Carol Overland - Legalectric

Today, starting at 10:30, the Wisconsin PSC meeting is on, and last on the agenda, #15, is the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line. They will be deciding whether they will interfere in judicial review of their C-HC order and make that moot by rescinding the order, and then, whether they will immediately RE-ORDER as the utilities want. Regulatory capture much?

Tune in early, because last time they ran through 40 items in 5-6 minutes!

FULL AGENDA

To listen to meeting (whatever happened to the webcast?) go HERE: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/APPS/eventscalendar/broadcast/livebroadcast.aspx

To check out all the filings in this docket, go HERE! Some very interesting and highly recommended comments were filed over the last month.

If you’re curious or upset that there is no longer video livestreamed, contact PSC Helpdesk at (608) 267-9195 or email at PSCHelpdesk@wisconsin.gov

White privilege much?? Here’s the best video:

Woman waving Trump flag shouting she’s a white woman drives onto Minnesota state capitol mall

Captured by KingDemetrius Pendleton

From some articles, linked:

Local outlets reported that the driver shouted, “I am a white woman! There is only one race!” at state troopers after she was detained. Capitol Security officials held the driver at the scene until paramedics and mental health specialists arrived to speak with the driver.

… and…

The State Patrol plans to forward the case to the St. Paul city attorney for consideration of charges, including reckless driving, Gordon said. Jeka could not be reached for comment.

The notions expressed today are not new to Tammi Jeka.

This looks like it’s the same Tammi Jeka, taken about 10 years ago:

Death of homeless cancer patient reveals challenges confronting housing workers

And another little factoid:

Stopping the overdose on the front lines

Here’s an effort to supply NARCAN to libraries:

Company to Supply Free Narcan to Libraries – Emergent BioSolutions will provide two doses to every public library branch in the US

Recently on our local COVID page (to which I post the stats daily), I was challenged for posting on COVID and not the many ODs in our community, the party stating that “there were more ODs than COVID deaths.” Nope, NOT true! Although I’ve heard of several ODs here, we’ve had 74 COVID deaths since the start of tracking, and no way have we had more ODs than COVID deaths.

But given the challenge, and that I didn’t know how many ODs here since March 2020, I did some digging to see what the stats are on ODs.

A search of our local Republican Eagle for “overdose” had a lot of hits from here and surrounding area (rather wide circle):

SEARCH RESULTS HERE

Yesterday or the day before, I got this info from Goodhue County, though note it’s not 2021 info, only current through 2020, and it’s DRAFT info:

2020-Overdoses-Opioid-Deaths-in-Goodhue-County-one-pager-PRELIMINARY-LIKELY-TO-CHANGEDownload SMRMEO_Goodhue-County-2019-Annual-ReportDownload

For Goodhue County separately, but no 2021 info yet:

And this despite a sharp increase in ODs in Minnesota:

Comparisons aren’t particularly relevant, whether between numbers of COVID deaths v. numbers of OD deaths, or between numbers of OD deaths here and elsewhere. One is too many.

I had asked for OD statistics, and got the info above. I also asked about treatment options, and info on resources, because I know from days as an attorney taking on whatever issues for whoever walked in the door how difficult it is to get into treatment. Even with an intervention that pushes someone toward straightening up, getting IN to treatment, whether inpatient or outpatient, is so difficult, between location, openings, PAYING FOR IT in our wonderful capitalistic health “care” system, what a mess. Back then, I did have a list of options for clients, and so remember my successes and failures to help clients through to sobriety, one failure particularly tragic, three times with the same client, who died of his addiction to alcohol. We need to do more to help people get treatment, and to get to the state where they’re ready for treatment, and that takes commitment and MONEY.

Per the County: When it comes to treatment, there is a statewide online treatment resource called www.fasttrackermn.org , and another statewide resource locator is https://www.211unitedway.org/ .

Also, below, please note some of Goodhue County specific treatment resources:

• Goodhue County Health and Human Services – Rule 25 Assessments and funding, guidance and resources – Red Wing (651) 385-6181 or HHS main line (651) 385-3200.
• Valley View Recovery – Inpatient (currently men’s only) – Cannon Falls (507) 601-5006
• Common Ground – Outpatient Services, assessments – Red Wing (651) 347-6500
• Midwest Recovery – Outpatient Services, assessments – Red Wing (651) 846-9010
• Zashata Burton with Moment to Moment Healing – Assessments, individual counseling – Red Wing (651) 380-0043
• Nystrom & Associates – Substance treatment services, counseling – Red Wing (651) 977-500
• Goodhue County Treatment Court – Helping non-violent offenders within the criminal court system.  Treatment Court Coordinator Kaitylyn Olmsted  (651) 267-4958

Thank you for this list of resources. Nina Arneson, Director of Health and Human Services, Goodhue County, has been very helpful and responsive in finding health related info.

