Well, it's been quite a while since I've done a blog post. As it turns out, life DOES happen after Clean Line. It has taken over four years to get to this point, but I can now definitively say that the Arkansas portion of the Plains and Eastern project is, in fact, DEAD. Why do I say this?
Shortly after the Department of Energy and Clean Line mutually agreed to part ways, Mr. Skelly attempted to sew the seeds of doubt in landowners, investors, and anyone else who would listen to his bluster that the project was not, in fact, dead... rather, it was "on a much slower track in Arkansas and Tennessee." We all knew better, but some egos (*coughSKELLYcough*) don't allow the acceptance of failure. The facts always come out in the end.
Not only has the Department of Energy nullified their contract with Clean Line, recently there has been some word that Clean Line is abandoning it's easement options in Arkansas. In addition to that, this past Friday (7/13/18), Clean Line's Dave Berry submitted a letter to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) requesting that their Certificate of Convenience and Necessity be nullified in that state. Here's that letter:
And, just like that, it was over. After more than four years, many thousands of dollars, countless hours of research, writing, Facebooking, talking to people, meetings and booths, sleepless nights, strain on relationships and future plans, and pretty much everything in-between: it is OVER.
Congratulations, Arkansas landowners! For me, personally, it is difficult not to be bitter. But I won't be. As with all experiences in life, valuable lessons are learned, new and amazing friends are made, and you just have to try to do what you can to protect what's yours and grow from the experience. It has been a really wild ride, no doubt. This is likely the last blog post on this subject I will make, as I will probably leave it up to the other professionals I have met along the way to unearth the rest of the Clean Line saga... it promises to get interesting very soon.
Thank you to each and every one of you who have read and provided support to us along the way. I would hope that the blog that Alison and I have created together chronicling our experience with Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC, will serve as an illustration of exactly the WRONG way to develop infrastructure in this country... "clean" or otherwise. Potential developers take note.
See the smoldering ruins behind Michael Skelly over there? The twisted steel and scorched concrete trailing behind him? Those are the bridges he burned in Arkansas. Well, rhetorically, of course... because Michael Skelly never actually built anything here, except a list of enemies. There’s a difference between innovation and hubris, reality and fantasyland. Maybe you need a bit of both to pull off the project of Skelly’s dreams, but somewhere along the line… between attempting to circumvent state authority and bluffing about local tax payments, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC, managed to make their project so toxic no one seems to want anything to do with them. To recap the events of recent weeks: Plains & Eastern, Clean Line’s regulatory crown jewel and the only of its projects to be fully (if questionably) permitted, is DEAD in Arkansas. Hallelujah. Don't take our word for it, though. Let's look at a little evidence:
Clean Line Withdraws from TVA's Interconnection Queue: Just a little background: Clean Line has three points of interconnection for it's project - at Southwest Power Pool (SPP) in Oklahoma for its proposed converter station at the beginning of the line, at Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) for its proposed converter station in Pope County, Arkansas, and at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for its proposed converter station in Shelby County, Tennessee. All three are vital to the Project's ultimate success. As you can see in the following screenshot, Clean Line has withdrawn its position in TVA's interconnection queue.
What's missing from the second screenshot (TVA's current interconnection queue)? #219 and #220 (Clean Line). Now, Skelly will likely attempt to say that the position can simply be revived later, but that's not really how the process works according to TVA:
3.5 Withdrawal. The Interconnection Customer may withdraw its Interconnection Request at any time by written notice of such withdrawal to TVA. In addition, if the Interconnection Customer fails to adhere to all requirements of this LGIP, except as provided in Section 13.5 (Disputes), TVA shall deem the Interconnection Request to be withdrawn and shall provide written notice to the Interconnection Customer of the deemed withdrawal and an explanation of the reasons for such deemed withdrawal. Upon receipt of such written notice, the Interconnection Customer shall have fifteen (15) Business Days in which to either respond with information or actions that cure the deficiency or to notify TVA of its intent to pursue Dispute Resolution. Withdrawal shall result in the loss of the Interconnection Customer’s Queue Position. If an Interconnection Customer disputes the withdrawal and loss of its Queue Position, then during Dispute Resolution, the Interconnection Customer's Interconnection Request is eliminated from the queue until such time that the outcome of Dispute Resolution would restore its Queue Position. An Interconnection Customer that withdraws or is deemed to have withdrawn its Interconnection Request shall pay to TVA all costs that TVA prudently incurs with respect to that Interconnection Request prior to TVA’s receipt of notice described above. The Interconnection Customer must pay all monies due to TVA before it is allowed to obtain any Interconnection Study data or results. TVA shall (i) update the OASIS Queue Position posting and (ii) refund to the Interconnection Customer any portion of the Interconnection Customer's deposit or study payments that exceed the costs that TVA has incurred. In the event of such withdrawal, TVA, subject to the confidentiality provisions of Section 13.1, shall provide, at Interconnection Customer's request, all information that TVA developed for any completed study conducted up to the date of withdrawal of the Interconnection Request.
