we do send out to verify a check reading..."
Kim was explaining why I received a "special" actual reading after my May bill was estimated.

Except I haven't made any bill inquiries since January.  So, be aware that there may be a 4 month delay in your own "special" meter reading.

My May bill was estimated on May 15, as scheduled.  Kim and her co-workers informed me that on May 16, a "must read" order for my account was issued from the company's billing office.  This delayed my bill, waiting for the "must read" to occur.  On May 27, 12 days AFTER the estimate was first calculated, FirstEnergy sent me an estimated bill anyhow.  It was actually pretty accurate this month (yay!)  The very next day, May 28, a meter reader made a special trip all the way out here just to "must read" my meter.  The "must read" was not reflected on my bill, because the company had already sent me an estimated bill the day before.

My June bill is scheduled to be an actual read, along with all the other customers in my neighborhood.  What was the purpose of the May 28 read?  Did FirstEnergy just need to waste some meter reader time coming all the way out here for nothing?

As usual, FirstEnergy's right hand doesn't know what its left hand is doing.

The effect of FirstEnergy's "must read" to make sure my bill was accurate this month served only to delay my bill by 12 days.  It did not make it any more accurate.

The company did some fine dancing and singing about what alignment of the moon and stars made its billing department roll out of bed one morning and decide to put a "must read" on my account.  It finally settled on the excuse that my multiple billing inquiries last year and early this year needed to finally be acted upon.  You da' man, FirstEnergy!

Unless, maybe, that "must read" came from somewhere else in the company and was supposed to simply shut me up until the Commission issued its Order in the meter reading & billing case?  Hmm... perhaps I should consult an att........ oh, *shhhhhhhh*

Who else has made multiple inquiries about their bill in the past and recently received a "special" extra read in an estimated month?  Anyone?
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CFRA Does Not Represent the People

6/3/2014

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The Center for Rural Affairs has pissed off a whole new bunch of people, this time in Wisconsin, by sending out a "red alert" telling them this is their "last chance" to comment on the Badger-Coulee transmission project.  Of course it's not their "last chance"!

Carol Overland, who has been fighting the legal fight against unneeded transmission for many years, tells CFRA what the people REALLY think:
I'm disturbed to see that you're regarding Lu Nelsen and Center for Rural Affairs as a primary source.  Center for Rural Affairs is not an intervenor in this project.  Center for Rural Affairs is a paid transmission advocate, through the RE-AMP program, it is paid to to promote transmission.

A CfRA Director also sits on the RE-AMP Steering Committee.   It's unfortunate that these facts are not included in your article -- this interest should be disclosed, because they are neither objective nor representing public interests or farmer interests.  If their paid advocacy was not disclosed to you, that's an even more significant problem.
Read more about transmission toadie CFRA here, and check out the organization's source of funding.  It is receiving grants from entities I like to call "the environmental 1%" -- super rich, super clueless, city folk whose environmental tyranny is not a compliment to rural interests.

CFRA does not represent the people, although they are being paid well to pretend that they do.  Tell them they don't represent you!
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WV PSC Punishes Customers With Rate Increase in FirstEnergy Billing & Meter Reading Investigation Order

5/28/2014

24 Comments

 
The West Virginia Public Service Commission finally issued an Order in its General Investigation of FirstEnergy subsidiaries Potomac Edison and Mon Power today.  The investigation was initiated a year ago at the urging of citizens' groups and legislators, and was to examine the billing, meter reading and customer service practices of Potomac Edison and Mon Power.

However, instead of punishing the company for its transgressions, the PSC has decided to punish the customers!

The PSC has ordered Potomac Edison and Mon Power to increase meter readings from bi-monthly to monthly no later than July 1, 2015.  However, the company's customers will pay for the cost of increasing the frequency of meter reading.  FirstEnergy has estimated that monthly reading would increase yearly costs by five million dollars ($5,000,000.00).  The PSC has directed the company to recover the increased cost from you by amending its recent request for a 15% rate increase to add the additional costs for monthly meter reading.  The PSC estimates that this will add another half a percent to the upcoming rate increase, to make the total rate increase more than 16%.
Converting from bimonthly to monthly meter reading in the territory of both FirstEnergy operating companies in West Virginia will require a transition period that allows FirstEnergy time to procure additional  equipment, hire and train new meter readers and make any necessary changes to its billing platform. Therefore, the Commission will require that FirstEnergy implement monthly meter reading as quickly as possible, and no later than July 1, 2015. The Commission will monitor the transition as part of the adjustment to its metrics discussed below. The Commission will be watching for continued improvement and consistent performance. The handling of current annual read customers will also be discussed in the relevant section below. FirstEnergy should file amendments to the tariffs of each West Virginia operating company that provide for monthly meter reading and billing for residential customers. Finally, FirstEnergy may request to amend its filings in the pending general rate proceeding and provide evidence of the reasonable increase in the estimated cost of service.
Over the year long course of this investigation, customers made many constructive and useful suggestions on how FirstEnergy could improve.  The Coalition for Reliable Power and the NAACP suggested that FirstEnergy (AT ITS OWN EXPENSE) be ordered to read meters every month for one full year in order to acquire accurate readings on which to base future estimated bills.  The West Virginia Consumer Advocate Division recommended that FirstEnergy be ordered to read meters monthly for one year without addressing who would pay for it.  The WV PSC staff recommended that FirstEnergy be ordered to read meters monthly only if other recommendations for improvement were not successful.