Transmission costs money, and utilities know that when they spend on transmission, their return on investment is higher than the return they can get for anything else!!

Using this as a repository for all sorts of useless information, here are the MISO cost numbers and methodology used to figure out costs of transmission (this is a DRAFT):

20200414-PSC-Item-07-Transmission-Cost-Estimation-Guide-for-MTEP-2020_DRAFT_April_clean441565Download

And FYI:

Here are the Comments of parties… there are many individual intervenors and members of the public who commented, and they are in the PSC’s “Public Comment” format and I have to figure out how to download and upload those. In the meantime, here we go:

COM-Applicants-Reply-Comments-on-Commission-Notice-of-416312Download COM-JJI-Reply-Comment-on-Rescind-and-Reopen-416287Download COM-JJI-Exhibit-A-Circuit-Court-Order-May-25-221-416288Download COM-Response-Comments-of-Iowa-County-Aligned-Municipa-416322Download COM-INTERVENOR-KLOPP-REPLY-COMMENTS-ON-COMMISSIONS-NOT-416277Download COM-Reply-Comments-On-Request-To-Rescind-CPCN-And-Reop-416306Download COM-CUB-Reply-Comments-on-NOI-of-July-1-221-416309Download COM-SOUL-REPLY-TO-INITIAL-COMMENTS-ON-NOTICE-OF-INTENT-416315Download COM-Dane-Countys-Reply-Comments-On-Applicants-Request-416278Download COM-CEOs-Reply-Comments-416311Download COM-RENEW-Reply-Comments-Motion-to-Rescind-416197Download COM-JOE-SCHWARZMANN-Rebuttal-Comments-416269Download COM-Dave-Hendrickson-and-Lila-Zastrow-Reply-Comments-416243Download COM-Intervenor-Grice-Comments-to-Docket-416295Download

These are the pdf’d Comments. More to follow…

Seems some folks don’t like that the Recall City Hall petitions are being posted. FYI, READ THE PETITION (on the front page, under “Signer’s Oath”):

Per Gregory Joseph (his domain is parked, no website to link to!):

I also understand that the names and addresses of the signers of the petition have been posted on an internet site for everybody to see, for what legitimate purpose I have no idea…

Really! His statement is here, starting at 2:23:14:

No idea? It’s called transparency, and objections to posting the petitions demonstrates that people have not read the petition, the front page with the statement that it’s public information, not to mention the back with the “250 word statement” of justification for recall.

Here are the Hove 2 Petitions, the Petitions and then those with irregularities:

scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-36-46Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-39-00Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-46-32Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-49-11Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-50-56Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-55-21Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-57-26Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-10-59-20Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-11-00-22Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-11-06-12Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-11-08-32Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-11-09-20Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-11-09-20-1Download scan_mlaidlaw_2021-07-06-11-10-40Download

Here are the Petitions, from above files, with irregularities, such as someone not registered to vote but signing, or one person filling in form for someone else, etc., with irregularities identified on the yellow post-it. You can see that many of them were filled in with one person filling in more than their own, or someone else filling in for another, and many of those slid through and not eliminated:

Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-1Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-2Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-3Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-4Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-5Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularites-6Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-7Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-8Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularities-9Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-10Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-11Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-12Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularities-13Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-14Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-15Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-16Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-17Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-18Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-19Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-20Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-21Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-22Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-23Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-24Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-25Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-26Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-27Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-28Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-29Download Dean-Hove-petition-irregularity-30Download

Now, I’ll try to combine these files to make them easier to peruse.

A while ago, Xcel Energy had the audacity to demand $3,312.75 in costs from Association of Freeborn Landowners (AFCL):

Xcel-Energy-Freeborn-2021-04-26-Form-139-Taxation-of-Costs-Court-of-AppealsDownload

I don’t think so! AFCL filed a “HOW DARE YOU!” objection:

AFCL-Objection-to-Taxation-of-CostsDownload

Today, we received the Court’s decision — COSTS DENIED!

Order-Taxation-of-Costs-Disbursements-andor-Atty-FeesDownload Judgment-Non-costsDownload

Here it is! Whew!

This helps, but doesn’t make up for the loss of the appeals… sigh… turbines are up and running now, and already a problem.

Just filed:

Initial-Comment-on-Rescind-and-Next-Steps_JJIDownload

Long story, it’s all there in the Comment. PSC and utilities are trying to do end run around the Circuit Court and avoid additional ugly and embarrassing truths from coming out.