There goes Clean Line's proposed end point. Clean Line Withdraws from MISO's Interconnection Queue: This is the one we've been waiting for. A withdrawal from MISO's interconnection queue removes the Project's midpoint (the Pope County, Arkansas, converter station connection point) from the equation. Go here and search for "J319." The evidence:
There goes Clean Line's proposed mid-point. Long story short: No connection point in Tennessee and no connection point in Arkansas = NO PROJECT IN ARKANSAS. This is fantastic news, Arkansas landowners. The multi-year fight has been unnecessarily taxing and expensive, but this is looking good for you. In spite of Skelly’s many, many protestations, the simple fact is, absent the Oklahoma portion of the line, whatever Frankenmonster he intends to “someday” cobble together is NOT Plains & Eastern. The Project, as pitched, hyped, and sold to the U.S. Department of Energy, no longer exists, whether or not Skelly believes he could somehow manage to get back into line at the TVA or MISO.
Do Skelly, et al, (meaning those few scraps of leadership left in his company) really not comprehend what they’ve done by selling Oklahoma to NextEra? Who gave this man their investment money? And for goodness sake, why?
Why a company that had the hubris to assume they could jump the appellate queue all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court… a company that never misses a chance to appeal an unfavorable decision, would assume dedicated landowners would stop with a district court ruling is beyond us. This company spent years, YEARS, holding Arkansans hostage. You think we’re going to let the first judge be the end all? Not likely, princess.
No, Mr. Skelly, you will not be allowed to sit in Houston and twiddle your thumbs until a magic buyer comes along. You will not be allowed to hold onto your “permit” with one hand while selling off pieces of your company with the other. You will not be allowed to fail to file updates with regulatory agencies and simultaneously claim the project is still alive. You will not be allowed to do that to so many Arkansans. Now, the ten-ton elephant in the room falls on NextEra: What about our good friends in Oklahoma? What are your intentions there, NextEra? We think you owe Oklahomans an explanation about what your true intentions are. Are you actually proposing a different transmission line? Maybe to compete with AEP's "Wind Catcher" project? If so, where might that project stop in Oklahoma? Again, these landowners deserve an explanation from you... sooner, rather than later. And what about the reporters who continue to give this company so much deference? Don't you feel like it's time to do a little bit more digging and put this to bed for landowners in Arkansas and Oklahoma? It's time for you to stop handling these guys with kid gloves, isn't it?
So, go back to your firehouse, Michael Skelly… maybe do a little more glory hounding and dream up your next snake-oil scheme. With the exception of greeniacs like Dr. Smith (BTW, I’m sure Bill Johnson is shaking in his boots. *eyeroll*), everyone can see right through you.
Michael Skelly is now living in a world filled with hubris and fantasy. We'll update you again with more when we know more.
In an interesting turn of events, Hannibal, Missouri's Board of Public Works has decided it is in no hurry to be a "good witness" at the Missouri Public Service Commission:
HANNIBAL, Mo. -- The Hannibal Board of Public Works has suspended talks with Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners about investing in or using its proposed Grain Belt Express transmission line to bring wind-generated electricity to the city.
BPW General Manager Bob Stevenson told the utility's board of directors Tuesday that the BPW has decided to step back and observe developments between the company and other municipalities before moving forward.