NOBODY RECOMMENDED THAT THE COMPANY BE ORDERED TO READ METERS MONTHLY, INDEFINITELY, AND AT THE CUSTOMERS' EXPENSE.

But the PSC batted aside every constructive suggestion, in addition to your calls that the company be punished for its willful violation of its tariff.  Instead, it rewarded FirstEnergy with another $5M rate increase!

The bi-monthly meter reading system of the former Allegheny Power worked fine for many years.  It was only AFTER Allegheny Power was acquired by Ohio utility holding company FirstEnergy that the problems started.  The PSC admits that the transition to FirstEnergy business practices, in addition to poor decision making, caused the problems.  The switch to monthly reading can therefore be easily tied to the ill-advised FirstEnergy merger.  The PSC and FirstEnergy promised us that customers wouldn't have to pay higher rates as a result of the merger.  Once again, the PSC has failed us.

To add insult to injury, the PSC and FirstEnergy are in cahoots to spin this as a victory for the customers in the press.  The PSC is crowing about how they have ordered FirstEnergy to read meters monthly, without mentioning who is going to pay for it.  You are!  They must really think you're stupid.  Don't fall for it!


West Virginia electric customers have now been punished for speaking out about the abuse heaped on them by Ohio-based FirstEnergy.  It's going to cost us at least $5M.

This is the clearest example of regulatory failure I've ever witnessed.
24 Comments

Lifestyles of the Rich and Arrogant

5/21/2014

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FirstEnergy held its Annual Shareholders' Meeting the other day.  It lasted 12 minutes.  Hardly anyone came.

Our hero Tony "the Trickster" Alexander's NEO compensation is now even further bound to the company's stock price.  Heads will roll and wallets will empty.  When it's all about Tony getting his performance awards, it's no longer about providing an essential service in a safe, reliable and cost effective manner.  It's about cutting expense and increasing dividend "performance."
The report also outlines in some detail how the company's board of directors during the last year has taken some significant steps to tie executive incentive pay to company performance.

Under the new rules, Alexander's base salary -- $1.34 million since 2011 -- accounted for just 12 percent of what he potentially could have earned in 2013, the report notes. The rest of his compensation is now entirely performance based.

"We believe that the quality, skills, and dedication of our executive officers, including our NEOs (named executive officers), are critical elements in our ongoing ability to deliver positive operating results and enhance shareholder value," the compensation committee of the company's board of directors explained in the report.
Well, gosh, this could really impact happy hour at the Casa de Alexander, don't you think?  It would be rather unfortunate if this actually happened...

Tony:  "I'm home!  Where's that cocktail waitress with my martini?"

Mrs. Becky Alexander:  "I had to fire her.  She was simply too efficient and we need to cut down on expenses now that your pay is tied to your performance.  I know how hard it is for you to perform."

Tony:  "Have you been making unauthorized donations to charities again?  I told you, all our giving must provide a return!"

Mrs. Becky Alexander:  "Tony, who are those people on our front lawn?  I fear they may trample my petunias and cause extra work for our strapping, young gardener.  Can you make them go away?"
Tony:  "Call the police!"

Mrs. Becky Alexander:  "The peasants are revolting!"

Tony:  "You said it!  They stink on ice!"

Mrs. Becky Alexander:  "I think they might be your employees, dear.  Why don't you run out and say hello?  I think I have a bag of stale chocolate Kisses left over from Halloween that you could toss to make them move along."

Tony:  "Don't feed them!  It only encourages them to ask for ridiculous things like fair wages and benefits.  If you feed them once, they'll never go away.  What's for dinner?"