Alan went to the Cannon Valley Fair last weekend to staff the DFL booth, and as always he went over to the Republican booth for a chat. They were handing out the above flyer. Who the hell put this together? Somebody needs to be fired!

The Office of Attorney General’s Residential Utility Division (OAG-RUD) has told the gas utilities in search of recovery for its EXTREME supply expenses during the natural gas price spike in February where to go… or more correctly, where NOT to go — that this should NOT come out of ratepayer pockets — that it’s the on the shareholders. YES! Love it when this happens.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has an “investigation” into the massive gas price spike in February, and how the huge price spike and increased costs should be handled (Many other states’ Commissions have opened an investigation too). Thus far, it’s appeared that the Commission’s intent is to pass it on to the ratepayers and spread it out so it’s not so painful. But not so fast folks! It’s so heartwarming to read a pleading, particularly one filed by Office of Attorney General – Residential Utilities Division, where they say “NO!”

Read it HERE:

OAG-RUD_20217-175863-02Download

There are three ongoing dockets at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission looking at the “gas crisis” from February.

Now pay attention, because this HUGE gas spike was only 2-3 days:

Some background Legalectric posts:

Texas — it’s a gas — natural gas… DOH! February 17th, 2021 It’s still a GAS! February 28th, 2021

The PUC is looking at a few questions, but what troubling is that the Commission seems to presume that the utilities will recoup from ratepayers! This presumption was evident in previous Commission meetings, and was disturbing, to put it mildly!

There are three dockets trudging along on the same path, and to look at all the filings go to eDockets and look up the dockets:

• 21-135
• 21-138
• 21-235

In May, the Commission issued another Notice of Comment Period and noted these issues, followed by a laundry list of topics for comments:

The AG’s Office minced no words and told them “NO!” For example:

Once more with feeling — ENJOY!

OAG_20217-175863-02

I’m particularly interested in storage, because a client lives above Minnesota’s only gas storage dome, an at least 10 square mile just north of Waseca, with 7 billion c.f. of natural gas stored below. A gas intermediate (not peaking) plant was proposed there, first a very small one, then one 10 times that in MW, and thankfully neither was built.

Knowing about that storage (and too many Minnesotans do not), storage was the focus of my comment in this docket last February:

Comment_CI-21-135Download

OAG-RUD did address the failure of the gas utilities to utilize storage:

Bottom line to the OAG-RUD?

Jewell Jinkins Intervenors (JJI) well represented at Public Service Commission meeting Cardinal-Hickory Creek: PSC reopens power line proceedings in wake of secret communications

And…

Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project: Joint statement

The applicants got at least steps toward what they wanted:

Oh yeah, it was a very weird meeting at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. The Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission was #41 (and #42 for closed session) on the agenda, but #1-40 were treated as a “consent agenda” and they rammed those through in maybe 5 minutes, maybe less (I couldn’t get online with laptop, phone, and fortunately, tablet worked)… I was late to the party! Just a couple of seconds late though…

Here’s the windup with the Applicants’ request and the comments filed on Tuesday:

Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission in trouble!

There’s a recording of the meeting, but WordPress won’t allow it!

Right after the meeting, the Public Service Commission filed a notice:

PSC_Notice-of-Intent_415003Download

In our Reply, Reply_Rescind-and-Rehearing_JJI, we noted that there was a PSC staff memorandum filed on June 29, 2021, a memo that was not made public, and lo and behold, it was filed, and reveals important information that for sure should have been in the docket prior to the PSC meeting yesterday:

PSC-Memorandum_6-29-2021_414998Download

Let’s see, Applicants filed Motion 6/28 in Circuit Court, and Commission joined in that Motion… and the following day, Applicants file request to rescind at the Commission… hmmmm… related? WELL, DOH! Important information for the public and intervenors not part of the court case to know? WELL, DOH!

As we say in transmission, “IT’S ALL CONNECTED!”

How is this action before and by the Commission anything but an attempt to pull the jurisdictional rug out from under the Court? No CPCN, no jurisdiction, it’s moot. Please, prove me wrong!

And consider the Circuit Court judge’s Order of May 25, 2021 (underlining added, not in original):

DECISION-AND-ORDER-on-Tainted-Panel-and-Discovery-Issues-322Download

The likely “tainted body” wants to undo its tainted decision before the court has a chance to rule on it? Doesn’t pass the smell test.

Here it is! I love it when this happens:

Trump Organization-Weisselberg_IndictmentDownload

Here’s my favorite part, the “Unindicted Co-conspirator #1” appears:

Followed by another mention:

Isn’t it about time Co-conspirator #1 is indicted?