"We just decided to sit back, take it easy for a while, and just study what's going [on], keep asking questions, keep researching," Stevenson said. "We've got nothing to put forward. There is no pending contract."
In a pitch to the BPW last month, Mark Lawlor, Clean Line director of development, outlined the possibilities of the utility paying an annual service fee to bring energy from the west to meet its demand or taking part ownership in a Ralls County converter station and a portion of the project's capacity. The latter would allow the BPW to sell what capacity it doesn't use.
And, really, this comes as no surprise because, as with Plains and Eastern and Rock Island, Clean Line has "got nothing":
Stevenson said the BPW has no deadline for making decisions related to the project despite Clean Line's goal of appearing before the commission again this year.
"Without us, they've got nothing," he said. "Just because they're in a hurry doesn't mean we have to be." (emphasis added)
And, Kudos to the Ralls County, Missouri, for understanding the heart of this issue:
Wiley Hibbard, Ralls County presiding commissioner, told BPW board members he was pleased the utility plans to hold off on further consideration of participating in Grain Belt Express. Farmers and landowners have blasted the project over concerns it would hurt land values; make land around the line's infrastructure unusable; and grant a private firm public utility status, which would allow eminent domain.
"It's not that we're opposed to easements and power lines -- Lord knows we've got hundreds of them throughout the county," Hibbard said. "It's just the sheer immensity of this project."
It's the eminent domain. It's not the source of energy, it's the eminent domain. Clean Line, being little more than a potential profit center for a few privileged investors, has not justified a need for any of its projects, and shouldn't be granted eminent domain. Let me repeat: It is the eminent domain.
It is a hard pill for landowners to swallow when they understand that Clean Line is potentially planning to offer them what would amount to roughly $18 for each 1' long X 200' wide strip of their land here in Arkansas. It becomes even harder to swallow when landowners read stories about the Ziff family (Clean Line's majority stakeholder) setting records in real estate sales at Martha's Vineyard and also offering up a private compound for sale in Malalapan, Florida, that is topped in price ($195 million) in the United States only by Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion. If I shell out that kind of cash, do I get to keep the elephant tusks that are on display at 0:53 in the video, or are you taking those with you when you move out?
Investors: It is time to bail. With your help, Clean Line's optics are truly terrible (and only getting worse) and the opposition's resolve is strong across the board against their speculative projects. Landowners have made it clear they're not going to accept this sort of abuse simply to enrich a few at the expense of many. Enough is enough.
So, what happens now in Missouri?
So, all of this begs the question: What is Clean Line's next move in Missouri? Do they re-file there with absolutely nothing more to offer? Now that everyone there is watching closely, I suppose they can hope to get a few more closed-door meetings? They'd better be really sneaky, because quite surely other municipal utilities are watching this outcome at BPW. Just in case they aren't, we'll continue to make sure what is going on in Missouri receives due attention.
Also, what happened to that "parked" Section 1222 application Clean Line has with the Department of Energy and the threats Mark Lawlor lobbed to utilize it after the Missouri Public Service Commission denied their application? If the decision that is going to be handed down from DOE is going to be such a slam dunk for you, Clean Line, why not just totally bypass Missouri like you're trying to do in Arkansas? Should you decide to go ahead with your Section 1222 application, Arkansans stand ready to help our friends in Missouri fight that process.
And, by the way, where is the decision on Arkansas' Section 1222 application? It was supposed to be delivered by the end of last year, wasn't it, Mr. Skelly? We're a month beyond the DOE's timeline showing it would be delivered by mid-January. What's going on there?
Not an oligarchy, yet:
Listen, everyone: This great country in which we all reside is not yet an oligarchy. However, if this speculative group of individuals is allowed access to eminent domain at the hands of our federal government, I am afraid this will be just one more example of and step toward our country turning into one.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not railing against rich folks. I think it is perfectly fine for people to have $200 million compounds if they so choose, because that is part of the freedom of being a citizen of the United States. I think you're totally ridiculous if you do, but it is your right to live as you please, just as it is my right to tell you that I think you're silly for doing so. Where the problem arrives for me, and I think others, is when you use your never-ending wealth to lobby OUR federal government to use eminent domain on your behalf as an investment discount to increase the profits of your purely speculative business model on the backs of thousands of wonderful, hard-working people. We all live under the same Constitution, including the privileged few... at least, we're supposed to.