Mrs. Becky Alexander:  "Reservations, of course!  Can you have your public safety personnel clear us a path to the country club?"
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Another Quarter, Another FirstEnergy Management Disaster

5/8/2014

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Another excuse-filled, poor performance, quarterly earnings call from FirstEnergy on Tuesday.  How much longer can this company continue to flounder and still stay in business?

The basic story goes like this:  Despite a big profit from the cold weather in January & February, company mismanagement frittered it away.  The Plain Dealer provides a good summary of FirstEnergy's disappointing performance.
FirstEnergy lost two large power plants during January's arctic-like weather -- the 2,490-megawatt coal-burning Bruce Mansfield plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, and right next door, one of its 900-megawatt nuclear reactors at its Beaver Valley power plant.

And then the company found it could not buy natural gas for its 545-megawatt gas turbine plant in Lorain. The shutdowns and inability to buy gas forced the company to buy power on the regional grid -- just as wholesale market prices soared.

Power purchases during the 10 days of sub-zero January weather knocked down earnings by 13 cents per share, Leila Vespoli, chief legal officer and executive vice president of markets, told financial analysts during a public teleconference Tuesday and now available on the company's website.

She said power purchases over the entire quarter reduced earnings by a total of 23 cents per share.

Then extra charges levied by PJM Interconnection, the manager of the grid in Ohio and 12 other states, nicked another 10 cents per share out of gross profits, she said, though the company is planning on recovering about half of that from commercial and industrial customers.
This is all despite FirstEnergy's desperate attempts to restructure debt and raise cash over the past year through the sale of hydro assets, and the transfer of its unregulated Harrison power station to its WV regulated subsidiaries for a billion dollar payday.  FirstEnergy still has little cash, and a mountain of looming debt.

FirstEnergy's competitive retail business continues to drag it down, despite an effort to reposition all its eggs in the regulated basket.  It wasn't too long ago that FirstEnergy was all giddy over beating AEP on all the consumer "shopping" going on in the state of Ohio.  Tony the Trickster bragged through previous earnings calls over the number of customers signed up.  Yup, that quantity over quality race to the finish was really helpful over the long term.  When FirstEnergy goes under, Tony can tell his investors that at least he beat AEP.

FirstEnergy now brags that it has filed a rate increase in West Virginia.  The company requested an increase of approximately $96 million, or 9.3%, and an allowed ROE of 11%, an increase of .5% over current return.  Never going to happen.  FirstEnergy neglected to mention the looming General Investigation, or any other number of regulatory venues where it finds itself in hot water, and analysts were just too polite to bring up all that nastiness.

FirstEnergy also brags about its new scheme to "invest" in its transmission system, after years of neglect while chasing big, new build projects.  Just like every other shiny object in FirstEnergy history, management's concentration on transmission blinds it to reality.

And Leila still hasn't learned to pronounce the word exacerbate.
Higher prices exasperated the earnings impact of our power purchases.
I don't know about you, but I'm thoroughly exasperated by these uneducated dolts.  Their money-grubbing, desperate and questionable legal maneuvers, such as foisting polar vortex "fees" off onto fixed rate customers, are not cute or prudent over the long run.  The schadenfreude continues to build as FirstEnergy continues to burn bridges with its customers, employees and regulators.
2 Comments

FirstEnergy Files To Raise Potomac Edison and Mon Power Electric Rates

4/30/2014

9 Comments

 
As part of last year's PSC settlement allowing FirstEnergy to "sell" the Harrison Power Station from its competitive generation subsidiary to its regulated West Virginia utilities, the company was required to file a new base rate case with the PSC this month.

A company's base rate covers the utility's fixed costs and earns a return.  FirstEnergy's current West Virginia return (profit) is 10.5%.  Base rate cases are filed infrequently, usually at the initiative of the utility if it thinks it can increase earnings by doing so, or it may be ordered by a regulator as part of another deal.

FirstEnergy has asked for a $96M rate increase.  I haven't read the filing at the PSC yet, but I received several copies of this company-generated rubbish in my email today.  The company doesn't mention its requested return percentage, so I will assume it's the same, or even higher.