I will leave everyone with a clear message: The opposition in the beautiful "Natural State" in which I proudly reside is strong, active, and unified. You shouldn't expect us to give up.
The German Federal Cabinet just required new HVDC transmission lines to be placed underground. Why? Apparently Germans object en masse to 150' tall, 200' wide transmission lines being constructed within a stone's throw from residences and marring beautiful countryside, too. Imagine that, right? According to the German Energy Blog:
Yesterday’s decision paves the way for a faster and supposedly more accepted grid expansion. This shall lead to more acceptance, as in many places residents raised major concerns against overhead lines, Federal Minister of Economics, Sigmar Gabriel said.
1. Priorityof Underground Cabling for New HVDC Projects
The draft bill changes the provisions in the Act on the Federal Requirement Plan (Bundesbedarfsplangesetz – BBPlG). Draft Sec. 3 para 1 BBPlG gives priority to underground cables in case of HVDC projects. Close to residential areas overhead lines shall be in general not admissible (Draft Sec. 3 para 4 BBPlG).
These changes concern primarily the major north-south routes as SuedLink (South Link) or South East HVDC. Both lines – originally planned as overhead lines – have faced substantial protest of the public, especially in the Federal State of Bavaria. With the amendments pubic acceptance shall improve.
2.Extension of Pilot Projects for Three-Phase Electric Power Lines
In opposition to HVDC lines the DC cable projects retain their character as pilot projects. The reason for this difference is that the risks (technical risks and costs risks) of underground cable are lower for DC transmission. Furthermore less experience exists.
Nevertheless the pilot projects shall be extended. The draft bill lists four projects in the BBPlG where an installation of underground cables is admissible if certain criteria are fulfilled (e.g. short distance to residential buildings: less than 400m in case of a zoning plan, less than 200m in outside areas). The draft BBPlG stipulates that an installation of underground cables is also possible if the criteria for an installation are only fulfilled for a section of the entire power line.
3. Next Steps
The bill will now undergo the parliamentary process, including readings in the Bundestag. The aim is to conclude the discussions in autumn, so that the law can enter into force quickly and the necessary planning of the transmission lines can be started or continued swiftly.
I had to use Google Translate to translate the document into English from German, but, according to the legislation directly:
With the changes in the federal law requirements plan is for the planning and Construction of HVDC lines a priority of underground cabling in the Bundesfachpla- tion introduced. The broad acceptance of the citizens is a key element for the success of the energy turnaround. In particular, described the construction of HVDC lines There are special challenges. The increased use of underground cables can optionally contribute to the acceptance of these urgently needed Strengthening projects. From a technical point of view, between the AC and the DC area to distinguish. In the power transmission over long distances by means HVDC underground cabling has fewer risks in terms of technical implementation and the costs as a relatively underground cabling of rotation power lines over long distances. In addition, more experience is available with DC current underground cables over longer distances than with three-phase underground cables before.
and:
In DC area, the existing principle that the route planning Overhead lines based vice versa. In HVDC lines underground cabling is the rule. In the vicinity of residential areas of the overhead line is even always un-admissible. This is the highest level of acceptance for this new Created DC lines.
and:
§ 3 BBPlG - new - is the central norm, the prioritization of underground cabling will be implemented for the new HVDC lines.
So, as a country, what are we going to do? Germany is already going through this. The people have spoken there, and they will continue to speak here: the status quo is unacceptable. The people will not be mowed over by a massive overhead HVDC transmission line in Germany that is necessary, and they most definitely will NOT be mowed over by a private LLC in the United States for a massive overhead HVDC transmission line that is absolutely NOT necessary.
Listen, I am a progressive. I don't get any money from the Koch brothers, and I sure don't think the Keystone Pipeline would be a fantastic addition to our country, but at least the states have the option of choosing whether or not to give eminent domain to TransCanada. I am in favor of renewable energy expansion, but it's going to have to be done properly. The technology exists to put things like this underground, despite what Clean Line tells you. One of the proposed transmission lines in Germany that caused this is a 500 mile, 500kV, 4,000mW HVDC line, the SuedLink. Sound familiar? Clean Line has only one reason they don't want to put it underground: return on investment for the executives and their billionaire investors. But, you know what? I don't care about Clean Line's return on investment. What I care about is being treated with respect, my friends and neighbors being treated with respect, and I want to see our future infrastructure be built properly. There are going to be a lot of projects that come along. Some of them will be good ones, and some of them will be bad ones. Clean Line's projects, in my opinion, are bad ones, and they are being developed by, quite frankly, a few arrogant and potentially corrupt people. The people aren't going to accept that. To any progressive lawmakers who may be reading this, or any others for that matter: If you want to get any of this kind of stuff done, you're going to have to start listening to the people. Bypassing state authority isn't going to do it, Senator Heinrich. The status quo is over. Social media will not allow the Clean Line model to work. It just won't. Take a lesson from the Germans who are a few years ahead of us. Why are we all still here? I don't have an answer for you.
Dave and I have to apologize for being absent bloggers
lately. It’s not that there hasn’t been a lot going on in the Clean Line world,
it’s simply the time of year. Things
that we’ve put off as long as possible to deal with Clean Line can’t be put off
any longer. Fences need to be built. Gardens and crops need to be put in the
ground. And, as Jennifer Gatrel so powerfully mentioned in her HB 1027 testimony
before the Missouri House of Representative’s Environment and Energy Committee,
for many of us, our farms are our lives:
“This is our business. This is our place of business. It is
our livelihood. It is our vacation destination and it is our retirement… all
rolled into one.”
(We should note here that the hearing for HB1027, which would hinder Clean Line's access to eminent domain for its Grain Belt Express line, had to be split into two days because so many landowners came out to testify in favor of the bill.)
Okay, do we really care that the Zilkahs rub noses with Ms.
Wintour? Of course not. And a truly sincere congratulations to Daniel and
Janie. Marriage is a wonderful, infuriating, brilliant endeavor.
Do we care about Daddy Ziff’s “Rosebud Made of Stone”? Nah. The idea is awesome, even if the rock thing was sketchy as all get out. The
truth is… I’ve worked in Westchester. There’s not a lot that surprises me
anymore.
I just wish all these people’s venture capitalist relatives would get
their damn paws off my mother-in-law’s property. And off the property of every
angry, hurt, confused, hardworking, taxpaying Okie, Arkie, or Tennessean who
actually worked their tail off for their small “piece of the pie”, and who deserve
better than to be forced to give up what they’ve busted their knuckles for so
rich people can get richer.
As Jenny so perfectly put it, yet again:
“I cannot tell you the amount of work and worry… I have met
with veterans that have stood up and cried at the thought of losing their sweat
equity in their farm. I have met with
women who have lost their hair and who have had to go on antidepressants.”
You want health effects? I’ll give you health effects. And
the line’s not even built yet. Though apparently our only real objection to this project is what it’ll do to the view:
Burn, landowners! Burn! So now we know exactly what they think
about us. I know, I know—you’re thinking that’s not an actual quote. Surely
Clean Line with their “we are so deeply concerned about landowners’ concerns”
rhetoric would have denounced such a dismissive statement, but no… Rather, they
posted a link to the article on their Facebook page. I think that qualifies as a pretty
strong endorsement.
And speaking of the “well-funded”…
Recently, “Team Clean Line Energy Partners”, via Michael
Skelly, via the Power of Wind (which oddly claims to be leading a movement for “fairer
energy policies”) and the AWEA, issued a plea for signatures on a letter
bemoaning the fact that “well-funded anti-wind energy groups are trying to get
Congress to oppose the common-sense energy policies that would allow wind power
to continue to expand.”