In addition to the more than a billion dollar cost of "buying" Harrison, the rate increase also includes:
...recovery of costs associated with storm repairs from the 2012 Derecho and Hurricane Sandy, along with operating costs at power stations, including new environmental control equipment. In addition, the rate request includes hiring 50 new company employees to help enhance service reliability.
So, how much is this going to cost you?
Currently, the monthly bill for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours is about $92.62. If the proposed rate increase, including the cost of the new tree trimming program, is granted, the monthly bill would be about $106.79.
But, wait!  FirstEnergy wants you to know about all the value you're going to be getting!
Mon Power and Potomac Edison have not filed for an increase in base rates for nearly five years. The companies’ last major rate changes were a decrease in fuel-related rates of 5 percent on Jan. 1, 2013, and a rate reduction of 1.5 percent in October 2013 due to the Harrison acquisition.
Even with the full proposed increase and tree trimming surcharge, Mon Power and Potomac Edison residential rates would be 10 percent lower than the national average residential rates.
But, that's of little actual value when the company doesn't bother to read your electric meter for months on end and then sends you a gigantic bill for your accumulated usage once a year.  Don't worry though...
To help customers manage their bills, Mon Power and Potomac Edison offer an average payment plan, special payment plans, and access to energy assistance programs.
Just hop on the ol' FirstEnergy debt treadmill and run for your life!

Oh, and let's not forget... that extra $96M out of your pockets will now guarantee you better service!
“The filing will help ensure continued safe and reliable electric generation for our customers,” said Holly Kauffman, president of FirstEnergy’s West Virginia Operations. “On the utility side of our operations, the new employees will include linemen, engineers, supervisors and other personnel to help make the service we provide our customers even better and meet anticipated business growth in our state.”
Twit.
9 Comments

More FirstEnergy Sucking

4/25/2014

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FirstEnergy's been doing a whole lotta sucking lately while I was otherwise engaged in super-sucky-secret FirstEnergy sucking shenanigans that I can't talk about.  But, the work week is over and now it's time for some FirstEnergy sucking fun.

Even Wall Street thinks FirstEnergy sucks.  Today, Citigroup reaffirmed its sell recommendation on FirstEnergy's sucky stock... because it sucks!
FirstEnergy Corp.‘s stock had its “sell” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Citigroup Inc. in a report issued on Thursday...

We're about due for another fun-packed FirstEnergy earnings call, where Tony the Trickster and his sucky band of merry thieves parade their suck-i-tude before the investment community.  Don't miss it!

In other sucky news,
FirstEnergy is still trying to bust its union workers, including desperately needed meter readers in West Virginia's eastern panhandle.
Local 102 represents about 690 of FirstEnergy’s linemen, substation workers, meter readers and technicians in the big electric utility’s Potomac Edison and West Penn Power territories.
About 125 of Local 102’s members work at Potomac Edison service centers in Williamsport; Frederick, Mount Airy and Thurmont, Md.; Martinsburg and Berkeley Springs, W.Va.; and Waynesboro and McConnellsburg, Pa.
Potomac Edison serves about 250,000 Maryland customers in an area stretching from Garrett County east to parts of Montgomery and Carroll counties, and about 132,000 customers in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
West Penn Power, whose territory includes Pennsylvania’s Franklin and Fulton counties, serves about 720,000 customers.
In March 2013, FirstEnergy began negotiations with Local 102 for a labor contract to replace the three-year pact that was to expire April 30, 2013.
What happened next is in dispute.
The company said the contract expired and the union members have continued working under the terms of the previous contract. The union, on the other hand, said the contract was extended for one year until May 1, 2014 — 10 days from today.

Asked last week whether that means a deadline is looming, FirstEnergy spokesman Toad Meyers said, “We’re not facing a deadline from the company’s standpoint. The plans are to continue to negotiate.”
Meyers, who is the utility’s spokesman for comment on negotiations with Local 102, didn’t mention the talks in Detroit.
He said “at least seven more negotiations” are scheduled with Local 102 leaders before April ends. He said he has “no idea” where those talks are taking place.
Asked Thursday what happens if an agreement isn’t reached by May 1, Whalen said there’s a “variety of things that could happen.
“First of all, we continue to work day by day,” Whalen said. “Or, the union could agree to sign an extension to work under the (last contract’s) terms for ‘x’ number of days.
“Or, depending on what (FirstEnergy is) thinking, they certainly have the ability to lock us out when they want,” the legality of which would “depend on where it’s at in the negotiations,” Whalen said.
“And then, the last thing, if we don’t have an extension, we have the right to strike,” Whalen said.
If a strike or a lockout were to come, Whalen said neither could happen until at least May 1, when the “no-strike, no-lockout provision” expires with what the union said is still the contract.
When is FirstEnergy going to stop treating its employees like trash?  And how much longer will the company's stockholders quietly suffer company mismanagement all the way to suckville?  I found the 5-year old Tony insults here to be quite creative, such as this one:
Tell Uncle Tony to take a cut in pay, put a pair of di electric boots up his a$$ filled with concrete and take a plunge in the Delaware. Italian my a$$ he is a embarrassment to the nationality and the human race. Some would call him "Yellow" not Uncle Tony or possibly numb-nuts. Yell "Mafia" and I bet he pees his pants.
These are FirstEnergy's faithful employees, the folks who actually keep your lights on.  Just how badly does FirstEnergy suck, anyhow?  The customers hate them, the employees hate them, the investment community hates them.  Something's wrong here...