(“Well-funded” is code for Koch money. I can say that
because my progressive street cred includes a presidential vote for Nader)
Now, he seems to be talking about the Production Tax Credit (I'm somewhat amazed they didn't bash oil and gas subsidies. It's kind of required...), but I’m
going to go on the record here anyway and say that, as a group, we get nothing
from nobody. Our flyers, our signs, our gas, our time… all of that comes out of
our own pockets. We survive on each other. On the people who give what they
can, when they can. We have no loaded lobbyists,
so forgive me if I don’t shed too many tears for one industry fighting a slightly
different one. (And Big Wind seems to be operating with a massive Napoleon
complex—Nothing must be done that can in any way, shape, or form hinder the
holy development of poor, little, falsely maligned wind! NIMBYs and burdensome long-eared bats, consider yourselves warned!)
Our only lobbyists are the people we elect to send to Washington
and Little Rock, and in this situation, though I may disagree with them on
much, they have served the people I love well. You can call that Koch influence if it makes
it easier to sleep at night while eighty-five year old Mrs. Stockton sits at
her window looking out and worrying about her future. I believe the legislation
and resolutions we’ve seen over the last few months are the honest result of
the thousands of phone calls, emails, and letters our representatives received
in the last year. I believe it’s the system working the way it’s actually
supposed to. If you’re not willing to entertain that possibility, you can’t
hope to look at this thing objectively. By the way, I should mention that both
the cities of Ozark and Dyer passed resolutions in opposition to Clean Line
just last night. And Quitman passed one some time ago. We had no idea... just in case anyone was thinking all these resolutions were the result of a few vocal agitators.
Oh sure, everyone has a bias. I expressed mine pretty
clearly in the first section… and in every endless blog post I’ve written on
how totally inappropriate eminent domain is in this situation. But what happens when you don’t learn from
your bias? That’s the question… Well, you might try to solve the perceived “balkanization”
of the transmission permitting process in our country by using a concept painfully
similar to one already rejected by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, as
well as by the people most directly affected by it.
I’d like to include some
quotes here from the lawyer whose working paper included the argument that
local/state control over siting is ineffective because state and local
governments are more responsive and accountable to their constituents than
federal agencies. However, it clearly states on the bottom of each page that
the reader is not to cite or quote from the paper without permission. Odd to
reserve a right for yourself so similar to one you readily endorse violating
for others.
“Basically, what the Federal Government has told us, in essence,
implicitly--this is what I derive from their failure to respond to the State of
Pennsylvania--is there is going to be a superhighway
of power lines across Pennsylvania, and there is nothing anyone can do about
it. The Federal Government is going to take over this effort and put those
lines across the State of Pennsylvania.
Well, I have news
for them. Pennsylvania is full of a lot of people who are concerned about this,
whether they are in small towns or urban areas, and, as we are going to be
speaking to tomorrow, rural areas in Pennsylvania, farm communities. Most of those
counties designated there are in rural communities. If the Federal Government
and the Department of Energy or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or
anyone else in this town wants to fight about this, we are ready to fight, and
we will fight morning, noon, and night until our State, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
is treated equitably.”
Now, if Dave were writing this, right here is where he’d get into Jimmy
Glotfelty’s ties to Section 1221 and 1222 (by way of his advocacy of the
processes that lead to their creation). No, he wasn’t at the DOE when the sections went
through in 2005, but his fingerprints are all over them.
So, how do you ram home a policy that essentially steals the states’ authority to participate in decisions that affect their own
constituency? You use two words: “jobs” and “taxes”. Does it work? Well, it
sure didn’t in Arkansas, and it looks like Missouri isn’t that impressed
either:
Bonus points: Watch Mark try to explain how Clean Line intends to work solely within the confines of Missouri’s state laws/PSC. “Pay no attention to that parked 1222
application for Grain Belt behind the curtain!”
Maybe some of the legislators
had already been made aware of Mr. Skelly’s testimony in that regard. I’ve
posted it before, but hey…
Skelly said Clean Line’s application for Section 1222
authority for Grain Belt Express is still pending at DOE but inactive. And the
company would exhaust efforts to persuade state regulators to approve the
project before turning back to the federal government.
“We would look at the no and figure out a way to turn it
into a yes,” he said.”