And in other FirstEnergy sucking news.... check out the exchange going on in the Potomac Edison/Mon Power General Investigation case at the WV PSC, where FirstEnergy turned customer service into performance art.

The Coalition for Reliable Power filed this letter after noticing a new uptick in complaints about high bills and missed meter readings.  In response, FirstEnergy's lawyer called me (because, yes, I do wear another hat that comes with business cards) to request the names of all the customers who had complained so he could "help" them.  Like I'm going to give out a list of names, email addresses and phone numbers of people that have contacted the Coalition when they couldn't get any help from the company?  People just aren't comfortable with that, and neither am I.  Instead, I relayed FirstEnergy's customer service offer to everyone and let them volunteer.

I received my first response 12 minutes after sending out the notice.  It said:
Mon Power is an a$$-hole company. The WV PSC allows them to screw over consumers of electric.
Oh, this experiment isn't going to go well, is it?

It seemed to go swimmingly in FirstEnergy's fantasy world, however.

Here's the response of volunteer customer service experiment subject Kery Fries.  Doesn't sound like he agrees with Gary Jack's version, does it?

Finally, here's the Coalition for Reliable Power's response to Jack's letter.

When is this company's grand sucking failure going to finally be over?
0 Comments

FirstEnergy Takes Credit for Dominion Transmission Project

4/11/2014

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After two years of Dominion refusing to do any publicity on its Mt. Storm - Doubs transmission line rebuild, rival FirstEnergy has swooped in to take all the credit for the project.

Cue the irony.
While Dominion has been doing a great job with directly affected landowners, the company has completely failed to disseminate any information about its project to the greater community.  As if folks don't notice the access roads, the helicopters, the construction traffic, the road closures, the implosive splicing...  I've gotten mighty tired of having to reassure people that this is not the PATH project, that this is a permitted activity, and that the world is not exploding.  But I do it, not for Dominion, but for the people who are the victims of Dominion's "secret" rebuild project.

Mt. Storm - Doubs (MSD) is a smarter, better solution than building the PATH project ever was.  So, let's get 'er done, fellas,  so that I can stop having this distraction sitting on the edge of a rather full plate
.

The MSD transmission line begins in Mt. Storm, West Virginia
and ends at the Doubs substation in Frederick County, Maryland.  The 96 miles of the line located in West Virginia and Virginia are owned by Dominion.  The last 3 miles of the line in Maryland are owned by FirstEnergy.  Each company is responsible for permitting and constructing its own segment of this project.  Dominion has been working on its portion of the project for more than 4 years.  FirstEnergy only recently got off it's corporate ass to do its part on the last three miles.

Well, yay, FirstEnergy!  You da man!  Fourteen transmission towers and 3 miles of line? 
Awesome!  Put Toad Meyers in a hardhat and push the "on" button.  That should ameliorate your billing and meter reading fiasco, right?

Wrong.

Back in 2010, while the PATH was still madly attempting to get it's 300 mile, 765kV transmission line sited and permitted
on new right of way, Dominion dropped a bombshell on transmission planner PJM Interconnection.  Dominion proposed several alternatives to the PATH project (which was never actually "needed").  One of the alternatives involved rebuilding MSD because of deteriorating towers.  A rebuilt and modernized MSD would increase the thermal capacity of the existing line 66% and make the addition of PATH's capacity unnecessary.  Both PJM and PATH partners FirstEnergy and AEP tried to deny the proposal and insist that PATH was still necessary.   That was the beginning of the end for PATH.  The Virginia SCC got mighty suspicious and ordered PJM to re-run some data on the necessity for PATH if MSD was rebuilt.  Low and behold, the data showed that there really wasn't a need for PATH after all and PJM suspended (and later cancelled) the PATH project.  PATH withdrew all its project applications and went into hiding, after wasting a quarter billion dollars of consumer funding on the project.

Ahhh... good times!  :-)

Now FirstEnergy says "look at me!" and give me credit for modernizing the electric grid.

Kind of makes you wish that someone would drop a load of insulators on Toad's hard hat, doesn't it?


Oh, what would I do if I didn't have this little outlet...

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    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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