Or, how about Clean Line's tactic of attempting to obtain the right of eminent domain before signing easements? They wish to obtain easements on a "voluntary" basis, but aren't going to try to do so until they can hit landowners over the head with the "eminent domain" hammer:
Who pays for all that cheap energy? Not the bottom line.
So why? Oh, Lordy, why are we here in the first place? Why
build this line at all? There must be some deep, driving need, right? Utilities
that can’t keep the lights on? The need for a transmission backbone through the
country?
Ah, no. Like Jenny said, it’s all business. It’s the
business of development. Of transmission. Of speculation. Of bringing “the very
best wind” to markets on the East Coast that haven’t asked for them. If it’s a
backbone, it’s a fossil. An idea ten years old being rapidly usurped by newer
tech, local utility scale generation, and conservation. Want to know where “the
very best wind” is? It’s everywhere. And it’s located close to the load centers that might want to use it.
With Dragonfly proposing Arkansas’ first real wind farm to
deliver 80MW of true homegrown juice (assuming they can buck the Napoleon thing and actually work with surrounding landowners) and AEEC getting into solar farms it’s only a matter of time before Clean Line’s proposed 500MW guilt deposit in
our state is a paltry drop in our renewables bucket. It’s certainly not worth the damage
it would do to so many people. Why? Because jobs and taxes aren’t everything. And because 500MW of locally produced wind power fueling permanent, local jobs and tax revenue is infinitely preferable to imports. If the cost of wind is coming down as much as Clean Line claims, there is no reason it's generation should be restricted to the panhandle. Last week there was a story about a farmer in Oklahoma who had shifted to wind development as an alternative means for income. Arkansas farmers deserve to be able to make their own decisions on that same opportunity.
Which brings me, finally, to the question of who’s gonna buy
Clean Line’s tainted juice? I’m not
talking about whether rapid response gas plants or other baseload generators
will be required to ramp up production to fill in windy gaps. And, yes, we’ve
heard them say over and over that there won’t be any end user/utility contracts
until after the permitting. You’ve heard us say, over and over, that generation
potential and an “if you build it, they will come” attitude is insufficient to
justify the use of eminent domain. That’s not what I’m talking about either. I’m
asking what company or utility is willing to dip a toe into the “Bog of Eternal
Stench” the execution of this project, if permitted, will become?
As someone who actually has talked to hundreds of
landowners on the route (as well as their neighbors, who get an extra raw deal
since they receive no remuneration for their property value loss), I can tell
you that this thing is going to get ugly. Not a threat, but a simple
observation. This is seven hundred miles of Bundy Ranch with the exception that the vast majority of these people aren't wealthy ranchers and actually own the land at issue. And, for them, it’s not just about the money.
It’s about respect. Or the lack of it.
Knock on a front door on the route and
ask them the story of their property. In most cases you better have forty
minutes and a notebook. These aren’t short-term apartments we’re talking about,
but parcels handed down through generations. Sorry, but there aren’t enough windmills in the panhandle to trump this image (and yes, she'd just gotten home from church):
Not when there are gentler, more effective,
and less damaging ways to go green. Who in their right mind is willing to tie their public
reputation to a project that unnecessarily steals land from grannies?
Entergy Arkansas today filed a power purchase agreement with the Arkansas Public Service Commission for a 20-year supply of solar energy from a solar facility near Stuttgart, Ark. The large-scale solar farm will begin construction in spring 2016 and be ready to connect to the grid by mid-2019.
The facility, to be called Stuttgart Solar, will consist of solar panels covering nearly 500 acres of land capable of producing 81 MW of electric power. This will be the first large-scale renewable energy facility in Arkansas.
In response to today's news Glen Hooks, chapter director for the Arkansas Chapter of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:
“The clean energy revolution has now officially begun in The Natural State. As our first home-grown renewable energy project, this is a truly historic announcement. The Sierra Club congratulates both Stuttgart Solar, Entergy, and NextEra on this move and looks forward to welcoming Arkansas solar energy into our state's power supply.
The Sierra Club has long advocated for Arkansas to generate our own solar and wind energy here at home, just as our neighboring states have done for years. Today's announcement proves Arkansas is ready to get started as a renewable energy leader.”
